Protection of Children During Armed Political Conflict

The purpose of this book is to help researchers and professionals understand the possibilities for protecting children in violent political conflicts. This is the first book to be published on this important, complex and painful topic. Most other publications have concentrated on the effects of political violence on children and adults, but have little or nothing to say on prevention from the point of view of the social sciences. This book represents the beginnings of a new field of inquiry and policy. The book includes: research on the effects of exposure to political violence on children; reports by police and military experts of their experiences in protecting the public and children while keeping order; observations from people in human rights and childrens rights organizations on issues of attempting to report to and observe both sides in a conflict; and work by legal researchers on international law relating to the protection of children in political conflicts.

Philip Veerman holds degrees in psychology, education, social work and human rights. He is an expert in forensic psychology, children’s rights, child protection, history of education, international human rights, and international cooperation. He wrote a doctoral dissertation in the field on the rights of the child. He has been in charge of the work of the postmaster in mental health care psychology (training psychologists within the work setting) at Bouman mental health services in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Now he is the project leader of a project on interagency cooperation in order to fight child trafficking better. And for the Dutch courts he is an independent expert (adults- criminal law - psychology). In addition he did research and advocacy work (among others on the issue of child-soldiers). He has been setting up many new and innovative organizations in child welfare and children’s rights in different cultural settings. He started projects in the Netherlands, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.