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MESSAGE

On October 1992, in a special discussion on

children and armed conflict initiated by the

Committee on the Rights of the Child of the

United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the

plight of children caught in war or conflict gained

its most important audience: the world. The

following year, the UN General Assembly adopted

a resolution calling for the Secretary-General to

appoint an independent expert to lead a study on

the impact of armed conflict on children: Graa Machel - a Mozambican

educator and international advocate for children. Her groundbreaking

report, the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, was presented to the

General Assembly in 1996, which led to the creation of the Office of the

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed

Conflict (OSRSG-CAAC) in September 1997. It was unanimously endorsed

and has continued to move the world ever since.

In almost two decades since it was presented to the United Nations

General Assembly, Graa Machelsreport on the agony of children trapped

in armed conflict continues to rouse moral outrage and has been a

foundation for programming and advocacy the same foundation I believe

that the founders and stakeholders of the Save the Children of War in

Basilan Association, Inc.have laid down for the children of war in Basilan.

Machel has always believed [it is our] responsibility as adults to

give children futures worth having, and this is clearly not lost on the

Association as clearly enunciated in its inaugural theme Healing the past,

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Celebrating the present, Saving the future. It is worth noting that the

primary interventions that the organization uses is well-enshrined in two

out of the ten recommendations in the Graca report, which are: (1) Peace

and security - The needs of children and women must be at the heart of all

actions to resolve conflicts and implement peace agreements; and (2)Health, psychosocial well-being and education - These should be the

pillars of all humanitarian assistance for children in emergencies.

Psychosocial well-being can best be ensured through community rather

than institutional approaches.

Graca once said that she was shocked and angered to see how

shamefully [we] have failed in this responsibility. With the help of

Clinica de Lamitan, the Philippine Army and the Armed Forces of thePhilippines, the Child Fund International, the Furigay Colleges Inc., and

many other like-minded entities we hope that love and hope (not shock

and anger) descend on these children we seek to save from the physical

and psychological harm of war and conflict.

God bless the Association, at mabuhay po kayong lahat!

Rep. FRANCISCO ASHLEY Ace ACEDILLO

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