That really touched my heart!!!

[SOYDA]

That really touched my heart!!!


The increasing involvement of children and young people in many of the world's conflict-affected regions is an important area of concern for global security and the welfare of the younger generations.
The issue of child combatants has received much press in the last decades, but now there is a growing awareness of what drives young people to join the armed forces.

According to the 2007 World Development Report published by the World Bank, there are 1.5 billion people worldwide aged between 12- and 24-years - 1.3 billion of whom live in developing countries. This means most young people are coming of age in societies that lack basic education and employment opportunities.

In many parts of the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the problem of children growing up amid conflict has seen an upsurge since the end of the Cold War. This environment makes it harder for young people to make the normal transition into adulthood.

Some analysts have branded the generation of youth growing up in developing countries as the 'lost generation'. Without work and education, their futures look particularly bleak.

These factors deny young people their self-confidence and hope for the future. According to one of Somalia militia that I met yesterday in one of Mogadishu streets carrying a gun provides "a sense of self-esteem … for a man who has carried a gun since childhood, it has become an essential part of who he is".

Young people traditionally provide a groundswell for change; whether this is for a beneficial change or for the destruction of a society, the effects are equally felt.

Research has shown that there is an urgent need to better understand the issues that concern young people and how best to help them adapt to adulthood in war-torn or impoverished societies.
These are concerns that have to be addressed, as well as those of the economic and social factors that force young people into joining armed militias. Addressing these needs might be a crucial factor, not in avoiding re-recruitment, but in preventing armed conflict.

Conflict environments prevent children from gaining a good education and learning useful skills. This in turn makes them feel excluded from mainstream society and they (mostly young men) turn to the armed militias.
It is generally believed that as long as young people see themselves as outcasts, they are more likely to seek immediate solutions to their survival, including warfare.
As the father of one young generation who are in war fields put it: "This generation has grown up with explosions, shootings, violence, demolitions, so what can you expect?"

Today, while many young people consider globalisation as an opportunity, many others (especially in developing countries) feel they are missing out, and are unable to migrate to take advantage of better opportunities.

So in our country, really I think we are out of the playing compass because no one knows where the shoes pinches, I mean lack of awareness, low socioeconomic status, ignorance and also defending clan based ideology was the main factor that facilitated our young generations to be in this casualties and also the educated ones forgot their role of encouraging their Somalia young brothers to abstain these casualties.
I hope more positive role models come forward to lead
our youth into the next century

That really touched my heart. What can I say, I know more people on that program and further of that die as well. I would like to say to some local NGOs did a good job and I hope that a lot of people change there way and the way they are act in street.

By Executive Director of Somali Young doctors Association     
                                    (SOYDA)
                         Dr. Abdiqani Sheikh Omar
Drabdiqani6@gmail.com, somyoungdoctors@gmail.com, hanad112@hotmail.com