The issue pages available on this site are an excellent background resource for teachers across Canada. They offer very accessible and up-to-date summaries of topics that are often difficult to explain to young people, and their balanced coverage of these issues means that they can be trusted to not mislead or misinform students. Their range is such that they not only cover topics directly related to war-affected children such as conflict diamonds and the psychological effects on children, but also extend to related topics such as “10 False Perceptions about Africa” and “Oil in Colombia”. They can be used to support lessons in this site, but can also supplement other parts of a teacher's courses or be used as starting points for in-depth research or discussions in a number of courses.

10 False Perceptions About Africa Perception #1: Africa is a homogenous continent: It is very common for people to think of Africa as a homogenous continent, and even to refer to Africa as a country. Africa is not a country, but is rather a continent consisting of numerous countries and diverse populations. » View this issue page

Access to Food and Water In February 2000, armed conflict left over 11 million people in 16 developing countries in need of food and aid and vulnerable to malnutrition. Armed conflicts across the world devastate and interfere with access to the most basic needs of people - food and water. » View this issue page

Brief Political History of the DRC The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is located in central Africa and shares borders with nine other countries: The Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia and Angola. The vast natural resources of the DRC, including diamonds, gold, coltan, cobalt, copper and timber, have contributed to a history of colonization... » View this issue page

Canada's Redefinition of Security Views of security have traditionally revolved around the security of states, provided by governments through military means. In the post-Cold War era, the rise of ethnic and civil conflict and transnational threats such as drug trafficking, environmental degradation, and terrorism displayed the arbitrary and ineffective nature of this definition. » View this issue page

Child Soldiers A child soldier is a girl or boy under the age of 18 who is forcibly or voluntarily recruited to participate in hostilities by armed forces, paramilitaries or other armed groups. Child soldiers are used as combatants, sexual slaves, messengers or cooks. » View this issue page

Civil Society Although governments and armed groups are the main actors in armed conflicts and in the brokering of peace agreements, many of the most important peace building efforts are carried out at the grassroots or community levels by civil society organizations. » View this issue page

Clearing Weapons of War One of the most important aspects of peace building in post-conflict situations is increasing human security by clearing the geography of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). Landmines are frequently used in both international and intrastate conflicts, and their legacy is a deadly one. » View this issue page

The Colonial Legacy of the DRC With no less than 28 wars in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1980, numerous regions of the African continent in general, and the DRC in particular, have experienced extreme violence, degradation of the environment and virtual collapse of formal economies due to violent conflict. » View this issue page

Coltan Coltan - or columbite-tantalite - is a dull metallic ore that, once refined, becomes tantalum, a heat-resistant metal powder that can hold a high electrical charge. Coltan, found in three-billion-year-old soils, is widespread in Australia, Brazil, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. » View this issue page

Conflict Diamonds Conflict Diamonds are diamonds that finance the military activities of rebel movements fighting internationally recognized governments, mainly in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone. » View this issue page

Convention on the Rights of the Child The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in November 1989, on the 30th anniversary of the Declaration of Child Rights and the 10th anniversary of the International Year of the Child. The Convention represented the first international, legally binding document in protection of the civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights of children. » View this issue page

Corporate Social Responsibility There are no diamonds in Scotland, and there are no diamonds on the moon. Sometimes it seems that the secrecy surrounding resources from corporations, governments, and rebel groups allows almost anyone to claim anything without being held accountable. » View this issue page

Gender Specific Issues Both men and women suffer during war, but some health impacts of conflict are gender-specific, meaning they impact one gender more than another. While men are more likely to suffer the health consequences of direct violence through combat, women and girls endure the effects of increased sexual violence, hunger and exploitation in refugee camps, high rates of HIV/AIDS, and limited access to health services. » View this issue page

Girl Wives in Northern Uganda Throughout the 20 year conflict in Northern Uganda, thousands of mainly Acholi and Lango young women and girls as young as 8 years old have been abducted from their villages by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and taken into the bush where they are trained to fight, and are forced into domestic and sexual slavery. » View this issue page

Healing Through Art: Sri Lanka The children of Sri Lanka have grown up in the midst of a twenty-year ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil Tigers, a separatist group which claims to represent the Tamil minority. Despite a ceasefire in 2002, children’s lives continue to be disrupted by sporadic violence, recruitment as child soldiers, the destruction of health and education infrastructure, and political instability. » View this issue page

The Impacts of War on Education When a delicate peace has been reached and conflict in a region has ceased, the reconstruction of public spaces and buildings destroyed by war is able to begin. The reconstruction process is an essential part of the return to normalcy for children... » View this issue page

La Francophonie La Francophonie is a cultural and linguistic community representing almost 600 million people who use French in their daily lives. It is also an international community consisting of 51 member states and four observer states and governments located in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and North America. » View this issue page

Millennium Development Goals In a world connected through our common humanity - the air we breathe, the water we drink, the spread of diseases, the goods we trade as well as terrorism, the injustices and suffering experienced in any part of the world are essentially connected to and felt in all other parts of the world. » View this issue page

Night Commuters in Northern Uganda In a region where up to 30,000 children have been abducted from their homes to fight in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Northern Uganda, a collective trauma and climate of fear has overtaken the Acholi and Lango peoples. The streams of young children making the long and dangerous journey into town each and every night are evidence of this distress. » View this issue page

Oil Since 1986, the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Colombia has attacked the Caño Limón oil pipeline over 900 times; in fact, it has been punctured so many times that locals call it “the flute.” By 2002, such attacks had caused 2.6 million barrels of oil to spill and leak into the lakes, rivers, and soil – more than 10 times the oil spills in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. » View this issue page

Orphaned by HIV/AIDS According to UNAIDS, there are currently 25 million people thought to be infected with HIV/AIDS on the continent of Africa. It is also estimated that there are 14 million children under the age of 15 orphaned by AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa alone, a number higher than the total of every boy and girl under the age of 18 in Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Ireland combined. » View this issue page

Peacekeeping Peacekeepers are responsible for observing and helping to implement peace processes by maintaining a stable, secure environment in conflict zones. Peacekeeping missions are based on the idea that multilateral (two or more countries working together), non-military action creates the most suitable conditions for a lasting peace. » View this issue page

The Power of Youth to Build Lasting Peace In the last decade, wars have left 2 million children dead, 5 million disabled, and 12 million homeless. In every part of the globe, youth are the innocent victims of violent conflict. They are often targeted to become soldiers in war, are denied access to education and heath care, and are forced to relocate, or to become refugees as they flee to a foreign country. » View this issue page

Psychological Impacts of War The devastating impacts of war leave few facets of life unscathed. The conditions that surface as a consequence of armed conflict like unemployment, homelessness, and deep physical and psychological trauma, persist once peace agreements have been signed and conflicts cease. » View this issue page

Rape and Sexual Slavery A horrific feature of contemporary conflicts is the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Widespread rape and sexual slavery have been used to humiliate and terrorize civilians in the DRC, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Sudan, Iraq, Chechnya, and Uganda. » View this issue page

Reforming Political Institutions While democracies are not free from internal conflict, democratic institutions do provide peaceful mechanisms for conflict resolution, which can reduce tensions without resulting in violence. » View this issue page

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons The effects of modern conflict on civilians are most visible through the 19 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) who are currently uprooted from their homes, towns and countries as a result of conflict. The protection of those in refugee and IDP camps, and their eventual return to their homes or resettlement in other countries once the conflict has ended, are vital elements of the peace building process. » View this issue page

Resource Wars Resource wars are armed conflicts that are funded in whole or in part by the sale of natural resources – such as diamonds, oil, gold, and timber. There are over 30 wars waging in the world today, and approximately one quarter of these armed conflicts can be classified as resource wars. » View this issue page

Truth and Reconciliation Commissions In states where years of human rights abuses have divided the population, the cycle of violence and revenge can seem endless. In order for the country to move forward in a spirit of community after conflict has ended, there must be a period of collective healing that promotes a sense of national reconciliation or forgiveness. » View this issue page

War and Children's Health The changing dynamics of modern warfare have dramatically increased civilian casualties. Alarmingly, children are among the most vulnerable and are often the first to be harmed when conflict breaks out. As a result, special attention must be paid to the needs of war-affected children. » View this issue page

War and Health Wars and armed conflicts occurring in different parts of the world produce devastating effects on the health of affected societies. Families and communities who are forced to flee their homes must contend with situations that create profound physical and mental stress. » View this issue page

War and the Environment The destructive impact of conflict on the physical environment threatens the existence of rare species of plants and animals, the livelihood of those who depend on the land, the economic reconstruction and recovery of the country once peace has been achieved and the health of civilians. » View this issue page

Wealth and War The combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the poorest 48 nations is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people. And if worldwide spending on weapons were reduced by only 1%, there would be enough money to send every single child in the world to school. » View this issue page

Weapons-Related Injuries Technology has radically changed the way wars are fought and many modern weapons, such as depleted uranium and landmines, have profoundly harmful effects on civilian health. » View this issue page

Women and the Peace Process: Afghanistan Women are frequently the main leaders of peace organizing initiatives at the community level, the regional level, as well as the national level. However, despite their active involvement as grassroots peace builders, women are rarely invited to take part in official peace processes. » View this issue page