Comparative Study Release: Neither War nor Peace

Neither War nor Peace takes you on a journey from the favelas of Brazil to the streets of the USA, to townships in Nigeria and villages in the Philippines to explore the growing involvement of children and youth in organized armed conflicts unrelated to war. Relying on both qualitative and quantitative research, neither War nor Peace is a comparative analysis of children and youth in organized armed conflicts in 10 different countries across 4 continents. Edited by Luke Dowdney, the study contextualises local circumstances for every city, includes interviews with youth involved in such conflicts, and offers recommendations for strategies and public policies to help curb this trend.

This international study was coordinated by COAV, an international network founded by the Brazilian NGO Viva Rio, along with the International Action Net on Small Arms (IANSA). Sweden’s Save the Children, the Ford Foundation and Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) also collaborated on the analysis. neither War nor Peace is the follow-up to a 2003 publication entitled Children of the Drug Trade, completed by Viva Rio and Brazil’s Institute for Religious Studies (ISER), and builds upon a 2002 seminar on Children Affected by Organised Armed Violence, held in Rio de Janeiro.

 

The book argues that the growing phenomenon of children and youth in organised armed conflicts is very real, but preventable. It highlights the ineffectiveness of repressive action, which often only serves to aggravate the problem. Instead, the authors emphasize the importance of capacity-building and improving access to resources and opportunities. They advocate social development and adaptation to local circumstance while building the potential for positive futures.