Our Appeal

Information from the Canadian Red Cross (2011).

Children and War

Whether it is in times of conflict, disaster, or humanitarian crisis, children are often one of the first populations impacted.  Armed groups use child soldiers because they are impressionable, readily available, expendable and easily influenced.  There are many organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who actively educate and speak on behalf of child soldiers, so that their stories may be heard in hopes that change will take place.  The Red Cross Child Advocacy and Rehabilitation (CAR) Program implements community initiatives to keep children out of conflict and also provide counseling and education to help reintegrate former child soldiers back into society.  The CAR Program originated in Sierra Leone and was also implemented in Liberia. 

Violence can have devastating effects outside of war too.  Worldwide statistics have shown the following:

     500 million- 1.5 billion children experience violence each year

     150 million girls and 73 million boys are sexually abused each year

     133-275 million children are exposed to family violence each year

     1 in 3 students said they were involved in physical bullying, whether as an aggressor or as a target. 

Local Solutions

RespectED works to decrease and ultimately eliminate these statistics.  It aims to create safe environments free from violence and abuse, especially for children and youth.  Since 1984, the Canadian Red Cross REspectED: Violence & Abuse Prevention program has worked to break the cycle of abuse, neglect, bullying, harassment and interpersonal violence through prevention education and community mobilization.  RespectED volunteers, staff and partners actively engage local communities in promoting healthy relationships and creating safe, healthy environments for young people.  Over the course of twenty five years, the RespectED program has educated well over 400,000 people.

RespectED has 3 main programs steams:

1. Preventing violence against children and youth

2. Promoting healthy dating relationships for youth

3. Preventing bullying and harassment

This is the time for all those working towards violence prevention to renew their efforts, scale up their work and move forward with even more vigor and determination.  Confronting violence is not enough- violence must be put in retreat.  This is the moment to tip the scales.

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