The Female Child Soldier & the ICC

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
In an interactive panel dialogue which will be held on Monday the 4th of June 2012 from 1:30-5:30 PM at the African Union Conference Room, 305 East 47th Street, 5th Floor, 3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10017 on the occasion of the International Day of the African Child: “ The Incidence of the Female Child Soldier and the ICC”.
The Eng Aja Eze Foundation will bring together experts who will discuss the plight of the Female child Soldier.
The interactive dialogue is intended to raise the awareness in the International Community of the incidence of the Female Child Soldier.
A great deal of attention is paid to male Child Soldiers and yet one rarely hears about their counter -part. They suffer a great deal as they are turned into “bush wives by their captors, repeatedly raped and once the conflict is over they return to their villages with the children of their horrific ordeal.
Once home they encounter a great deal of prejudice and stigma. Not only have they taken up arms against their community but they now have to live with the constant reminders of the violation of their fundamental human rights- their offspring of the rapes which they have had to endure and the violations of their young bodies.
DDR Programs do not appear to be effective in dealing with this growing phenomenon of the Female child soldier.
How can they be effectively be reintegrated into a society and more particularly in their own villages after all the atrocities they have had to endure, witness and execute?
On the 14th of March 2012, Trail Chamber 1 of the International Criminal Court found Thomas Lubanga Dyilo guilty as a co-perpetrator for conscripting, enlisting and using the child soldiers in furtherance of a common plan to gain and maintain the political and military power in Ituri, the DRC.
The Court noted that while witnesses testified that UPC Commanders subjected girls to sexual violence and rape, these crimes were not part of the charges against the accused, and the Chamber therefore did not make any factual findings on this issue. The Judges however left open whether facts relating to sexual violence, “ought to be taken into account for the purposes of sentencing and reparations.”
The Trust Fund For victims is doing a great deal for the Female Child Soldier Particularly in the DRC AND Northern Uganda. The Trust fund for victims has provided medical care for the girls and their babies, education and above all reconciliation with their families.
The panel Discussion will include opening remarks by H.E Mr Jarmo Viinanen, The Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations and closing remarks by H.E.Mr Tete Antonio, Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations(TBC)
The Key note speakers will be Ms. Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor, Prosecutor Elect, International Criminal Court, The Hague (TBC) and Ms. Grace Akallo, Founder and Executive Director, United Africans For Women & children Rights and a Statement from Ms. Elisabeth Rehn, Chair of The Board of Directors, The Trust Fund for Victims .