Children in emergencies and conflicts
[3] Exposure to prolonged stress, environmental toxins or nutritional deficits chemically alter genes in the foetus or young child and may shape the individual's development temporarily or permanently.
[4] When trauma occurs at critical times of development for the foetus or young child, the impact on specialized cells for organs such as the brain, heart, or kidney can result in underdevelopment with lifetime implications for physical and mental health.
[13] Thabet et al.[14] examined the behavioural and emotional problems of 309 Palestinian pre-schoolers, and found that direct and indirect exposure to war trauma increased the risk of poor mental health.
[17][2] Common symptoms in this age bracket include disturbing thoughts and images, nightmares, eating and sleeping disorders, noncompliance, irritability, extreme withdrawal, outbursts of anger and fighting, disruptive behaviour, inability to pay attention, irrational fears, regressive behaviour, depression and anxiety, feeling of guilt and emotional numbing, excessive clinging, headaches, nausea and visual or hearing problems.
[2] Al-Amine and Liabre[19] revealed that 27.7 per cent of Lebanese children aged between 6 and 12 developed symptoms of PTSD, as well as from problems sleeping, agitation, difficulties in concentrating and excessive awareness of events related to the 2006 Lebanese-Israeli war.
[21][22] However, rates of PTSD for children living in chronic conflict conditions varies from 15 to 50 per cent[23] as evidenced in the following countries: Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Rwanda, South Africa, and Sudan.
[30] Children with mobility, visual and hearing disabilities or intellectual impairments may feel particularly vulnerable if an emergency leads to the relocation of school and the learning of new daily routines.
During emergencies, long unsafe distances to school, the lack of buildings with adequate facilities and equipment and teachers with minimum qualifications, are likely to be overwhelming challenges for young children with disabilities to be enrolled in day care and early education.
[2] Other research has found that girls express more worry,[31] anxiety and depressive disorders,[32] and PTSD symptoms[33][22] while boys show more behavioural problems in the aftermath of a disaster.
Pre-schools and schools are often destroyed or closed due to hazardous conditions depriving young children of the opportunity to learn and socialize in a safe place that provides a sense of routine.
Low enrollment rates in early education programmes decrease the opportunity for young children to find a safe space where they flourish and release the stress and tension resulting from the emergency.
Pre-school and school age Palestinian children exposed to severe losses, wounding and home destruction had impaired cognitive capacity for attention and concentration.
[37][2] Many programmes and strategies, whether in the formal or non-formal education sector, have proved to be very supportive to the well-being and recovery of young children living in areas of conflict.
Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) programmes have been found valuable in creating a sense of normality and providing coping skills and resilience to children affected by emergencies.
They also offer opportunities to learn about risks in their environment and build life skills, such as literacy and non-violent conflict resolution, and provide a useful means of mobilizing communities around children's needs.
[2] Several studies show that children who have participated in quality education programmes within schools tend to have better knowledge of hazards, reduced levels of fear and more realistic risk perceptions than their peers.
Interventions such as storytelling, singing, jumping rope, role-play activities, team sports and writing and drawing exercises helped to reduce psychological distress associated with exposure to conflict-related violence in Sierra Leone for children aged 8 to 18.
