By Maria Kabatanya

To mark the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression on 4 June, the MINUSCA Pakistan Contingent organized an art therapy session for children at the Polyvalent School in Kaga Bandoro, to help them deal with trauma.

As one of the most vulnerable groups in society, children often bear the brunt of armed conflict – they are not seldom denied their basic rights, subjected to violations as child soldiers and to sexual violence. The International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression spotlights the pain suffered by child victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse across the world.

According to UNICEF in the Central African Republic (CAR), children are among those who have suffered the most from the impact of the current conflict and represent almost half of the 2.6 million people who will need humanitarian assistance in 2020. This year, 800,000 of them will need protection from violence, including sexual and gender-based violence.

Verbal communication can be especially challenging for child victims of abuse. But art therapy can help children express their emotions through creativity, which can serve as an outlet for pent-up emotions. 12 children aged 7 to 11 from the MINUSCA Ledger Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp, including five girls and seven boys, gathered to draw and colour under the watchful eye of the Female Engagement Team (FET) of the MINUSCA Pakistan Contingent. “Art therapy is a projective technique through which feelings, fears and phobias are expressed through colours,” said stress counselor Major Madeeha Awan.

“Art is a natural expression the same way play is. It can be effective in the process of healing. Children’s language ability is less developed than their cognitive capacity – this can create difficulty in expressing what they feel. Art therapy is a non-verbal action to reduce anger and increase self-esteem, especially for children who have suffered trauma.”

 It is the first time that this kind of activity has been organized for children at any IDP camp in Kaga Bandoro, thanks to the deployment of the first-ever Pakistan Female Engagement Team. Similar initiatives have been planned in the future, at different schools in other IDP camps, while strictly following Covid-19 protocols, “to show solidarity for child victims of physical, mental and emotional violence” in the words of the stress counselor. There were happy smiles from both children and the MINUSCA peacekeepers at the end of the art therapy session.

Rooted in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression affirms the UN's commitment to protecting the rights of children. On 15 June 2020, a Child Protection Code was promulgated in the Central African Republic following its adoption last February. It translates into stronger protection for children and better recognition of their rights, including the right to live in a place where they feel safe, to have access to healthcare and education and to be protected from violence, exploitation and abuse.

The UNICEF Representative in CAR, Christine Muhigana, and the Head of MINUSCA, Mankeur Ndiaye lauded the milestone: “The path towards the full realization of children’s rights is still long and steep and the promulgation of this Code comes with a responsibility for all of us to continue to strive to ensure each of these rights become a reality in the lives of every child in Central African Republic.”