On 26 July 2004, Alex James, station manager of Citizen FM, a privately-owned community radio station located in the east of the capital, Freetown, was attacked by a group of armed youth in the community. James was returning home from work when he was attacked by the youth, who robbed him of his jewellery, cash and two mobile phones. Three days later, on the night of 29 July, the same armed youth group assaulted Alie Bai Kamara, a Citizen FM reporter, and left him in a coma. The youths left Kamara with lacerated lips, bruised arms and swollen eyes.

Panos and GKP have called for submissions for the 2004 "Reporting on the Information Society" awards. The topic for this year is "Transparency, good governance and democracy: Do Information and Communication Technologies increase accountability?" Four awards of $1,000 each will be made for the best journalism on this topic produced by journalists in developing and transition countries.

On 18 July 2004, Deo Namujimbo, a Goma-based correspondent for the international news agency Syfia, based in Montpellier, France, was forced to evacuate his family to Bukavu and go into hiding to "escape from soldiers who [were] searching for him". The soldiers are reportedly aligned with rebel General Laurent Nkunda and are led by a commander known only as "Claude". Goma is the main city in North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

On 8 July 2004, police in Kano State, northwestern Nigeria, released Kola Oyelere, the Kano State correspondent for the privately-owned "Nigerian Tribune" newspaper. Oyelere was arrested by police on 4 July on charges of publishing false information. Oyelere was initially declared wanted on 4 July and arrested later the same day. He was detained, reportedly tortured and subsequently charged on 5 July.

Soul Beat is a web and e-newsletter project that is building a development communication network for people and organisations in Africa. It is a web-based initiative focusing specifically on sharing information about using communication for change and development in Africa. We cover development work that uses media, such as radio, TV, telecommunications, print media, the internet, new media technologies, drama or art to reach people. We also feature awards and funding opportunities.

ProCOR is an email- and web-based forum for the global exchange of information and ideas to prevent cardiovascular disease, especially in developing countries.

The International Criminal Court has published its first newsletter, providing updates on current issues before the Court.

Based on the knowledge of frontline grassroots human rights defenders all over the world, this handbook, published by Forefront (a global network of human rights defenders), is a comprehensive guide to securing international and local financial resources to support human rights work. Geared for activists and organizations, the handbook includes: tips on writing grant proposals; an exhaustive list of international foundations and donors; creative strategies for local fundraising (including events, campaigns, publications); and how to maximize limited resources through volunteers and alliances.

In a bid to provide cheap telephone services to rural communities, Nigeria's federal government has launched a $200m rural telephony programme for the country. The programme will be delivered in three projects spread across 343 local government areas.

The website, Zim Online, this week reported that the Zimbabwe government is planning to acquire high-tech equipment from China for the purpose of bugging the internet. According to the site, 'authoritative sources within Posts and Telecommunications (PTC) and government circles have revealed that the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) is already looking into ways of controlling internet communication as soon as the equipment arrives.'

Since the 1990s, increasing attention has been drawn to child soldiering in Africa. While greater awareness is important in responding to the use of children as soldiers, popular images have too often sensationalized the issue, with counter-productive consequences. Ubiquitous media images of boys with guns as the epitome of child soldiering and girl sex slaves as 'victims' of conflict obscure the fact that many other children and young people, both male and female, play a variety of different, and often simultaneous, roles in conflict.

In recognition of these multiple roles, and concerned that some of the less visible child soldiers were being ignored and hence overlooked in demobilisation programmes, a group of agencies working with children in conflict met in Cape Town in 1997 to establish a working definition:

"A child soldier is any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to cooks, porters, messengers, and those accompanying such groups, other than purely as family members."

By casting the net wide, this definition challenges the predominant narrow conceptualisation of child soldiers and takes into account less visible roles, often played by girls and young women. In order to adequately 'see' both girls and boys in fighting forces, we need to sharpen our insight into differential patterns of recruitment, experiences in conflict and demobilisation in different contexts, taking into account factors such as sex, age, ethnicity and socio-economic status.

Recruitment

While it is often assumed that children are forcibly recruited into armed forces and groups, conscription, abduction and gang-pressing of children are relatively rare, although highest in Africa. Despite the ambiguity of 'voluntary' recruitment in contexts of severely constrained choices, we must seek to understand the complex rationale in young people's decision to join out of ideological commitment, self-defence, economic survival or increased opportunities.

In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, ethnic dimensions of the conflict and deliberate targeting of civilians have provoked military reaction by young people to defend their communities and/or avenge deaths. Viewing defence as a collective responsibility for communities in conflict areas, boys and young men have historically joined local militias and defence units, such as the gardiens de la paix in Burundi.

In the face of widespread sexual violence and gender inequality, girls in different contexts have joined armed forces and groups seeking protection or social mobility. Finally, both male and female children and young people have seen armed forces and groups as one of the only means of employment, and hence survival, in contexts of widespread socio-economic deprivation.

Roles and experiences

Monolithic stereotypes of boys with guns and girls as 'simply' 'bush wives', 'sex slaves' or 'camp followers' belie the multiple roles and experiences of young people in fighting forces. While girls have historically played support roles within armed forces and groups, acting as domestic workers, cooks and porters, many others actively engage in hostilities as combatants, suicide bombers and commanders.

For example, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) has a women's auxiliary corps, in which many girls have participated. Children may also act as spies, undertaking fact-finding and reconnaissance missions because they are less conspicuous and therefore less likely to be regarded with suspicion. These roles are not mutually exclusive; in many contexts, children undertake both combatant, as well as non-combatant reproductive and productive labour. For example, Mazurana and McKay (2004) report that girls in Angola were often simultaneously fighters and 'wives'.

Although child soldiers - both boys and girls - are often more at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation than their adult counterparts (Alfredson 2001), it should not be assumed that all children and young people have had these experiences. As Brett (2002) argues, to do so is to deny their individual experiences, treat them as actual or potential sexual objects and contribute to their further stigmatisation and discrimination.

Demobilisation and reintegration

In many situations, the erroneous equation of 'child soldier' with 'combatant' has meant that children and young people playing less visible roles in armed forces and groups have been neglected in disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programmes. For example, in March 2000, the UN Security Council noted that the DDR process in Angola had inadvertently excluded some children, particularly girls, by making the surrender of weapons the criterion for eligibility in the programmes. Some girls and young women face additional barriers to participation in demobilisation programmes, particularly if they have been sexually involved with members of armed forces or groups. These men may consider them their 'wives' or 'property' and block their demobilisation (McConnan and Uppard 2001). The shame of pre-marital sex in many cultures may prevent girls and young women from returning to communities, fearing social stigma and rejection (McKay and Mazurana 2000).

DDR policy and programming also often fail to address the causes, including gendered dimensions, of children's recruitment in the first place. For children and young people who have gained a sense of power and belonging within armed forces and groups, peace may come as a 'disappointment' (Barth 2003), if they are expected to return to traditional roles in hierarchical societies segregated by age and sex (La Fontaine 1985).

Demobilised young people may not stay in their former communities because they have experienced many identity and personal changes. For girls, this may result in gender role discontinuity at all levels of daily life. "Because they changed as a result of their experiences, they challenge traditional roles that they cannot accept, hence the notion of 'troublesome girls' who do not adhere to normal gender roles." (McKay and Mazurana 2004)

Reintegration approaches must therefore involve entire communities, taking into account shifting social, political, economic and gender contexts. This dynamic process entails not only young people adapting to often “disjointed, displaced, reconfigured” communities, but also communities recognising and accepting how girls and boys have changed because of their experiences (McKay and Mazurana 2004).

Towards an alternative approach: Engaging with children as actors in conflict

Moving away from monolithic assumptions about 'boys with guns' and 'girls as sex slaves' requires a recognition of children and young people as actors in the context of conflict. Taking into account the multiplicity of roles and experiences of girls and boys involved in fighting forces means analysing patterns of individual experiences against the backdrop of specific, gendered, localised contexts. In other words, we need to ensure that the general categorization of 'child soldiers' does not essentialize particular groups of children, masking their individual differences. The challenge is to render visible all of the so-called 'invisible soldiers' (Brett and McCallin 1998) - male and female; combatant and non-combatant; in government forces and armed opposition groups - and to seek to understand their experiences as human beings, rather than objectified stereotypes.

* Christina Clark volunteers for Fahamu and is currently undertaking doctoral research on the political roles of displaced young people at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. Previously, she was Africa programme coordinator at the Child Soldiers Coalition and has worked in various capacities at the Canadian International Development Agency. Click on the link for references.

* International Youth Day takes place on August 12. Visit for more information.

* Please send comments to [email protected]

An organisation in Senegal, ENDA, has published an advocacy document presenting the major issues faced by African countries and their inclusion in the information society, as perceived by women. With a forward by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), the document is described as a 'tool for public, private and civil society stakeholders and decision-makers for integrating gender into ICT policies to contribute to a fair, plural and inclusive African information society.'

The Performing Arts Network of South Africa (PANSA) is holding three fundraising workshops in September. Click on the URL for more details.

Lwati is the monthly e-newsletter of the Southern African Non-Governmental Organisation Network (SANGONeT).

Newly-freed newspaper editor Madiambal Diagne has said he hopes his two-week spell in prison will bring about changes to media laws in Senegal, whose reputation as a haven of democracy in West Africa has been dented by the episode, according to a report by UN agency IRIN. Diagne, the editor of independent newspaper Le Quotidien, was jailed on 9 July after he published articles about alleged fraud in the customs service and alleged government interference in the judiciary.

The Algerian government has jailed several journalists critical of its president and slapped a "temporary freeze" on the Arabic satellite channel al-Jazeera. It is the most severe attack on the freedom of the press since President M. Abdelaziz Bouteflika came to power in April 1999. The North African country has one of the freest print medias in the Arab world.

The Benue State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in north central Nigeria has expressed concern over the recent spate of threats against journalists in the state. The Council in a statement issued on July 28, 2004 and signed by Ben Bem Mnguityo, chairman and Owojecho Omoha, secretary, said it has "received complaints from some of its members that they are intimidated and harassed by some persons in the state to the point that journalists now fear their own shadows."

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN says it has noted the release on 9 July 2004 of Tewodros Kassa. The former editor of the weekly newspaper "Ethop" had served his two-year sentence in full. Kassa was sentenced on 10 July 2002, on the grounds that he had "fabricated information that could incite people to political violence" and that he had defamed a "Mr. Duki" by "disseminating false information through the newspaper". The charges related to three "Ethop" articles published in 2001.

Civil Society Observer is a bi-monthly package of documentation of various kinds from all political persuasions to keep you informed of developments related to NGOs and civil society.

Karibu Books and TransAfrica Forum's Writers' Corner are presenting Arthur R Ashe's book, 'A Continent for the Taking', on Friday 6th August at 1426 21st Street, Washington. The book explores the legacy of colonization on contemporary African countries such as the DRC, Liberia, Mali and Nigeria. The event will start from 6.30 and more information is available on the website and by e-mail: