Women and children are the faces of conflict

In 1998, 14 of the 53 African states were embroiled in conflict, accounting for more than half of war-related deaths world-wide.

Africa has had its own disproportionate share of conflicts. Presently, the continent accounts for up to 40% of global conflicts.
Data by Amnesty International shows that 70% of the casualties in recent conflicts have been non-combatants - most of them women and children, a clear indication of the tragic gender dimension of conflicts on the continent and its great human cost.

It stated that tens of thousands of women and girls have been subjected to rape and other sexual violence since the crisis erupted in Darfur in 2003.

Women and girls in particular experience conflict and displacement in different ways from men because of the gender division of roles and responsibilities.

World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that health services for women, girls and children break down during conflict, just when they need them most. In countries where children are already vulnerable to diseases, the onset of conflict may increase death rates by 24-fold.

Population movements and breakdown of social controls caused by conflict encourage rape and prostitution as well as sexual slavery to serve combatants.

These come with unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS, are the collateral physical effects of this human degradation.

A UN report states that acts of gender-based violence, particularly rape, committed during conflicts constitute a violation of international humanitarian law.

In spite of international recognition of rape and other sexual assault in conflict as crimes, governments and the international community rarely respond vigorously to investigate and punish such violence.
In fact, they typically go no further than rhetorical condemnation.

In addition, women face rampant violence and discrimination in their post-conflict lives.
Sadly, conflicts more often discourages girls from attending school because it is unsafe for them to leave home, sometimes resulting in early marriages.

The decline in schooling for females during periods of conflict has implications for a nation’s post-conflict recovery.
The World Bank says that education is the single most important factor contributing to national economic growth.

Education, or lack of it, also has implications for sustainable population growth on a global scale. Girls and women who are educated will have fewer children and those they have are more likely to survive and thrive.

Conflicts have devastated the African continent, cost millions of lives, and contributed significantly to retarding the socio-economic development of many countries.

The recent post election violence in Kenya and other countries in the region is enough cause for Ghana not to be complacent of the relative peace but work to prevent conflict.

In Ghana there is a resolve that no matter what happens it will not allow violent in change of government. Conflict in Africa, as everywhere, is caused by human action, and can be ended by human action.

“This is the reality that shames us for every conflict that we allow to persist, and emboldens us to believe that we can address and resolve every conflict that we choose to confront,” stated Former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan in a report on causes and potential cures of conflict in Africa.

Speaking at a Public Agenda workshop in Accra on the functions of the media in conflict prevention and peace building in Ghana, Mr. Emmanuel Bombande, Executive Director of West Africa Network for Peace building (WANEP) challenged the media to make people aware of how to deal with conflict since it is the most important and not what comes about it.

According to the security expert, every society learns to be better out of the management of every conflict situation. “The problem is not about conflict but what you are doing to prevent conflict.”

He noted that the media which is at the centre of conflict mostly covers conflict but not peace building. He challenged the Ghanaian media to reverse this trend particularly in this election year.

“Media practitioners must tell the peace story in Ghana else nobody will do it for us.”

Mr. Bombande said different cultural environment informs how to deal with conflict and that depending on how a nation deals with conflict, it can either build or destroy relationships and all destroy the entire human being.

He described the family as only a level of relationship, since political parties are relatives by the virtue of the fact that they are Ghanaians even though they try to achieve their goals through different methods.

He deduced that when parties destroy each other in order to obtain power, it is actually self destruction because there will be nobody to monitor what they are doing, saying, “Performance is dependent on other stakeholders to succeed.”

He admitted that even though the pursuit of power is incompatible, the end goal of using that power will not be incompatible. In his opinion, if parties are made aware that losing or wining power is not doom, they will change their demeanor.

“Introducing an element of win-win is important but unfortunately in our Ghanaian system once you loose then you have to wait for four years as those who even win by the slightest margin have control over everything. These are the issues that must be raised by the media.”

He stated the need to modify rules and norms as a means to foster national cohesion and peace but not about resources.