LTTE, UNICEF to review Action Plan

The United Nations Children’s agency, UNICEF, and the Liberation Tigers this week agreed to review a bilateral program drawn up two years ago to rehabilitate children affected by war, including former combatants.

“UNICEF concur with the LTTE that the Action Plan needs to be reviewed in the light of changing social necessities,” Ms. JoAnna Van Gerpen, the new Country Head of UNICEF in Sri Lanka was quoted as saying, following a meeting with the head of the LTTE’s Political Wing, Mr. S. P. Tamilselvan Tuesday.

The Action Plan was initially agreed in discussions between the LTTE and the then country head of UNICEF, Mr. Ted Chaiban, in March 2003. Based on the guiding principles of the best interests of the child, the plan spells out an integrated approach to programming for the welfare of children.

The plan covered Child Rights training, awareness campaigns, a mechanism for release and reintegration of underage recruits and a monitoring mechanism. It also included plans for micro credit facilities and income generation activities for children and their families and vocational training. The education, health and nutrition of all vulnerable children, as well as the provision of psychosocial care were covered under the plan.

Mr. Tamilselvan thanked the UNICEF Country Head Tuesday for her immediate and positive response to review and re-activate the Action Plan for affected children.

“UNICEF has a challenging job in this area to muster support from partners to provide livelihood for the families of children,” said Mr. Tamilselvan, while also acknowledging the difficulty UNICEF faced in organising gainful vocational training plans for youths.

“We will provide full support to implement projects for the betterment of children whether it is in health, education or employment through vocational training,” he promised.

Assuring the UNICEF Country Head that the LTTE is fully committed to working with the organisation and other partners interested in the welfare of children, Mr. Tamilselvan made a request that steps be taken to not allow the plight of children from war and tsunami affected families to be hijacked by people with political agendas.

“It is essential to look deeper into the problem of children seeking refuge with the LTTE, not just symptomatically but with a realistic causative perspective,” said Mr. Tamilselvan.

He said that the increasing numbers of youths volunteering to enrol are from the military occupied areas and is an indicator to the unbearable conditions of military harassment in those areas.

“There is no necessity to take in under-age children, but we have to look into the compelling circumstances that motivate these children to seek enrolment” Mr. Tamilselvan said.

“Unlike in the past, we have put in place a remuneration scheme for those between the ages of 18 and 40 and these are the recruits that are provided with military training,” he said.

Mr. Tamilselvan told the UNICEF Country Head that regardless of the political resolution to the conflict, the two organisations should work together to provide war and tsunami displaced families with a livelihood so that their children would benefit.

Expressing appreciation of the work done by UNICEF’s local representative, Ms. Penny Brune, Mr. Tamilselvan said that the other district representatives too should strive to understand the complexity of the problem of children seeking enrolment with the LTTE.

The time requirement for verification of age, wrong information and the family conditions are among the issues the organisation faces in determining the age of those seeking enrolment.

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