14th
April 2005
My
dear friends,
I
want to share a thought, which has been
going on in my mind for quite some time
now, I have already briefly shared it
with some of my young colleagues who have
been liberated through our efforts from
servitude and child labour and are now
receiving education. I am writing this
letter in personal capacity, and not as
Chair of Global March Against Child labour
or President of Global Campaign for Education.
During
last couple of years, I have personally
come across some incidents, which have
inspired me to build this idea. An Indian
girl, from a displaced family during the
recent Indo-Pak conflict from a border
village was not only compelled to leave
her schooling, as schools were turned
into military camps but also lost her
younger brother to war. Since then, she
has been acutely traumatised and whenever
she hears the noise of artillery she looses
consciousness. She asked innocently, “Is
there any way we can save our childhood
and get rid of the war?”
I,
also, met a 15-year-old young Sudanese
boy, who was forcibly kidnapped by the
extremist army, and forced to kill some
of his friends and relatives as his first
training lesson in become a child soldier.
The boy still has one hope that a day
will come when no one will be forced to
kill their dear ones. And, he asked me
how it would be possible.
A
7-year-old daughter of one of my American
friends living in Washington DC shared
a frightening recurrent nightmare she
had. She would get up in the middle of
the night in shock fearing that terrorists
entered her house and tried to kill her
family.
Two
years back at the Children’s Parliament
on Education in New Delhi, an 11-year-old
girl, innocently questioned the audience,
“Why so many guns and bombs are
manufactured when we don’t have
enough toys and books?”
All
these incidents pose a serious question
in our efforts towards eradication of
child labour and to ensure free and quality
education for all children. Children are
not responsible for war, yet it robs them
of their childhood. Wars and conflicts
leave a trail of destruction behind them,
especially for the innocent children caught
in the line of fire. Nearly 2 million
of children have been killed in the last
decade due to armed conflict, while nearly
6 million have been injured! About 300,000
children are engaged in active combat,
while millions of children and families
have been displaced. Similarly, hundreds
of thousands are compelled to leave schooling
as schools are either functioning as relief
shelters or have been converted into military
camps. Explosive remnants of war, including
abandoned weapons and landmines, kill
and maim thousands of children every year.
Sexual violence, including rape, mutilation,
exploitation and abuse, is a consciously
deployed weapon of war often escalating
child prostitution, largely victimising
girls. War and HIV/AIDS too have a relation,
when war erupts in an area already affected
with HIV/AIDS the effect is catastrophic.
With scant regards for the lives of children,
child trafficking too gets a boost during
war; children are abducted and trafficked
within the state and across states to
serve in the armies or for money. The
global military spending forms the largest
spending in the world at $956 billion
in annual expenditure. Three day of this
military spending can provide education
for all children. Ironically, this expenditure
is increasing with increase in the number
of weapons and arms.
I
strongly feel that we cannot sit idle
and wait for more destruction of childhood.
I have always counted on children and
young friends. Your synergy, moral strength
and conviction, which we have witnessed
in our entire struggle in the last two
and half decades, are our greatest strengths.
The success of Global March lies in the
active participation and leadership of
many of you and your brothers and sisters.
Similarly, in the Global Campaign for
Education, children’s participation
generated enormous moral force to influence
the governments to act.
It
is time for us to act. The mass movement
where the children and youth are in the
forefront is the only answer in my opinion
to demand for a peaceful world for children.
Peace must not remain a passive issue
for discussion or occasional manifestation;
it must be made an on-going movement where
children and youth take the lead.
When
we marched across the streets in 103 countries
for six months, the world was astounded
to see the courage, commitment and dynamism
of young people, victims of slavery, drudgery,
child labour, prostitution, etc. And,
the result was that child labour emerged
as a universal issue in the global agenda,
and the international community had to
unanimously agree to the international
laws to stop the worst forms of child
labour.
I
stoutly believe that if the national governments
spend so much money on defence, how the
eradication of child labour and free quality
education for all, would become their
priority. How can we achieve the goals
of combating worst forms of child labour,
gender equality, poverty reduction and
education for all by 2015, which have
been promised to us, unless we guarantee
peace as basic right for all children?
I
call upon you to suggest, whether we should
organise another Global March to demand
peace for children; demand an end to all
kinds of violence, conflict, insurgencies,
terrorism and wars. The misuse of public
money for endless defence spending must
be reduced and diverted for protection
and development of children. We can plan
such a march in the beginning of 2007
to build a worldwide youth and children
movement for peace that will help not
only in putting an end to child labour
and illiteracy but, also, to build a better
and beautiful tomorrow. You can share
this letter with your friends, colleagues
and organisations, and take their opinion
and reply to me at the earliest.
Best wishes,
Kailash
Satyarthi |
