The headlines focus on the 'success' of the surge and troop withdrawals, but the humanitarian crisis persists and assessments suggest it is worsening.
Displaced families have fled with little but a legacy. A legacy of the insecurity which has eroded livelihoods, traumatised children and carers, weakened coping strategies, increased family breakdown, reduced the number of able bodied adult males, fuelled domestic violence, reduced school attendance, increased children's domestic and economic responsibilities, and reshaped local practices, beliefs and values as desperate people increasingly pursue self preservation strategies at any cost.
Displacement multiplies the impact of this. Social capital is eroded, constraining livelihood opportunities, undermining coping strategies and driving children into the most exploitative, dangerous and demeaning of jobs. (Re)enrolling children is hindered by the domestic and / or economic responsibilities children have assumed, the limited capacity of the educational system, registration requirements, attendance costs, discrimination, and behavioural problems. Flight and displacement exacerbates pre-existing trauma and its symptoms. Overcrowded, insecure and poor shelter exposes children to exploitation, health problems and marginalisation.
According to IOM (August 2008), more than 70% of IDPs do not have regular access to food rations from the Public Distribution System (food ration) and 14% have no access to health care. Living arrangements have been ad hoc. Some found shelter with families and friends, many sheltered in abandoned public buildings, others built on empty land, those with resources have rented or purchased properties. But hosting IDPs puts pressures on the resources of families and friends - without financial support it is not sustainable. More concerning though is a recent Government initiative to eject persons sheltering in public buildings.
Faced with such challenges, negative coping strategies such as child labour, drug abuse and criminality spiral. The collective impact is an erosion of the protective capacities of families and the wider community, and an increase in child protection issues and rights deficits.
Displaced families have fled with little but a legacy. A legacy of the insecurity which has eroded livelihoods, traumatised children and carers, weakened coping strategies, increased family breakdown, reduced the number of able bodied adult males, fuelled domestic violence, reduced school attendance, increased children's domestic and economic responsibilities, and reshaped local practices, beliefs and values as desperate people increasingly pursue self preservation strategies at any cost.
Displacement multiplies the impact of this. Social capital is eroded, constraining livelihood opportunities, undermining coping strategies and driving children into the most exploitative, dangerous and demeaning of jobs. (Re)enrolling children is hindered by the domestic and / or economic responsibilities children have assumed, the limited capacity of the educational system, registration requirements, attendance costs, discrimination, and behavioural problems. Flight and displacement exacerbates pre-existing trauma and its symptoms. Overcrowded, insecure and poor shelter exposes children to exploitation, health problems and marginalisation.
According to IOM (August 2008), more than 70% of IDPs do not have regular access to food rations from the Public Distribution System (food ration) and 14% have no access to health care. Living arrangements have been ad hoc. Some found shelter with families and friends, many sheltered in abandoned public buildings, others built on empty land, those with resources have rented or purchased properties. But hosting IDPs puts pressures on the resources of families and friends - without financial support it is not sustainable. More concerning though is a recent Government initiative to eject persons sheltering in public buildings.
Faced with such challenges, negative coping strategies such as child labour, drug abuse and criminality spiral. The collective impact is an erosion of the protective capacities of families and the wider community, and an increase in child protection issues and rights deficits.
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