Girls and young women report much higher levels of emotional stress. They are sexually assaulted, and their opportunities are more restricted by domestic responsibilities and pregnancy.
Boys and young men, on the other hand, are targeted to fight. Many are killed and others have to be family breadwinners and protectors.
This year, nearly 300 million people are in need of humanitarian support. Conflict is one of the major drivers of this need. Its impact on civilians is devastating, especially on children and young people who are often recruited into armed groups, abducted, attacked in schools and hospitals, and subjected to sexual violence. Many of them are out of reach of humanitarian aid.
Conflict is robbing an entire generation of a normal, happy and safe childhood. When conflict breaks out, everyday life, like going to school, feeling safe, growing up surrounded by family and friends, changes profoundly – sometimes overnight.
Violence, death and destruction all too often become normalised. No one should have to grow up like this. Children who survive usually struggle to accept what they have been through.
It is time we confronted this.
From Gaza to Sudan to the Philippines to Colombia, many girls' experiences growing up in conflict situations are shared. Violence, fear and destruction are everyday realities.
Every year, Plan International releases a State of the World’s Girls report to highlight the lived realities of girls across the world. This year’s edition, titled ‘Still we dream: Girls and young people living through conflict,’ focuses on the experiences of young people whose lives are dominated by conflict.
We wanted to understand how the experiences of violence, educational disruption, livelihood loss, and emotional distress, brought on by conflict, vary for girls and young women, boys and young men, and how this will affect their lives in the future. What do these differences mean for humanitarian aid organisations, governments, policymakers, communities and young people?
What can be done to embed this understanding into action?
The research involved a survey of 9,995 participants from 10 countries: Cameroon, Colombia, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, Ukraine, the Philippines, and one country we can’t name because of political and operational sensitivities. A further 104 from Ethiopia, Cameroon, Colombia and the Philippines took part in in-depth interviews. Armed conflict affects everyone, but it affects them in different ways.
The report looks at the gendered dimensions of conflict, emphasising, in particular, the needs and rights of girls and young women who, in times of conflict and even in times of peace and plenty, are often overlooked.
What emerges from this current study is how important it is, if support is to be effective, to understand that different conflicts, contexts, and identities reveal myriad experiences.
Fear is a common thread, as is the struggle for necessities. Girls and young women report much higher levels of emotional stress. They are sexually assaulted, and their opportunities are more restricted by domestic responsibilities and pregnancy. Boys and young men, on the other hand, are targeted to fight. Many are killed and others have to be family breadwinners and protectors.
The qualitative interviews illustrate the constant brutality and trauma suffered or witnessed by many of the interviewees, whoever they are and wherever they are.
Lives have been shattered, communities and families destroyed. Although both the survey and the in-depth interviews reveal clear gender differences in how conflict is experienced, everybody suffers.
As we mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence this year, we are standing with girls to call on decision-makers, including all parties to conflict, humanitarian actors, national governments, and donors, to take immediate action to protect girls in conflict situations.
Girls pay a high price in the conflict. This has to stop and that’s why peace is so needed.
In conflicts worldwide, we see International Humanitarian Law (IHL) sometimes disregarded and violated by armed forces and armed groups. This is unacceptable. International Humanitarian Law must be respected. Parties to conflict need to stop targeting, killing, and abusing children, young people, and all civilians.
We are calling for decision-makers to:
1. Implement immediate ceasefires and commence meaningful peace talks aimed at lasting peace, ensuring that girls’ and young people’s voices and specific needs are included.
2. Stop and condemn all grave violations against children in conflict, including recruitment and use by armed forces and groups, killing and maiming, sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, abductions, and denial of humanitarian access.
3. Support safe and inclusive education for children and young people, including peace education, funding for the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration, and alternative learning approaches when schools are closed or journeys are too dangerous.
4. Target humanitarian aid, making sure girls, boys, and young people have equal access to food, water and shelter, and that services for survivors of violence are prioritised, including for girls and young women, to ensure access to comprehensive case management, sexual and reproductive health, psychosocial, and rehabilitation support.
5. Bolster local economies and provide employment opportunities so girls, boys and young people have tailored options, recognising their different needs, and are less exposed to recruitment to armed groups, exploitative relationships and other high-risk survival strategies.
But, even as we highlight these challenges, we need to recognise that, every day, children and young people we work with continue to show resilience, hope, and optimism.
Their stories of resilience, despite their adversities, are what should strengthen our efforts.
Roger Yates is the Plan International regional director for Middle East, Eastern, and Southern Africa.
