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The third phase of the proposed research focuses on
post-conflict rehabilitation efforts. One of the most
important aspects of postwar development is psychological
rehabilitation of those children who have killed or witnessed
horrendous acts of violence.
There is a significant gap
in knowledge about the various types, and the effectiveness,
of interventions made on behalf of children affected by armed
conflict. Most of the studies of psychological rehabilitation
in war torn societies have focused on Western models. The
ethnocentric (and Western-centric) nature of these
interventions has come under severe criticism of late.
[Chandler, 2002]
This phase of the research provides
an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of a specific
program of healing, reconciliation, rehabilitation and social
reintegration of child ex-combatants in Sierra Leone. The
program is carried out by a Freetown-based NGO - Children
Affected by the War (CAW).
It will, however, not
overlook the efforts to rehabilitate children who have been
physically maimed during armed violence. Neither will it
neglect other attempts at reintegrating war-affected children
back into communities.
The CAW program is a community/family-based effort, sponsored
in large part by the Catholic Church in Freetown, that emphasizes
culturally appropriate methods, such as traditional cleansing/purification
ceremonies, to deal with psychosocial stress and trauma. CAW
has registered over 2,500 child ex-combatants in its programme
(out of the 6,000 to 10,000 children between the ages of 7 and
18 believed to have taken part in the recent civil war there),
and has been at the forefront of tracing methods to reunite
children with their families. Nevertheless, little is known
of its modus operandi and no formal evaluation has been done
of its rehabilitation and reintegration methods. Assessment
of the CAW program will also include an evaluation of the ways
in which it has dealt with children who have been sexually abused,
have had their education interrupted, were maimed as a result
of landmines, or infected by HIV/AIDS.
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