UNICEF stands for United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. “The program was created by people devoting their time aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children” (britannica.com). UNICEF protects children from being put in the military, and they help child soldiers rehabilitate. The UNICEF is trying to find ways to ensure children don’t become child soldiers because children shouldn’t be victims of war. “A regional conference organized by Chad, with UNICEF’s help, opened in the capital of Central Africa, N’Djamena, to end the recruitment and use of children by armed forces and groups” (news.un.org). At the conference they will have four former child soldiers, including Ishmael Beah, take part in the event. Government speakers from Africa will even be there to push towards no more child soldiers to get the point across too. The UNICEF also wants to enhance opportunities for children once they have left war (news.un.org).
The UNICEF tries their best to rehabilitate child soldiers the best ways that they can. They try many different approaches to help children rehabilitate. They let the children reestablish themselves into the community and establish their own freedom (who.int). They also provide individual counseling to children who are more troubled or have disorders (who.int). The children spend three months in the rehab center, called group rehab. Group rehab is effective and is the best the children can hope for (who.int). When the three months is up, they are returned to their families and communities. “The UNICEF encourages life skills and economic autonomy (freedom) because it’s a key aspect of UNICEF’s rehabilitation and re-integration efforts” (who.int). The UNICEF provides as much help as needed to get these children back to their normal lives.
Links
1.
https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/5/09-020509/en/
2.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2010/06/340992
3.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/UNICEF
I think this is a very interesting topic because Beah was so involved with this throughout the book and we know the impact that it had on him. I think UNICEF is a great program that can help child soldiers feel like themselves again and hopefully fully recover.
ReplyDeleteHey Krosbi,
ReplyDeleteI think UNICEF is a interesting, and important topic to explain. I think it was helpful to do more research on the topic because Beah was apart of the rehabilitation center. I think UNICEF is a great program, and should be funded by our government.
I think this is a good topic to talk about scene Beah interacts with them even though when he first sees them he thinks of them as a threat. I think UNICEF is a good program and can help children who are like Beah.
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