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Foreword

Michael Wessells · 6 Nov 2020

Abstract

Worldwide, political violence shatters the rights and well-being of children, families, and communities. It would be a pleasure to write this foreword if political violence were being rolled back and made a thing of the past. In reality, we see the opposite. The numbers of children who are displaced and otherwise affected by political violence have mushroomed, as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that one child in four lives in a war zone or disaster-affected area. As indicated by the horrific use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria and the mass starvation of civilians in Yemen, the nature of armed conflict and political violence continues to morph in ways that damage children’s lives. Although progress is being made in sectors such as child protection and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), millions of children in zones of political violence lack adequate protection and bear heavy burdens of psychological and social suffering and distress in settings where there are few, if any, trained psychologists and psychiatrists to help.