The report noted that, “More than half of an estimated 3.9 – 5.3 million internally displaced people in Colombia are under 18, rendering them even more vulnerable to the threats that caused them to flee their homes in the first place.” Children in Colombia have been subjected to forced recruitment as child soldiers, sexual violence and rape, physical harm and death. Furthermore, they have been denied humanitarian assistance.

Education is at risk in Colombia. According to the report, schools have been used for military purposes. The national armed forces have occupied school buildings or camped nearby. Instead of being a refuge and a place for learning, schools have been utilized as a method of recruitment. In response, guerrilla groups have planted land mines around the schools without recording their locations, preventing children from attending school altogether.

Teachers are under attack as well. The report detailed that according to the teacher’s union in Colombia, “between 1991 and 2011, 871 teachers were killed, about 3,000 threatened, 1,070 forcibly displaced, and 60 reported missing.”

Without education, youth cannot advance their lives and break the cycle of poverty. They end up on the streets even more vulnerable to forced recruitment and physical harm.

The report goes beyond just identifying the severity of the problems facing children in Colombia. It also provides a series of recommendations to governments, NGOs and donors to help support youth and alleviate their suffering.

For nonprofit organizations like Salesian Missions, who has a long standing investment in humanitarian work in Colombia, the report suggests they should offer pyscho-social assistance and income-generating activities for children formerly associated with armed groups. They also recommend providing survivors of sexual violence, particularly in rural areas, adequate psycho-social, medical and legal care and support.

The report also suggests that programs should offer flexible schooling to allow children from rural areas, poor backgrounds, and those who were internally displaced an opportunity to continue to attend school by adapting the times and curriculum to meet their needs.

The report’s recommendations are work the Salesian Missions know all too well.

“The Salesians have been working with youth in Colombia for more than 40 years,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions. “We have built schools in places that previously lacked access to education – like the remote village of Condoto. We provide services to homeless children at Don Bosco City in Medellin as well as focus on critical psycho-social and educational services to displaced youth in refugee camps across the country.”

Don Bosco City in Medellin is one of the oldest and largest programs for street children in Latin America. Beginning in 1965, Don Bosco City has served 83,000 boys and girls. It began in 1965 with 125 children, and today serves more than 1,500 children, youth and families per year. The program serves both boys and girls and goes beyond traditional homeless shelters by providing a three-stage program, culminating in vocational training.

Fr. Hyde says, “Through this model of education and rehabilitation, youth are able to learn the skills needed to support themselves and break the cycle of poverty.”

In Bogota, an internationally-recognized program helps street children overcome challenges – from where to find a nutritious meal to how to pursue an education and find a job. Through the Children of the Street program from the Salesians Youth Service Foundation, instructors who were once street children themselves provide the support and stability needed for at-risk children and youth to rebuild their lives.

With Salesian efforts that focus on providing educational opportunities to children and youth, students in refugee camps learn valuable job skills which will not only provide income, but also reduce the likelihood they will be recruited as child soldiers. More than 70 percent of graduating students are placed in jobs through Salesian Missions partnerships with community organizations and private sector companies.

“No matter the program or population of youth we serve in Colombia, our aim is always to provide market-driven technical vocational training, preventive and curative health treatment, and counseling services,” explained Fr. Hyde. “Our goal is to help alleviate current traumas and provide a foundation of supports and education that will assist youth in years to come and enable them to provide for themselves and their communities.”

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Sources:

Watch List Report – Children & Armed Conflict in Colombia

Salesian Missions – Colombia: Success stories of former child soldiers

Salesian Missions – Colombia

The post COLOMBIA: Watch List Report Highlights Needs of “At Risk” Youth, Salesians Provide Recommended Services first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The Salesian school began the first formal training program in the prosthetics and orthotics fields in Latin America in 1996 and since then, about 230 students from 20 countries have graduated with skills that are in demand in their home countries.

“The training program shows how education and training not only benefit the individual student, but also entire communities, as the students return to work in local hospitals and clinics, and even train others in some cases,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. fundraising arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Fr. Mark adds that most recently the University Don Bosco was able to provide assistance in Haiti, helping children and adults who have had amputations following the 2010 earthquake. Immediately following the earthquake, seven professional technicians aided, providing nearly 200 artificial limbs and more than 100 sessions of orthopedic assistance in Port-au-Prince.

“The aim is to help the people. We know what state the country is in after the earthquake. We know this will also help us in our lives and in our profession,” says Alexis Mendoza, one of the volunteers. Volunteers will be involved in assessing the condition of the patients, planning and fitting the artificial limbs and providing orthopedic help.

During a trip in 2010, Prof. Rolando Martinez Panameño, dean of the School of Re-habilitation Science, estimated that out of approximately 10,000 people in need of help, 4,000 have had an amputation.

In addition to volunteer trips, the University partners with the Ministry of Health, Physicians for Peace and other nongovernmental organizations in Haiti to establish a national training and certification program for the Haitian prosthetic and orthotic community. Students take part in a distance learning course in their native language of Creole, while also training with US professionals.

“We are constantly working to expand our services in Haiti to ensure that people with disabilities are able to contribute to the rebuilding of their country. We know that even before the earthquake, children and adults with disabilities faced enormous challenges as resources in Haiti were stretched far beyond capacity,” says Fr. Mark, citing the World Report on Disabilities statistics that show children with disabilities are less likely to start school than non-disabled children and have lower rates of staying in school. In addition, in OECD countries (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), the employment rate of people with disabilities (44 percent) is slightly over half that for people without disabilities (75 percent).

With additional support from the World Health Organization, distance learning programs available in Spanish, Portuguese, English, and French are now also offered in Angola and Bosnia and Herzegovina, says Fr. Mark.

Almost one-fifth of the estimated global total of one billion persons living with disabilities — or between 110-190 million — encounter significant difficulties including discrimination and lack of adequate health care and rehabilitation services, according to the World Report on Disabilities which was developed with contributions from more than 380 experts and is expected to be a key resource for countries implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The report also cites difficulties associated with a lack of access to transportation and information and communication technologies.

People with disabilities have generally poorer health, lower education achievements, fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities. Children surrounded by poverty, especially those with disabilities, face uncertain futures and overwhelming obstacles.

“Children with disabilities have the same rights as all children, and they deserve the same chance to make the most of their lives and to make their voices heard,” says Anthony Lake, UNICEF executive director. “We need to break down the barriers that prevent full participation of children with disabilities — from programs that ignore their needs, to prejudice that discounts their ability to contribute.”

The remarks were part of Lake’s recent call on Dec. 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, for a greater investment in helping children and young people with disabilities to realize their rights. Lake also renewed the call for universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

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PHOTO: UN Photo/Sophia Paris

Related MissionNewswire article: GLOBAL: UNICEF Calls for Children with Disabilities to be Included in All Development

Sources:

World Report on Disabilities

UNICEF calls for children with disabilities to be included in all development

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: New world report shows more than 1 billion people with disabilities face substantial barriers in their daily lives

International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics

Handicap International

Salesian Lay Missioners

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