YouSaid · the spoken record

Sawaneh

lines on the record
17
first
2001-11-20
most recent
2014-03-07
sittings or episodes
2
sources
un-security-council

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  1. “I hope to see the end of child recruitment by armed forces by 2016, and then the end of all child soldiers. That is what we must do. I am asking for the Council's help on behalf of all children affected by armed conflicts.”

    2014-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7129 (2014) · source

  2. “However, even that is not enough. We also have to stop armed groups from recruiting children. Based on my personal experience, I know it is a long story. Today there are many children in many countries who have similar stories. Fifteen years ago there were child soldiers in Sierra Leone. I was one of those children. Today Sierra Leone is child-soldier-free. Therefore, it is possible to change one country at a time. Looking back on the 13 years since I was last here speaking to the Security Council (see S/PV.4422), I can tell members that it has been really a struggle for me. I have achieved a lot, but still there is so much we need to do. No one can do this work alone. We have to come together in order to succeed. I thank all members for inviting me to participate in this important open debate.”

    2014-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7129 (2014) · source

  3. “It is partly about the security sector, but it is also about our communities and our Government and about finding real opportunities for the future. Today, many children are not in school and many young people are not able to find work. I call on Council members to please use the microphones they have before of them to speak out to help solve those problems. We need to speak out, and we need to take action to change the equation. We need to stop war and the violations against children, especially the recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts. Yesterday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and UNICEF launched a campaign entitled "Children, not soldiers". The campaign will end the use of child soldiers by Government armed forces. It is a huge job, but it is possible.”

    2014-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7129 (2014) · source

  4. “Last year in Freetown, I met General Romeo Dallaire, the founder of the Child Soldiers Initiative, and participated in training for the security sector - the police, the military and other officials - to prevent the recruitment of children in armed conflict. I helped to organize the training and assisted the children who came to tell their stories. The aim was to build knowledge in the security sector to protect children and prevent recruitment. The story does not stop there. There is much more that we need to do and to accomplish. Really, we are still at the beginning of our work. Today there are many children in desperate need of our help. In countries, regions and around the world children are experiencing violence and conflict. We need to work hard to protect them. I want to continue my work in peacebuilding when I return to Freetown.”

    2014-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7129 (2014) · source

  5. “I stand here again today by the grace of God, again asking for the Council's help. Now after 13 years, I would like to tell the Council what happened to me. The story is not easy. I was able to return to school. With the help of my foster family and friends, I worked hard and did not give up. In 2011, two years ago, I finished my bachelor of social science degree in peace and conflict resolution in Fourah Bay College at the University of Sierra Leone. I chose to study those subjects. My thesis was about good governance and public sector reform. I learned about civil society and how to prevent conflict. I want to dedicate my life to this work and to speak on behalf of children and young people so that our story is known and our voices are heard. In Sierra Leone, Iwas lucky to meet with people who were also dedicated to this work.”

    2014-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7129 (2014) · source

  6. “I therefore draw the attention of the United Nations, especially that of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, not only to hold accountable the individual actors who recruit and use children, but also to put an end to the recruitment and use of children in all armed conflicts. Thirteen years ago, I stood before the Security Council, in this very Chamber, and I told my story about the war and how the children of Sierra Leone suffered. I asked the United Nations, on behalf of the children of Sierra Leone, to do everything possible to bring our sad story to an end, to help us find our way back to our communities and schools and to build a better life and a better future. The children and young people in countries affected by armed conflict need a future. We need education andjobs.”

    2014-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7129 (2014) · source

  7. “In 2001, I was 14 years old when I was given an opportunity to come to New York to address the Security Council about my experience as a child soldier, and also about the status of children in armed conflict, especially in Sierra Leone. In my statement in 2001 (see S/PV.4422), I pleaded with the United Nations to act firmly against those state actors that were in the habit of recruiting and using children in armed conflicts. I now serve as an example of a child who was forcefully abducted and conscripted into an armed group, at the age of 10. I was robbed of my youth by the Revolutionary United Front for two years. This was one of the most brutish and turbulent civil wars in the history of armed conflict, which was declared over in a ceremony entitled "War don don" 4 by then President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabba in year 2002.”

    2014-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7129 (2014) · source

  8. “Mr. Sawaneh: My name is Alhaji Babah Sawaneh. I have come from Sierra Leone. I want to thank the Luxembourg Mission to the United Nations and the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg, His Excellency Mr. Jean Asselborn, for inviting me to participate today in this open debate. I also want to thank UNICEF and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, as well as the United States Government for helping me to travel here. And I want to thank my own country and the Government of Sierra Leone. Most especially, I want to thank the Secretary- General for his recent to Sierra Leone, as well as for all the help provided.”

    2014-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7129 (2014) · source

  9. “I thank the Security Council for inviting me to tell my story on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Sierra Leone and in other countries at war. I hope that the United Nations and Governments in all countries will listen to children and take our words into account. We want a better life. We want peace. We are counting on continued support for this.”

    2001-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4422 (2001) · source

  10. “The DDR programme is coming to an end, and I am very happy that thousands of children have been given the chance to go through the process. I know there are more children held back, especially our sisters. I ask this body, on behalf of all the children of Sierra Leone, to do all it can to bring our sad story to an end. We want to be able to move about freely in all parts of the country to attend the schools of our choice. We want to be able to visit our friends and families everywhere in the country without fear of abduction, recruitment and other dangers. Above all, we want our parents to be able to work and to educate us so that we can become useful citizens. This is what peace means for me in Sierra Leone.”

    2001-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4422 (2001) · source

  11. “In school I suffered resentment from other schoolchildren. They looked at me differently, like an evil person. Maybe they had good reasons. After all, we used to do very horrible things to them, their families, friends and communities. But we suffered just like them because we were forced to do those things by our commanders. We have to ask for forgiveness and demonstrate extremely good ways of living. I have faced a lot of distrust from family members. Some doubt whether I will ever be a normal child again. I am easily reminded of my past when I make mistakes. "Do not bring your rebel life here", they say. People in the community can be really dangerous. Some want revenge at all costs, and in whatever form. With the support of families, friends and agencies working for children, we are overcoming this.”

    2001-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4422 (2001) · source

  12. “Thank God we attended the afternoon school, and therefore were able to avoid them for the most part. Caritas then had several meetings with various people of the community to get them to forgive and accept us. This worked very well because, at the end of the year, a woman from the community agreed to provide me with foster care. I am still living with her because my family has not yet been found. It is important for the Council to know that the journey I have made so far has been less difficult because I entered the DDR programme. I did bad things in the bush, and I saw very bad things done to both children and adults. Taking my gun from me was a vital step for me. The programme helped me feel natural and normal again. It helped me develop ways to fit into society again. As I have said, the road has not been easy.”

    2001-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4422 (2001) · source

  13. “In Lungi we met other children in the Caritas programme who, also out of fear of being re-recruited, had escaped from centres in Port Loko and Makeni. There were over 350 children in that new centre. At first, the Lungi people did not want us in their town, and that was demonstrated by their highest-ranking chief. The United Nations Children's Fund and Caritas Makeni had a meeting with him and the other local leaders. They explained that we had been demobilized and did not want to fight any more. This changed their minds, and we were allowed to stay. I was again put in a community school, together with other children. The meeting with the people did not end with the local leaders because the community school children were not friendly to us. They kept calling us rebel children.”

    2001-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4422 (2001) · source

  14. “I immediately reported to the health centre for treatment because I was completely covered in scabies. I had not seen any family member for about two years, so when Caritas told us they would assist us in finding our families I was very happy to give the information requested. Unfortunately, it was not safe for them to get to my village, so I was put into a community secondary school. In May that year, the leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was detained again after a demonstration in Freetown. The rebels decided to attack again, and they attempted to recruit us again. We did not want to fight any more, so we ran away into the bush with our social workers. Over 200 of us were able to get to Freetown, where we were picked up by Caritas.”

    2001-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4422 (2001) · source

  15. “In January 2000, two years after my capture, United Nations peacekeepers met with our commander to explain the process of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR). We were told that the discussion included the release of all child soldiers. Our commander returned to our base the next morning and ordered the other commanders to release us. He said that those who failed to do so would be killed. The information was passed on to all the fighters, and within two days over 250 children were released to the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) in the town of Kabala. We were taken to a care centre in Lunsar. In Lunsar I was first registered for demobilization and then, later, handed over to Caritas Makeni for care and protection.”

    2001-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4422 (2001) · source

  16. “A group of rebels who had gone into the bush in search of food caught my uncle and the rest of the family. My uncle was later killed. That same night, we were ordered by the rebels to go with them to their base behind Kabala town. It was over 100 miles from the village. We walked for about 10 days in the bush, resting only a few hours in between, most times on empty stomachs. On arrival, we were trained for a week to shoot and dismantle AK- 47 guns. Thereafter, I was used to fight when we attacked. During these attacks, we killed people, burnt down houses, destroyed properties and cut off limbs. But more often I went on food raids and did domestic work for my commander's wife. This is because I was so skinny.”

    2001-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4422 (2001) · source

  17. “Mr. Sawaneh: My name is Alhaji Babah Sawaneh. I am 14 years old, and I come from Sierra Leone. In 1997, when I was 10 years old, I went for my Christmas holiday to my uncle's house in my village, Madina Loko, in northern Sierra Leone. During the second week of my stay, we heard that the rebels were 10 miles away from us. We ran into the bush to hide. At night, we came out quietly and cooked whatever we had in an old farm hut. On the second night, my elder brother and I went to look for water to do the cooking when we ran into the rebels. They searched our pockets for money and, because nothing was found, we were beaten up. We were taken back to our village where we were tied up, beaten again and kept in the hot, burning sun. Many houses were burnt down, properties destroyed and people killed.”

    2001-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4422 (2001) · source