Caught in the Crossfire pdf - Unicef

Caught in the Crossfire
A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected
by conflict (written for the new curriculum).
Unite for Children
Whakakotahi mö te Tamariki

Before teaching this unit please consider children in your class or school, or their families, who may have been
directly involved in or associated with conflict situations. As appropriate, inform them of the content and get their
views on the teaching of it before proceeding.
Our thanks goes to:
Tania McBride who held a position as UNICEF Communications Officer in Darfur and is a former Christchurch
College of Education Lecturer, and Ryan Gaffaney and Edina MacFarland from St. John’s College, Hastings for their
assistance and valuable feedback during the writing of this resource.
Front Cover Photo Credits: ©UNICEF/NYHQ2006-0462/Mariella Furrer – A soldier with a machine gun stands guard as
women participate in a rally to launch the ‘Go to School’ campaign, in Juba, capital of Southern Sudan.
Back Cover Photo Credits: ©UNICEF/NYHQ2001-0093/Stevie Mann – Adolescent boys wearing civilian clothes walk
away from the weapons they once carried as child soldiers during a demobilisation ceremony, Sudan, 2001.
The captions for all photos in this booklet can be found on page 36
Written by Cathy Maslin
©UNICEF New Zealand 2009
PO Box 10459, The Terrace, Wellington 6143
web: www.unicef.org.nz email: schools@unicef.org.nz

Contents
Unit Plan 2
A Social Inquiry Overview 5
Topic Ice-Breaker 6
The Effect of Conflict on Children 10
Voices of Children Caught in Conflict 14
Responding to a Complex Emergency 18
Innovation For the Benefit of Children 22
Disarming Myths and Summing Up 26
Answers 30
Photo Captions 36
CD Contents:
• Caught in the Crossfire (pdf)
• UNICEF Television Clips
• Case Studies
• Photos
• Documents and Publications
• Protection of Children Affected by Conflict (Power-point)
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
If your class needs background information on the Convention, class sets of leaflets summarising the Convention
are available free of charge. Contact UNICEF New Zealand to place your order.

Unit Plan
Title of Unit: Caught in the Crossfire
Context: Children affected by conflict
Year: 10
Level: 5
Setting: Global
Perspective: Age
Duration: 6-8 Periods
Approach: Inquiry
Achievement Objective
Students will gain knowledge, skills and experience to understand
how people define and seek human rights.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
• Understand how the affect of war on children has led people to
define and seek to meet children’s rights
• Develop an empathy towards and an awareness of children
who live without their basic rights being met
• Be better empowered to assess and decide upon their own
responses by studying how others respond to situations where
children’s rights are compromised
Learning Area
Identity, Culture and Organisation
Students learn about communities who experience conflict and how
the changes to the functioning of these societies during time of crises
affects children. They also learn about the role of organisations and
individuals who seek human rights in this context and what influence
their actions have on children impacted by conflict.
(The Identity, Culture and Organisation learning area wording from
the NZ curriculum has been tailored to the context).
Key Competencies
Thinking – using creative and critical thinking to develop
understanding; take informed action and make decisions through
problem solving; and apply knowledge and research.
Participating and Contributing – connecting with others and
being able to contribute appropriately to the global community;
understanding the importance of rights, roles and responsibilities to
the social, cultural and economic operation of society.
Values
Students will be encouraged to value:
• Innovation, inquiry, and curiosity, by thinking critically, creatively
and reflectively.
• Integrity which involves being honest, responsible and
accountable and acting ethically.
• Community and participation for the common good.
• Respect for themselves, others and human rights.
Assessment
Assignment – Students are required to communicate the concerns
of children affected by conflict to the New Zealand public through
the creation of a social networking page or a magazine article. An
assessment matrix is provided.
Formative Assessment – Although not graded, marking the activities
throughout the unit will provide an indication of students’ current
understanding and highlight areas where more learning support
is required. Of particular interest may be the completed graphic
organisers, students own definitions of life saving, life sustaining
and development, the completed activities from the lesson on new
innovations for use in emergencies, and the attitude and response
sheets from lesson six.
Unit Review – A short multi-choice test at the end of the unit is
designed to ascertain if the unit’s learning outcomes have been
achieved.
Resources Required
CD (see pocket on the inside cover of this resource)
Access to computers and the internet
Newspapers
Data Projector (to show a power-point presentation)
Using Language, Symbols, and Texts – using text and images to
convey and learn ideas through an assignment and in class work, and
using oral language through discussions and sharing to help students
convey and construct knowledge.
Relating to Others – relate to others by negotiating solutions in a
group, listening to others’ viewpoints and voicing opinions.

Teaching and Learning
Activities
1. Introduction to the unit through two
topic ice-breakers. One looks at child
soldiers using video clips and case
study excerpts before getting students
to participate in value continuums
about issues surrounding children’s
involvement in war. The other splits the
class into groups and gets them to work
out their response to a given scenario
involving children affected by conflict.
An optional glossary exercise is provided
to familiarise students with uncommon
words used in the unit.
©UNICEF/AFGA2009-00006/Shehzad Noorani
part of seeking to address the needs of children affected by conflict.
An assignment (see assessment) is given to be completed by the
end of the unit.
2. Students brainstorm the effects of conflict on children using a
Y-Chart and then take a look at the global distribution of conflict. This
is followed by a comprehension activity where students complete
a graphic organiser showing the different ways a child’s life can be
impacted by war. The graphic organiser associates the effects of war
on children with child rights.
3. Looking at recent newspaper articles about conflict, students
examine how children in conflict are portrayed by the news media
and discuss ethical guidelines for reporting on children. A teaching
point illustrates how defining what children’s rights are is a necessary
4. Examples of how people are currently seeking to meet the rights
of children affected by war, are covered in this lesson. Using a
power-point, students are informed about UNICEF’s responses to
help children at different stages throughout a complex emergency.
A mix and match activity, matching captions, images and stages of
response is then carried out in groups. An optional game to further
students’ ability to process the information is also provided.
5. The development of two new innovations employed to help
children in emergency situations are investigated: One through online
research and analysis, and the other through a flow chart and the
application of information taken
from a piece of written text.
6. Common myths associated
with seeking or responding
to human rights in complex
and natural emergencies are
addressed through a true/false
exercise. Learning undertaken
throughout the unit is processed
and evaluated through several
activities including drama or
debate. As part of this lesson
students decide on their own
personal response to what they
have learnt.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0533/Photographer Unknown

© UNICEF/NYHQ1994-0881/Roger LeMoyne

A Social Inquiry Overview
Focus of learning/topic
Children affected by conflict.
Concepts
Child Rights (Human Rights);
Representation;
Innovation;
Development
Conceptual
Understandings
Understand how the effect of war on
children has led people to define and seek
to meet children’s rights.
Developed through
Finding out information
• How are children’s lives affected by conflict?
• What new innovations have there been to help children in
emergencies?
• How did they come about?
• Which rights are denied to children caught up in conflict?
Considering responses
and decisions
• What and who influences the decisions people make
when helping children affected by conflict?
• How does the context influence the types of responses
undertaken to respond to the rights of children in conflict
situations?
• What are the ways in which people respond to help
children in complex emergencies?
Reflecting and
evaluating
• Where or who do we get most of our information
about children affected by conflict from?
• How does looking at what happens to children
involved in conflict help us to understand why
people feel the need to define and seek the rights
of children?
• What impacts do or could new innovations
have on meeting the rights of children
effected by conflict?
Further inquiry within future learning
Further inquiry within the current focus of learning
So what?
Exploring values and perspectives
• After analysing media articles about conflict think about:
- Whose viewpoints are represented in the articles?
- What is said about children?
- What could a child’s perspective add to the news reports?
- What precautions can be taken when reporting on
children to ensure their safety?
• How would you convey the concerns of children affected by
conflict to New Zealanders?
So what do we now know about this? What can I recall about what I have learnt? Do I understand the connection between children’s rights and conflict?
So what does this mean for us/others? Has my learning influenced how I would respond to situations where children’s rights are not being met? If so,
how? When did New Zealand sign The Convention on the Rights of the Child and what responsibilities do we have as a result? Have I ever met someone
who has experienced conflict or come from a country involved in conflict? How will being aware of some of the situations they may have known, witnessed or
experienced, help me to understand them better?
Now what?
Now what further learning do we need? What more do I need to learn about children affected by conflict and meeting their rights? How do organisations
like UNICEF respond to meet human or child rights/needs in other contexts? Now what might be done about it? Where do I stand on issues regarding
children’s rights? Is it an area I would like to get more involved with at a local or global level? If so, how can I apply the knowledge and skills I have now, or
what knowledge and skills will I want to gain in the future, so I can contribute towards the goal of meeting children’s rights? Is there any particular context that
interests me?
Template ©Crown

Lesson One Topic Ice-Breaker
AIM
To introduce students to the
complexities faced by those trying
to help children affected by conflict.
Task One – Introduction
Briefly introduce the class to the life of a child soldier and get them to participate in a
set of value continuums. When introducing a topic it is good to realise what position we
approach the topic from.
Read the extract below to your students or handout copies of a case study on
Ishmael provided on the enclosed CD. Alternatively show them a video clip of Ishmael
Beah being interviewed on You Tube. Search under the name Ishmael Beah on
www.youtube.com. Two clips Eye to Eye (CBS News) and Ishmael Beah (Child Soldiers)
are equally worth viewing.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Mechanisms
Build and sustain a learning community
by using dialogue to shape a collective
learning opportunity.
Building conceptual understandings
Look for students’ understanding that
there are obstacles to be overcome
when seeking children’s (and human)
rights.
Developing critical thinking
Look for students’ level of engagement
in the thinking process, through the
asking and answering of questions, as
they explore the complexities of helping
children affected by conflict.
Ishmael Beah, who is from Sierra Leone, was 13 when he became a child soldier. Here
he talks about how he came to be released.
“I had been in the war for a little bit over two years and my life had basically become
just fighting and violence had become my reality. UNICEF went in and started setting
up local rehabilitation centres through the country …they also went into the forest and
tried to talk to the commanders and this part of the work of UNICEF I always try to tell
people. Sometimes you couldn’t understand that person’s willingness just to go and
discuss with the commander that it is important to remove children and save a lot of
lives. It begins to introduce this idea of the respect for human rights in places where the
respect for human life no longer exists.
For me, this is how I was able to get out of the war, because somebody was brave and
willing enough to go into the bushes and ask these commanders, “can we have some
kids?”. I was released and brought to the rehabilitation centre. I didn’t know who these
people were and why did they care about me? I had learned to distrust people so why
should I trust them?”
(This excerpt is taken from an interview with Ishmael Beah while he was visiting
UNICEF in Spain on the 9 February 2008. A longer version is available in pdf format on
the enclosed CD.)
Following this brief introduction to the life of a child soldier get your students to evaluate
their responses to the issues raised using a values continuum. Read the statements
listed on page 8 one at a time and get the students to stand somewhere on a line where
the left hand point represents agreeing with the statement and the right hand point
represents disagreeing with the statement. Get each student or a couple of students to
give their reasons for the place where they have chosen to stand.
PAGE 6
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

LINKS TO A SOCIAL
INQUIRY APPROACH
Considering responses and decisions
What and who influences the decisions
people make when helping children
affected by conflict?
TEACHING POINT
The scenarios are based on real
life situations. However, in real
emergencies those who assist
would be aware of how others
have responded to similar
problems and what resources are
available to be used; however,
each case is different.
Task Two – Group Scenarios
Split the class into four groups. Place the A4 scenario cards (included with this booklet)
around the classroom and get each group to rotate, spending 5-10 minutes at each station
to discuss the answers to the questions posed on the reverse of the cards. Give each
group different coloured paper to write their solutions on and ask them to place them in
a post box before they rotate again. After everyone has rotated come back together as
a class. Pick out several postings to discuss. You may also want to choose one post box
and compare/contrast the different groups’ responses to the same scenario. Note if you
have a large class you may want to have eight groups and duplicate the scenario cards.
The following questions can be used when looking at the postings:
Ask the group what had the most influence on their answer to this scenario and why?
(e.g. was it the available resources, the time constraints, the children’s safety or needs,
the community’s possible response etc). Discuss.
How does the class think their solutions have been different if….. they knew they had
access to more resources? They had more time to put the solution into place? People’s
attitudes were different? Children weren’t in immediate danger?
For the group in question, how difficult was it to come up with a workable solution? Was
there anything this situation presented that they hadn’t thought about before?
Task Three – Wacky Words (optional)
Some words appear in the unit that may be unfamiliar to students so this activity is
designed to help students understand the meaning of a word before they encounter it
during the unit.
Read out each word listed on page 9 and its meaning one at a time. Get your students to
draw an icon or picture to represent each word. This could be decided collectively with
the class or each student could come up with their own. Following this write the words
on the whiteboard (scramble the order) and get students to go back to their pictures and
write the correct word beside them and its meaning. Go through the answers together,
discussing the meanings again as you do so.
Extension
© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0053/Iyad El Baba
Get students to examine the scenario photos and to guess what countries the photos
were taken in and what was happening at the time they were taken. Provide the true
captions, listed in the answer section and compare. Any surprises?
PAGE 7

SUPPORTING RESOURCES FOR LESSON ONE TASKS
Values Continuum
Statements
1. Children who have been soldiers still need to be held
accountable for the crimes such as murder or theft that
they committed while they were soldiers.
4. Ishmael’s story demonstrates that the efforts people
make to help children in conflict are worth it.
2. Children need their rights protected more than adults
because they are less able to help themselves.
5. Organisations such as UNICEF, who seek child rights,
should only act if the children involved want them to.
3. Children who are affected by war should be helped
by their own people it doesn’t concern us.
6. It should be illegal, in all countries, for anyone to
involve children under the age of 18 in fighting or an
armed group.
Group Scenarios
1. A group of child soldiers has been demobilised from an armed
group and you need to decide what happens to them next. Home
is the best place for them but a lot of the children were forced to
commit crimes against their families and communities. It is hard
for the communities to forgive or forget this. The children have
spent all their formative years in an armed group, they have
difficulty knowing how to act in a community environment. They
have also missed out on an education. What do you do? Who do
you get to help you?
3. A ceasefire has been reached between two warring factions in
your country, however, there are a number of UXO (Unexploded
Ordinances – e.g. landmines) buried in the ground and lying
around. You are responsible for coming up with an action plan
to protect children. Children are often attracted to the devices
because they are bright and shiny. Children will still need to be
able to go to school, to play and receive healthcare. What do you
plan to do? Who do you get to help you?
2. You have just been woken up by your cell phone ringing. The
person calling you informs you that your region has been under
attack overnight. The bullet stuck into the wall above you verifies
his words. There are hundreds of thousands of people without
access to water. There are water tankers which could get water
from a reservoir just out of town but any potential drivers would
risk their lives. Responding to this problem is your job and you
are in a position where you have access to money. People will
only survive without water for a very short time. What do you
do? Who do you get to help you?
4. It has been several months since the conflict in your country
ended. The schools which were damaged have had basic repairs
carried out, and tent schools have been set up near other school
sites where schools were completely destroyed. There are still
not enough classrooms for all the expected pupils. During the
war a number of teachers lost their lives so there are not enough
teachers for all the pupils who will return to school in four weeks
time. Sufficient school supplies such as text books and writing
materials are available for all potential students. You are coordinating
the “Get Back to School” campaign. How do you
manage to offer all children the opportunity to go back to school
with the resources you have? Who do you get to help you?
PAGE 8
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

Wacky Words
Child Soldiers
(now more commonly referred to as Children Associated with Armed Groups) - any child – boy
or girl – 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 anyone
accompanying such groups other than family members. The definition, therefore, does not only refer
to a child who is carrying, or has carried, weapons.
Ethical
An ethical action is one which is taken responsibly in keeping with moral principles.
Demobilised/
Demobilisation armed groups.
To release soldiers or people associated with fighting forces from service with the military or
Re-integrate
To bring a person back into a group on an equal footing.
Shrapnel
Fragments of bombs, mines or bullets.
Amenities
Something available for the convenience or comfort of a population (e.g. public toilets,
public library).
Innovation
The introduction of something new or a new idea, method or device.
Perseverance
To keep going in spite of difficulties.
Militia
An armed group or force.
Legacy
Inheritance.
Gender Parity
Equal rights for all genders.
Rehabilitation
Helping to restore the health or condition of a person or object to its original state.
Transmission
The act of something moving from one person or place to another.
Installing
Setting something up for use or service.
Implementing
Carrying something out.
Sustaining
To hold up and support.
Conversely
Using the word conversely indicates the two subjects mentioned previously in the text or orally are
swapped around (e.g. Conversely the chicken can be said to come before the egg).
Psycho-social
Interventions
Activities undertaken in a social service to aid a persons mental health (e.g. art and play therapy).
(Meanings are adapted from those provided in, The New Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Massachusetts, USA, 1989,
Merriam-Webster Inc.)
PAGE 9

Lesson Two The Effect of Conflict on Children
AIM
To give students an awareness of
how conflict affects the rights of
Task One – Class Brainstorm
Carry out a class brainstorm on how students think conflict effects the lives of children. Use a
Y chart, leaving the third section ‘What we know now’ to fill in at the end of the lesson.
children.
WHAT WE KNOW
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Building conceptual understanding
As students organise the information
into the graphic organiser look for their
comprehension of the idea that there
are many different reasons for a child
missing out on their rights.
Formative assessment opportunity
Keep a record of the class
brainstorm. This will help identify
what current understandings
students hold and therefore inform
future teaching opportunities to
build upon this knowledge.
WHAT WE THINK
WE KNOW
Task Two – Mapping Conflict
WHAT WE KNOW
NOW
Give each student an outline of a world map. Show students the map, ‘Childhood Under
Threat’ – the countries where a major conflict has occurred between 1990 and 2003
are displayed on it (both maps are located in the document and publications section on
the CD). Referring to class atlases get the students to label the countries where the
major conflicts have occurred and to mark the regions of the world where the majority
of the countries labelled are located. Talk about the high percentage of children in the
population of these countries and discuss what other factors the students think the
majority of countries who have recently experienced conflict may have in common.
Briefly highlight the connection between poverty and conflict, and the connection
between poverty and the historical and economic relationship between developed and
developing nations, and poverty and natural disasters. Emphasise these associations
are generalisations – there are exceptions to every theory, and that often it is difficult
to know what comes first (e.g. poverty increases the likelihood of conflict, an effect of
conflict is poverty). You may also like to touch on other factors contributing to conflict
such as ethnic relations, power/wealth, politics and access to resources.
You can extend this activity, at your discretion, by getting the students to look up
some of the main development indicators (e.g. child mortality rate, access to safe
water, number of people living on less than $1 a day) for the countries in question
and compare/contrast them with the indicators given for New Zealand, the United
Kingdom and the USA. World development indicators can be downloaded from
www.unicef.org/SOWC09/statistics/tables.php – each year an updated version of the
indicators is published in UNICEF’s annual SOWC publication (State of the World’s
Children) which is available on-line.
PAGE 10
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

LINKS TO A SOCIAL
INQUIRY APPROACH
Finding out information
How are children’s lives affected by
conflict? Which rights are denied
to children caught up in conflict?
What is the global pattern of conflict
and are there any common factors
linking the countries and regions of
the world in which the majority of
conflict occurs?
TEACHING POINT
Reflecting and evaluating
How does looking at what happens
to children in conflict help us
understand why people feel the
need to define and seek the rights of
children?
TEACHING POINT
Historically many of those who
have sought to define child rights
have been motivated by their
Task Three – Article
Get students to read the article, “When Two Elephants Fight it is the Grass Underneath
that Suffers.” After this ask the students to fill in the graphical organiser on the impact
of conflict on children (see page 13).
Each of the four sections should be headed up with a right that is denied to children
due to conflict (e.g. health, safety/protection, recreation, education, access to food).
Underneath each heading students should list examples of how conflict could effect a
child’s life in that area (e.g. examples under the heading of education may include unsafe
to go to school, school closures, destruction of school buildings, loss of teachers).
Extension
Provide students with the following questions and get them to think, pair and then
share their answers with each other.
1. What do you think are the biggest threats to children during wartime?
2. Who do you think should be responsible for the care and protection of children in
times of conflict?
3. What are the long term effects – for children, families and countries of children
missing out on their rights? (e.g. A girl who misses out on an education may not have
the skills to help support herself or her family, increasing her chance of living in poverty.
This in turn will increase the likelihood of her marrying early and her children suffering
from ill-health).
encounters with children affected
by war. Among these is Eglantyne
Jebb who began the process
to have the rights of children
internationally recognised after
her experience of raising support
for children affected by WWI.
UNICEF itself was formed at the
end of 1946 in response to the
needs of displaced and refugee
children after WWII. The result of
all the hard work to define child
rights by numerous people and
organisations led eventually to the
current internationally accepted
standard on the rights of children,
the UN Convention on the Rights of
© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0578/Ramoneda
the Child.
PAGE 11

SUPPORTING RESOURCES FOR LESSON TWO TASKS
When Two Elephants Fight Article
“When two elephants fight it is the grass underneath that suffers”
- African Proverb
“It is very difficult to live in war. You just wait for the
moment you will die.” – (Sanel age 12, who lost an arm
to a shell in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Perhaps one of the most unrecognised effects of war is the ongoing
mental and emotional trauma experienced by children. In war,
children witness or participate in extreme violence and destruction,
lose loved ones and take on responsibilities they were never meant
to carry. At a time when physical needs such as finding food to eat
are more pressing, the emotional consequences of war are often not
addressed. Children suffer from constant fear and anxiety and have
a need to understand what has happened to them. In extreme cases
they will shut themselves off from others, refusing to talk or engage.
While mental health impacts on the quality of life of children before
and after conflict, it is their physical well-being that poses the biggest
threat to their lives. The risk of catching diseases such as measles and
cholera is high due to poor living conditions and weakened immune
systems from a lack of food. Bullet and shrapnel wounds or other
injuries such as broken bones received as a result of the fighting
can be life threatening. This is especially the case when immediate
medical help is unavailable.
“You spend many years building up a home, and then,
in one moment, it is destroyed.” – (Aygun, age 17,
Azerbaijan).
Conflict frequently destroys or forces the closure of commercial
centres such as banks and shops as well as public amenities like
medical centres, parks, libraries and schools.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2007-0596/Giacomo Pirozzi
In addition, the provision of basic services people accept as a part
of everyday life such as the supply of water and electricity, lines of
communication (telephone and internet) and transport are at risk of
stopping in times of conflict. These services are supplied through
infrastructure such as roads, water pipes, sewerage pipes, cables and
power-lines. Fighting often results in the destruction of infrastructure
and makes it impossible or unsafe for people whose task it is to
ensure the delivery of these services to carry out their jobs.
Inevitably these disruptions impact every part of a child’s life. The
lack of safe water and waste disposal can result in an increase in
waterborne illnesses such as diarrhoea. The closure of schools
means children’s education is delayed or stopped altogether. Even
simple things such as being warm enough and having cooked food
become hard without electricity. Travelling anywhere becomes
difficult. Exercise and playing in open spaces is risky due to the threat
of live fire, landmines or unexploded shells. The closure of markets
and shops means families rely on their own supplies, outside help
or scavenging to access household goods and food. If houses are
damaged or fighting becomes too intense, children along with their
families, are forced to flee in search of a safer place to stay. In this
situation children can become separated from their parents or carers
whom they rely on for protection.
At times people can be hesitant to help in conflict situations because
they disagree with the actions taken by those fighting in the war.
However, doing nothing punishes those who haven’t lived long
enough to make many mistakes, the first victims of any conflict
situation….. children.
© UNICEF/IRQ08/SabahArar
PAGE 12
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

Impact of Conflict on Children
PAGE 13

Lesson Three Voices of Children Caught in Conflict
AIM
To practically engage students
in representing the concerns of
children impacted by conflict
in order to give them a greater
understanding of why people feel
the need to define children’s rights.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Reflective social enquiry approach
How does our information about
conflict portray children and what
information is missing? Are we aware
of the importance of ensuring all those
involved in a situation have their views
represented?
Building conceptual understanding
Look for students insights into the
importance of who is represented in
a given situation and how they are
represented.
Design experiences that interest
students
By using material from young people
around the students’ age and a medium
familiar to students such as a social
networking site.
Task One – Ethical Guidelines
Ethical Guidelines for Reporting on Children
UNICEF has developed guidelines to assist journalists when they report on issues
affecting children in line with Article 17 of The Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Article 17 says children have the right to reliable information from the mass media,
and that television, radio and newspapers should provide information that children
can understand, and should not promote materials that could harm children. Although
journalists and other people who work in the media often have the best of intentions,
too much attention or exposure of children can place them at risk of being targeted by
hostile people. This is more likely to happen in situations where the issue reported on is
a sensitive one. For example if the child or their family have HIV/AIDS, or if a child has
been directly involved in fighting.
Get students to cut out newspaper articles about recent conflict situations and/
or get them to search under conflict in the days news featured on the web
(see www.stuff.co.nz; www.bbc.com.uk). Get them into groups and ask them to look at
the articles and answer the questions below. A question circle is provided on page 16.
Provide an A4 sheet for them to write their answers on, or alternatively a bigger sheet
for them to paste the articles on, writing the answers beside the articles.
Are children mentioned and in what context? Who is speaking on their behalf? Whose
views are communicated in the article and how would a child’s viewpoint add to people’s
understanding about this situation?
Is there anything that is said that might endanger a child or their family?
Come back together as a class and get feedback from each group, writing examples on
the whiteboard.
Discuss:
In general, are children’s viewpoints or opinions (what they are thinking, feeling, wanting)
reported on in news reports about conflict? How are children seen as (innocent, guilty,
vulnerable, irrelevant, valuable, unimportant?)
What precautions could be taken when reporting on children to make sure what is
reported on is in the best interests of the child – protecting them from harm or
unnecessary distress?
PAGE 14
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

LINKS TO A SOCIAL
INQUIRY APPROACH
Exploring values and
perspectives
Whose viewpoints are represented
in media coverage about recent
conflicts?
What is said about children?
What could a child’s perspective add
TEACHING POINT
to the news reports?
What precautions can be taken when
reporting on children to ensure their
safety?
How would you convey the concerns
of children affected by conflict to
New Zealanders?
Reflecting and evaluating
Task Two – Assignment
Give students an assignment to write a magazine article or design a social networking
website page aimed at making the New Zealand public aware of the concerns of children
affected by conflict (see next page). Get them to choose a quote, statement or statistic
from or about children affected by conflict to use as a focus for the content of their
assignment. Resources provided to support their assignment work and tips on how to
write an article and design a social network page are listed below - you may also wish to
use other sources of information available to you.
Resources (available on the accompanying CD)
Documents and Publications
– Assignment Tips – Advice on designing social network pages and article writing
– Quotes and Concerns of children living in conflict situations
– Statistics – Children and War
– UNICEF’s Principles for Ethical Reporting on Children
UNICEF Television Clips (UNICEF Television reports on children affected by conflict)
Case Studies (Real life stories about children affected by conflict)
Where or who do we get most of our
information about children affected
by conflict from?
TEACHING POINT
In nearly all cases it is best to get
Extension
Get students to write a paragraph about their own response to the following question.
Children are victims of war, but by association with the communities they live in, they
also become participants in the conflict. Among other roles they take on jobs such as
spies and fighters. In your opinion is there an age at which children should be seen as
responsible for their own actions, or can they be held responsible if they have been
exposed to such acts since their youth either by force or choice?
people themselves to represent
their own situation, however, this is
not always possible. Representing
or raising awareness of a cause
that concerns yourself or someone
else is often called advocacy and
hopefully leads other people to take
action on the cause. Advocacy can
lead to the need to define what it
is you are seeking – hence, in this
context the desire to define what
rights children should receive is
stimulated.
PAGE 15

SUPPORTING RESOURCES FOR LESSON THREE TASKS
Question Circle
Is there anything that is
said that might endanger a
child or their family?
Whose views are
communicated in the article
and how would a child’s
viewpoint add to people’s
understanding of the situation?
?
Are children mentioned
and in what context?
Who is speaking on
their behalf?
PAGE 16
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

Assignment Caught in the Crossfire
You have been given the responsibility of making the NZ public aware of the concerns of children affected by conflict. Design an A4 magazine
article or a social networking page (Facebook, Bebo etc) to convey your message. Use a quote, statement or statistic about or from children
affected by conflict to provide a focus for your article or page. Pictures should take up no more than a quarter of your page and the text of
your page or article needs to be between 200-300 words.
Think About:
What will your key message be and what will be your heading?
What child rights are relevant to the focus of your page?
Who do you think needs to be aware of this information and why?
What age group and what people will you target?
How will you give an accurate and true representation of these children?
What background information will people need to know?
What facts and examples will you use?
Your assignment will be marked on content and presentation.
Summary Sheet
When you hand in your assignment also provide the following information:
• Target audience
• Intended media (e.g. what magazine or social networking site)
• Any references
• A self-evaluation. In the self-evaluation you should address the following questions: How do you rate your ability to accurately portray the
concerns of children affected by conflict? What would improve your ability to do this? Explain your answers.
Due Date:
Assessment Matrix
Achieved Achieved with Merit Achieved with Excellence
The site or article focuses on the concerns of
children affected by conflict.
The site or article has a specific focus on an area
of concern for children affected by conflict and
most components of the assignment relate to this
focus.
The site or article has a specific focus on an area
of concern for children affected by conflict and all
the components of the assignment relate to this
focus.
Children’s viewpoints are included in the text.
Children’s viewpoints are included in the text
along with background information. Content is
suitable for the target audience.
Children’s viewpoints are included in the text
along with appropriate background information,
and links to relevant child rights are identified.
There is evidence of content being tailored to suit
the target audience.
The assignment uses a mix of images, writing
and facts.
The assignment uses a mix of images, writing and
facts which are clearly and accurately displayed.
The assignment uses a mix of images, writing and
facts which are clearly and accurately displayed,
demonstrating good use of spacing and a proportional
layout.
The summary sheet tasks have been completed
and handed in.
The summary sheet tasks have been completed
and handed in.
The summary sheet tasks have been completed
and handed in.
PAGE 17

Lesson Four Responding to a Complex Emergency
AIM
Students learn about and are able
to identify the different stages of
response used to protect the rights
of children in a complex emergency,
adding to their understanding
of how people seek the rights of
children in these contexts.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Building conceptual understanding
Be aware of students grasping that
different approaches (e.g. tanking in
water or building wells) can be used
to meet the same right (e.g. to water)
depending on the context; and that
development differs from emergency
response.
Formative assessment
If you use the extension activity take a
note of what students write to explain
the different phases of response as this
will give some insight into how they
have interpreted what they have learnt
and what they have or haven’t picked
up on.
Task One – Power-point
Show and discuss information in the power-point presentation ‘Protecting Children
Affected by Conflict’ which is on the CD. Talk about what the image on the first slide
communicates.
Task Two – Activity
Get students to figure out the matching photos, captions and stages of response listed
in the Mix and Match pages. Cut each one out and ask students to match the correct
ones, or give each student a copy of the pages to do the activity on their own. If time
permits you could hold a mini-debate on the topic, “Children’s wellbeing should be the
first priority of any response”.
* Note several of the response stages are repeated as there is more than one
example of each
Task Three – Game (Optional)
This game will help students recall and retain the information they have learnt during
tasks one and two.
Split the class up into groups of four. Each group will need the words life saving, life
sustaining, development, education, health, protection and water and sanitation written
on seven different cards. To save time each group could make their own set. In one pile
place the education, health, protection and water and sanitation cards. In the other pile
place the remaining three cards.
Two students play at any one time. With the cards face down to start with the competing
pair turn over one card from each pile. They then have one minute to list on a piece
of paper all the interventions they can think of that come under the two categories
displayed. For example if life saving and health are displayed the list could include,
immunization, care of pregnant women, distribution of food supplements – e.g. fortified
milk, porridge, biscuits, relief supplies of basic food items, medical supplies – e.g.
bandages, drugs, antiseptic, and emergency medical care for injuries and illnesses. The
students not playing that round get to decide if any contentions arise about whether
the suggested interventions are appropriate or not. The second pair repeat the task and
winners from the first two rounds play off against each other in the ‘final’. This game
can be run through several times.
PAGE 18
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

LINKS TO A SOCIAL
INQUIRY APPROACH
Considering responses and decisions
What are the ways in which people
respond to help children in complex
Extension
Students write the heading ‘Responding to Complex Emergencies’ in their exercise
books or on refill and then in their own words write a brief description of the three
stages of response – life saving, life sustaining and preserving futures.
emergencies?
How does the context influence the
types of responses undertaken to
respond to the rights of children in
conflict situations?
TEACHING POINT
TEACHING POINT
The classifications of life saving, life
sustaining and preserving futures
are ways to help understand the
different responses to a complex
emergency, progressing from
immediate interventions to long
term sustainable solutions. The
classifications themselves are not
set in stone and don’t dictate what
happens and when – it is the needs
of the people in each situation
which determines the response.
Note the word complex emergency
is used to describe any emergency
situation which has been brought
about by conflict.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1147/Julien Harneis
PAGE 19

SUPPORTING RESOURCES FOR LESSON FOUR TASKS
Mix and Match Activity
Photo
A
B
C
D
E F G
PAGE 20
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

Response
Life saving
Life saving
Preserving futures
Preserving futures
Life sustaining
Life sustaining
Life sustaining
Caption
A child affected by the civil war receives therapeutic milk at a nutrition centre
in Darfur, Sudan. © UNICEF/NYHQ2006-0578/Noorani
A group of young people educate people about the presence of landmines
in Cambodia. This deadly legacy is the result of numerous conflicts.
More than 40,000 Cambodians are amputee landmine survivors.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2004-0763/Thomas
Girls walk towards toilets at their school in Rwanda. UNICEF provides supplies
and supports teacher-training at the school. There are separate toilets for girls
and boys and more than half of the school’s students are girls. This is evidence
that the country is making progress, especially in the areas of gender parity and
education. © UNICEF/NYHQ2007-1350/Pirozzi
At a UNICEF-assisted reunification centre workers from Save the Children
speak with two girls who have become separated from their families. At least
400 children were identified as unaccompanied during conflict in the DRC in
2008. © UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1214/Holt
A group of pre-school children meet in a community home in Columbia
with Wilfrido from the Children’s Peace Movement. It is a part of a national
programme to provide a safe, caring environment and health and education
for children in a country which has suffered from continuing civil conflict.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2000-0762/DeCesare
A rapid HIV test is done on a pregnant woman’s blood in Liberia. In 2007,
in Liberia, children continue to suffer the consequences of a 14 year
civil war. UNICEF provides the centre with laboratory and staff training,
medical equipment and essential drugs and supplies, and supports
its programme to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2007-0660/Pirozzi
Noor Ahmad does a carpentry workshop at a UNICEF-assisted reintegration and
rehabilitation centre for war-affected children in the southern city of Kandahar,
Afghanistan, 2007. © UNICEF/NYHQ2007-1082/Noorani
PAGE 21

Lesson Five Innovation for the Benefit of Children
Students will need to have access to the internet for this lesson. If limited computers are available you could split the class in half and give
each group one of the activities, swapping at the mid point of the lesson.
AIM
To help students realise that new
ideas are continually being put into
practice to help seek the rights of
children in emergency situations
and potentially save many lives.
Task One – On-line Research
Ask students to investigate Plumpy Nut, a new innovation to help children who suffer
from malnutrition during emergencies. Get them to find the answer to the questions
provided on page 24 and also ask them to come up with three of their own questions to
add to the list. After they have finished their research, get them to answer the analysis
questions.
Sufficient information to answer the questions will appear when searching under the
name Plumpy Nut using the search engine Google, however, if the students use an
alternative search engine you may need to check the results it produces first.
Task Two – RapidSMS
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Critical thinking
Look at how well students apply the
generic information they have learnt
to a specific context in the RapidSMS
activity.
Conceptual understandings
Try to foster an understanding that:
Innovations often come about to meet a
specific need or desire.
An information sheet is provided on page 24. Ask students to read the information
and then complete the two tasks. Task one is to create a flow chart of how the new
emergency response system called RapidSMS works. Task two asks students to
identify the benefits for children of using RapidSMS in a given situation.
Task Three – Closing Activity
In pairs/groups or as a class discuss the statement:
Spending time looking at new ideas and ways of helping people is just as important as
actually being on the ground doing the helping.
The development of new innovations
is often a process that happens over a
period of time.
Extension
If you wish to add another assessment task or independent activity get students to
carry out their own inquiry and research into another innovation that has been used in
emergency situations. There are items such as therapeutic milk, solar powered water
pumps, generators and communication (e.g. radio) sytems, immunisation cold chain
equipment including vaccine carriers, refrigerators, and autodestruct SoloShot syringes,
and oral re-hydration salts! Students could come up with their own focus questions and
write up their research as a report; including also its purpose, where in the world it has
been used, and examples of the uses. If searching on the web, results may be better if
UNICEF or other development organisations are included as one of the keywords.
PAGE 22
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

LINKS TO A SOCIAL
INQUIRY APPROACH
Finding out information
What new innovations have
there been to help children in
emergencies? How did they come
about?
Homework
For homework ask students to compile a ‘vox pop’ (sometimes featured in newspapers
to get people’s comments on an issue) showing the views of three people they know
regarding the questions below. Get them to draw a small portrait of each person and to
write the persons answers to each question under the portrait.
1) What countries do UN Aid workers come from?
Reflecting and evaluating
What impacts do or could new
innovations have on meeting the
TEACHING POINT
rights of children affected by conflict?
2) Do Aid organisations work together in emergency situations? If yes, in what way?
If no, why?
3) Who do you think should be responsible for helping children affected by conflict?
TEACHING POINTS
The innovative interventions
covered in this lesson are used
or will be used in all emergency
situations irrespective of whether
the emergency is a natural disaster
or conflict situation. This is
because some of the outcomes of
both emergencies have the same
implications for children (e.g. the
risk of malnutrition due to lack of
sufficient food and the separation
of children from adults happens
during conflict and in natural
disasters).
All new technological innovations
need to be trialled before use.
Nearly all will present some
challenges to be overcome. For
example with RapidSMS its success
© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1226/Kate Holt
depends upon customising it to the
local context, getting users trained,
and knowing that those for whom it
is intended are willing to embrace
the new system.
PAGE 23

SUPPORTING RESOURCES FOR LESSON FIVE TASKS
Plumpy Nut
1. What does Plumpy Nut do?
2. What are the ingredients of Plumpy Nut?
3. Who came up with the idea of Plumpy Nut and what
was his job?
4. He had been thinking about helping children with
malnutrition in this way for a long time but what gave
him the final inspiration to come up with
Plumpy Nut and why?
5. What company is Plumpy Nut made by?
6. What aspects of Plumpy Nut make it especially
effective for use in emergency situations?
7. Who would you give Plumpy Nut to?
9. Provide one statistic about the use of Plumpy Nut
and reference the website it is from.
10. List one reason you think children are more likely to
be in need of a formula such as Plumpy Nut in conflict
situations.
11. What does RUFT stand for?
12. When was Plumpy Nut invented?
Analysis:
What would you conclude were the crucial factors for
the development and initial success of Plumpy Nut?
What do you think can be learnt from these factors and
applied to the development of other innovations?
8. Describe one situation where Plumpy Nut has
been used?
New Technology and Emergency Response
You may use information technology like cell phones as a way to
communicate with family and friends but it is also being used to
save lives.
It has since been used in emergencies including sending
security messages to aid workers during political unrest in
Afghanistan.
Examples of information technology solutions being used in
emergency situations:
• After the 2004 Tsunami, software developers in Sri Lanka
came up with Sahana a database that helps with disaster
management including the ability to help family members
locate each other. Sahana means relief in the Sinhalese
language.
• In 1995 Ken Banks developed Frontline SMS a software which
allows mass text messaging between a computer and multiple
mobile phones. It gives the person using it the ability to send
multiple text messages and receive multiple text messages
from a large group of people. It does not need the internet to
work, just a computer, modem and mobile phone. Ken
developed the software while working in South Africa and
purposefully used tools readily available to most people.
• Ory Okolloh a Kenyan Lawyer was keeping track of the
violence after the Kenyan election in December of 1997
by using a blog. Through her blog she requested help from
supporters to create a piece of software allowing people to
text or email in information which could be automatically
mapped on-line. In this way people could find out what was
happening and where. Sourcing information from the general
public is called crowdsourcing. Ory later helped form the
Ushahidi project and has since monitored other conflict
situations, one being the conflict in the DRC (Democratic
Republic of the Congo). You can view this at
http://drc.ushahidi.com/ Ushahidi means testimony in Swahili.
In all these situations the software being used is what is commonly
known as Open Source software. This means it is made available,
free of charge, for use by anyone.
PAGE 24
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

In 2008 UNICEF built on the knowledge already available with the
help of partners such as Frontline SMS and the Ushahidi Project
and developed Rapid SMS.
Rapid SMS is a new technology and was first used in Ethiopia in
2008 to help monitor feeding centres set up for children during
the famine. It used text messaging to communicate information
between UNICEF offices and health workers who were based in
the field. Its potential to help UNICEF help children in emergency
situations centres on three important factors:
Task 1
In a flow chart list the steps it takes for information using the
RapidSMS platform to get from a health centre to the appropriate
UNICEF staff member.
Information from Health Centre
• Information from the field is instantly received allowing for a
quicker response to the children’s needs in that area.
• UNICEF offices can instantly send a text message to any
number of field staff. This could be anything from information
about a specific medicine to a warning of violent outbreaks.
• Information sent in from multiple field staff by text is
automatically collated into a database to give a picture of the
overall situation in a region or country. This gives an immediate
picture of what and where the biggest needs are, leading to
better decision making.
An example of how Rapid SMS works
A field worker finds out information from a health centre such as
the number of children currently being cared for or the number
of supplies of Plumpy Nut remaining and then sends in this
information using text messaging. This information is received
by a computer, the computer sends a reply to say the message
has been received and automatically enters the information into a
database. A UNICEF staff member can see the information on the
database by logging onto a page on the internet. They will be able
to download reports such as the number of centres running out of
supplies in a specific region. Field workers can also use the system
to send ‘alerts’ which contain emergency messages such as ‘no
supplies left’ that will be forwarded by email or text to UNICEF
staff. Conversely UNICEF staff members can use the system to
send messages to field staff.
(References: “Columbia University and UNICEF awarded top
honour in USAID innovation competition”, www.unicef.org/
infobycountry/usa_47068.html; “SMS Technology Supporting
Emergency Operations: Using RapidSMS to save children’s lives
in Ethiopia”, David Broughton, Icon, UNICEF Intranet; “Preventing
Famine with a Mobile”, http://mobileactive.org/preventing-faminemobile;
Ushahidi Website, http://www.ushahidi.com/; Ken Banks
Website, http://www.kiwanja.net/kenbanks.htm; Sahana Website,
http://www.sahana.lk/)
Task 2
The RapidSMS system has the potential to help many children
caught in conflict situations. As using text messaging in this way is
still a new development, many people continue to rely on previous
methods for reporting data such as faxes or phone calls. Faxes
are often only sent weekly and phone calls require people to be
available at both ends. Both require people to sort the information
received and do not allow for the possibility of sending and
receiving information to or from a lot of people at once.
Read the situation below and identify at least four ways in which
RapidSMS could be used and explain how that use would benefit
the children caught up in the conflict. List these on a piece of paper.
Last night fighting broke out in the area neighbouring yours. So
far 10,000 people have made their way to the outskirts of your
village and set up a temporary camp. 200 children appear to be
unaccompanied (travelling without parents or family members). The
local health centre is caring for the injured but supplies are likely to
run out by the end of the day, the need is greatest for drugs to fight
infections and bandages. The risk of an outbreak of disease such as
measles is high, the most vulnerable are children. Supplies of food
and safe water will be needed in the next 24 hours or the situation
for children will become dire. There are rumours another 5,000
people are on their way and that circumstances may be worse in
other areas.
PAGE 25

Lesson Six Disarming Myths and Summing Up
AIM
To get students to look at their
own and others perceptions of
the delivery of aid in developing
countries versus the reality - as
our perceptions often influence
our actions. To get students to
synthesise the information they
have learnt about how people
define and seek the rights of
children affected by conflict and to
take stock of their own learning.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Mechanisms
Design learning experiences that
interest students – enhance the learning
experience by utilising drama or debate
to synthesise learning.
Developing critical thinking
Observe the students response as they
examine the validity of their own and
others beliefs. See if they are grasping
the value of critical thinking.
Task One – Homework Discussion
Discuss the answers students received to the homework questions. Following the
discussion take a look at the reality -
1) The majority of aid workers employed by UNICEF are nationals (ie: from the country
where they are working). Luciano head of UNICEF’s emergency operations in Iraq said
more than 90% of the people on their staff are Iraqis. Also, international staff come from
all countries around the world, not just western or developed countries.
2) Organisations helping in emergencies often work together. For example, one
organisation might take responsibility for the delivery of food in a refugee camp while
another oversees water and sanitation. Quite often organisations will have strengths
in particular areas. For example, because UNICEF is an agency dedicated to children
the area of child protection is one of our strengths. Helping people in an emergency is
not a competitive task - it needs careful coordination and cooperation. A lot of factors
determine how successful the coordination of the response to an emergency will be
such as how easy it is for all groups to communicate, the scale of the emergency, and
the amount of emergency preparedness planning done in the region.
3) This question was subjective - there are no correct or incorrect opinions, however, it
gives insight into how people think about conflict situations.
Task Two – True or False?
Students decide whether the listed statements on page 29 are true or false. Provide the
correct answers (provided on page 33) and then get them to share in pairs anything that
came as a surprise to them.
Task Three – Summing Up
ATTITUDE
RESPONSE
a) Recall: Get students into pairs and then ask the class to stand in two lines with
each pair facing each other. They then take turns talking non stop for one or two minutes
about anything they can remember learning during the unit – the key is they have to
keep talking! The student not talking must listen quietly.
NOW WHAT?
b) Now what? Now that students know what they do, how will it affect their future
actions? Get students to draw up a page in their books so it looks like the example on the
left. Alternatively, this could be done with a large piece of paper as a group exercise.
PAGE 26
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

LINKS TO A SOCIAL
INQUIRY APPROACH
So what do we now know about
this? – What can I recall about what
I have learnt? Do I understand the
connection between children’s rights
and conflict?
So what does this mean for
us/others? – Has my learning
influenced how I would respond to
TEACHING
situations where children’s
POINTrights are
not being met? If so, how? When did
New Zealand sign the Convention
on the Rights of the Child and what
responsibilities do we have as a
result? Have I ever met someone who
has experienced conflict or come
from a country involved in conflict?
How will being aware of some of the
situations they may have known,
witnessed or experienced help me to
understand them better?
Now what further learning do
we need? – What more do I need
to learn about children affected by
conflict and meeting their rights?
How do organisations like UNICEF
respond to meet child or human
rights/needs in other contexts? What
further investigations could I make
into the causes of conflict and why it
is more prominent in some areas of
the world than others?
Now what might be done about
it? – Where do I stand on issues
regarding children’s rights? Is it an
area I would like to get more involved
with at a local or global level? If so
how can I apply the knowledge and
skills I have now or what knowledge
and skills will I need to gain in the
future so I can contribute towards
the goal of meeting children’s rights?
Is there any particular context that
interests me?
On one side get them to write ‘attitude’ on the other ‘response’. In regards to attitude
ask them in what ways do they think their attitude to children who have been affected
by conflict has been altered or influenced by their learning – acknowledging that many
will at some time encounter refugees who have been through conflict or may even
currently have friends in this position.
Secondly since they have learnt how some people have sought the rights of children
in conflict situations what now will their response be? Get them to write this in the
response column. Students may need to be made aware of the options for responding,
such as: using their future career to help those caught in this situation, seeking more
information, sharing the information they know so more people are made aware of it,
or contributing financially or in kind to those who help these children, and no response
is also a valid response. Students themselves may come up with other options. If your
class has access to suitable technology they could make a short video clip about their
intended response to go alongside their social networking page or magazine article.
Task Four – Drama and Debate
Choose one of the options below to help students consolidate the information they
have learnt and to conclude the unit:
a) Hot Chair – Seat students in a circle with one empty chair. The empty chair
represents a person the students can ask questions of. Once a question has been asked
of the chair a student who wishes to respond goes and stands behind the chair and
gives an answer from the perspective of the person on the chair then sits down again.
This carries on until you decide to wrap it up. Suggestions for the persona of the ‘chair’
– a child who has been caught in conflict; a government official of a country affected by
war; an aid worker involved in child protection. You may wish to have a go with several
personas depending on time.
b) Debate – Split the class into two teams. The topic for debate is, ‘Meeting children’s
rights is a lost cause in conflict situations.’ Allocate one team as being for and one
against the statement. Give the groups 10 minutes to come up with ideas. One minute
before time is up announce to the groups that they will actually be debating from the
opposite perspective (ie: swap the allocation of for and against). Allow debate for 10-15
minutes; one person speaking at a time; students must raise their hands if they wish to
say something and the teacher chooses who gets to speak. This exercise challenges
students to critically examine the topic from both sides.
Assessment
Multi-choice test ( see page 28)
PAGE 27

SUPPORTING RESOURCES FOR LESSON SIX TASKS
Multi-Choice Test
1) What children’s right is re-uniting separated children with their
families most likely associated with?
a) Education
b) Protection
c) Health
d) Safe Water
7) What children’s right is providing soap most likely associated with?
a) Play
b) Sanitation
c) Health
d) Shelter
2) What type of responses are put in place when an area is
transitioning from a time of war into a time of peace?
a) Life saving
b) Life sustaining
c) Preserving futures
3) Ethical reporting on children is important in order to:
a) Meet international journalism standards
b) Make the story seem more real
c) Model a good example for children
d) Protect children from potential harm
4) Which of the three activities below are most likely to be
associated with the preserving futures stage of an emergency
response?
a) Installing village hand pumps
b) Trucking water
c) Re-building water supplies
5) Defining child rights is necessary in order to:
a) Be able to raise people’s awareness about the entitlements
of children
b) To determine which children have all their rights met
c) Be able to write government policies
d) Illustrate how children have fewer rights than adults
6) Providing food supplies would most likely be associated with
which of the following responses?
a) Life saving
b) Life sustaining
c) Preserving futures
8) New innovations that help to seek the rights of children in
emergencies are often developed:
a) Through people who come from developed countries
b) By those who seek to find a way to help others while making
money out of it
c) While trying to invent a new technology that will help all
people
d) By people in response to needs encountered in real
emergency situations
9) What option below is not usually a direct result of the impact of
war on children?
a) Measles epidemics
b) Loss of parents
c) Learning disabilities
d) Children with a low birth weight
10) Which of the options below fits in best with your
understanding of why the affects of war on children leads people to
seek and define child rights?
a) People see children caught up in war as innocent victims
and therefore think they shouldn’t have to suffer the
consequences of war
b) People think children who are impacted by conflict are entitled
to the same standard of life as all other children so determine
to help make this come about
c) People are dismayed after learning of the experiences of
children affected by conflict and want to do something about it
d) None of the above (please write your own reason)
Explain your choice –
PAGE 28
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

True or False?
Read the statements below and circle whether you believe they are true or false.
a) People can live in refugee camps for up to 15-20 years. True/False
b) Emergency supplies such as blankets are always flown into a country. True/False
c) Local communities provide a lot of the immediate support in any crisis. True/False
d) Foreigners from any background are urgently needed to help in emergencies. True/False
e) It takes around six months for a country to recover from conflict. True/False
After finding out the correct answers, pair up and share anything that surprised you.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0624/Marta PAGE 29 Ramoneda

ANSWERS SECTION
Lesson One
Scenarios
While there is no specific answer to the scenarios (any plausible
suggestion is acceptable) the following examples are some of the
actions which are currently put into practice in real life situations:
Scenario 1
- reintegration centres where children involved in the armed forces
are counselled, offered education and skills training and helped
to adjust back into community life through processes such as
receiving civilian clothes
- visiting families before children are sent back to the community to
determine the response they will receive
- providing support through a field worker to monitor the welfare of
children once they return to their homes
- offer support (monetarily or in kind such as school uniforms) for
further education or training once children return to their
communities
Scenario 2
- hiring truck drivers to collect water from city reservoirs (might
have to pay well if they will be in danger)
Scenario 3
- put up warning signs near mined areas and posters educating
people how to identify mines
- create safe play areas where children can go and play without the
risk of mines
- educate children in schools and in communities through peer to
peer education about how to identify mines and what to do to
avoid them (e.g. stick to known pathways)
- de-mining programmes – begin to identify mined areas and form
teams to start the de-mining process
Scenario 4
- maximise the number of students in each class
- actively recruit and train more teachers, allowing those whose level
of education is sufficient to teach to start immediately
- have two lots of school each day (e.g. morning and afternoon
sessions) to double the number of students who can be educated
each day using the same facilities and to best utilise teaching staff
- begin the re-building of former schools as it becomes feasible
- getting drivers to drive through the streets stopping regularly to fill
up people’s water containers
Captions:
UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0054/El Baba
Students attend class in tents in the town of Beit Lahia in the Northern
Gaza strip, Occupied Palestinian Territory. Their school was destroyed
during recent fighting. (Gaza, 2009)
UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1347/Nesbitt
A water and sanitation worker helps a woman fill containers with
safe drinking water in Zimbabwe. At the time basic infrastructure had
collapsed due to an ongoing political crisis.
UNICEF/NYHQ2006-1151/Brooks
An unexploded rocket lies amid rubble in the street in Bint Jbeil,
Lebanon. This photo was taken during a military conflict between
Israel and Lebanon.
UNICEF/NYHQ2001-0093/Mann
Adolescent boys walk away from the weapons they once carried as
soldiers, during a demobilisation ceremony in Sudan.
PAGE 30
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

Lesson Four
Answers to Mix and Match Activity:
Photo Response Caption
A Preserving Futures Girls walk towards toilets at their school in Rwanda. UNICEF provides supplies and supports teachertraining
at the school. There are separate toilets for girls and boys and more than half of the school’s
students are girls. This is evidence that the country is making progress, especially in the areas of
gender parity and education. © UNICEF/NYHQ2007-1350/Pirozzi
B Preserving Futures A rapid HIV test is done on a pregnant woman’s blood in Liberia. In 2007, in Liberia, children continue
to suffer the consequences of a 14 year civil war. UNICEF provides the centre with laboratory and staff
training, medical equipment and essential drugs and supplies, and supports its programme to prevent
mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. © UNICEF/NYHQ2007-0660/Pirozzi
C Life Saving At a UNICEF-assisted reunification centre workers from Save the Children speak with two girls who
have become separated from their families. At least 400 children were identified as unaccompanied
during conflict in the DRC in 2008. © UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1214/Holt
D Life Sustaining Noor Ahmad does a carpentry workshop at a UNICEF-assisted reintegration and rehabilitation centre
for war-affected children in the southern city of Kandahar, Afghanistan, 2007.
©UNICEF/NYHQ2007-1082/Noorani
E Life Sustaining A group of young people educate people about the presence of landmines in Cambodia. This deadly
legacy is the result of numerous conflicts. More than 40,000 Cambodians are amputee landmine
survivors. © UNICEF/NYHQ2004-0763/Thomas
F Life Sustaining A group of pre-school children meet in a community home in Columbia with Wilfrido from the
Children’s Peace Movement. It is a part of a national programme to provide a safe, caring environment
and health and education for children in a country which suffers from continuing civil conflict.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2000-0762/DeCesare
G Life Saving A child affected by the civil war receives therapeutic milk at a nutrition centre in Darfur, Sudan.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2006-0578/Noorani
PAGE 31

ANSWERS SECTION
Lesson Five
Task 1 – Answers to Plumpy Nut Questions
1 It helps children to put on weight, being high in calories and easy
to digest
2 Peanut paste, vegetable oil, powdered milk, powdered sugar,
vitamins, minerals
3 André Briend, French Scientist
4 The breakfast spread Nutella, because up to that point he hadn’t
considered the idea of using a spread – he was thinking about
making the mixture in the form of a bar (e.g. appearing like a type
of muesli bar)
5 Nutriset
6 No added water is needed, no cooking or refrigeration required,
and it can be administered by parents (under medical supervision).
8 Any valid situations are acceptable - two well known uses have
been in Niger and Sudan
9 Any statistic is valid so long as reference to the website is
provided
10 Reasons include: Higher likelihood of being required to move
away from home base and therefore lack a stable supply of
food; Higher likelihood of losing parents or caregivers who
children rely on for food; Greater possibility of contracting
diseases such as cholera from disrupted water supplies and less
sanitary conditions, resulting in diarrhoea and loss of essential
nutrients; Disrupted food supplies due to fighting, closed or
looted supermarkets, destroyed roads and mined farmland
11 Ready to Use Therapeutic Food
12 Plumpy Nut was formulated in 1999
7 Children suffering from malnutrition most likely caused by
diarrhoea or lack of food. Diarrhoea is commonly associated with
water-borne diseases such as cholera
Task 2 – Flow chart
Information from Health Centre
Field Worker sends information by text message
Computer receives information and sends response
Information automatically entered into database
UNICEF staff member checks information and
downloads reports
PAGE 32
Caught in the Crossfire A year 10 Social Studies unit on children affected by conflict

Task 3 – Possible benefits of RapidSMS for children
in the situation outlined
The system could be used to –
• Know about the situation in other areas, for example finding out
about the scale of the conflict or any threats of being caught up in
it – this helps those on the ground to plan as much as possible for the
safety of the children in their areas and get an idea of how long the
situation may last.
• Get information about how long it will take to receive supplies –
this will be crucial to planning for the use of current supplies to help
them last or alternatively to be able to use them knowing more are
on the way. Either way it helps inform the best possible use of the
resources to care for children.
• Send information about the supplies needed – this means those coordinating
the response will be able to provide more of the right supplies
as quickly as they are able, potentially saving many children’s lives.
• Send information about the possibility of 5000 more people on
their way – this helps those co-ordinating get a picture of the crisis
and hence to be better placed to send help into the right areas and to
take account for future needs – hopefully meaning less time is spent
finding this out and once again saving more children’s lives.
• Send information about the number and names of the
unaccompanied children – this will help with the tracking of children’s
family members or close relatives.
• Send information about the number of people treated and the number
in need of medical care – helps the coordinators of any response know
the extent of a situation and once again plan their response in the best
way possible to help as many children as they can.
Students may come up with other examples which can be considered
based on their merit.
Lesson Six
Multi-choice Test
1) (b) Protection
2) (b) Life sustaining
3) (d) Protect children from harm
4) (a) Installing village handpumps
5) (a) Be able to raise peoples awareness about the entitlements of
children
6) (a) Life saving
7) (b) Sanitation or (c) Health
8) (d) By people in response to needs encountered in real
emergency situations
b) False – emergency supplies aren’t always flown into countries.
Attempts are made to source local supplies which may be cheaper,
more appropriate and quicker to access. If local supplies aren’t
available suitable emergency supplies are flown in
c) True – in any emergency local communities and organisations are
the first to respond followed quickly by national response teams who
may work with international organisations
d) False – There are often qualified local people available who are
familiar with the area. Helpers from outside the country may be
required but it is best if this is at the request of those working in the
region, as they know what types of skills are needed
e) False – it can take many years, even decades, for a country to
fully recover from a period of conflict
9) (c) Learning disabilities
10) No right/wrong answer but the explanation given needs to
validate their choice
True/False Activity
a) True – although the intention of refugee or internally placed
people’s camps is that they are temporary, people can end up living
in them for a lot longer
PAGE 33

© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0687/Marta Ramoneda

Photo Captions
In order of appearance
UNICEF/AFGA2009-00006/Shehzad Noorani – A group of girls sit on muddy grounds inside a tented class room in
Herat, Afghanistan. In 2009 some 9000 children attend this school daily. Due to the large numbers hundreds of the children
have to sit out in the open.
UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0533/Photographer Unknown – Children and adults queue for safe water in May 2009 in a
camp for the displaced on the outskirts of Vavuniya, Sri Lanka.
UNICEF/NYHQ1994-0881/Roger LeMoyne – Amidst rows of destroyed buildings, a street sign advising caution for
passing school children stands riddled with bullet holes in the former Yugoslavia, 1994.
UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0053/Iyad El Baba – A girl moves a concrete block as another sits nearby amid rubble in front of
a destroyed building in the refugee camp in Rafa, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2009.
UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0578/Ramoneda – A mother makes tea at daybreak while her children sleep, outside their tent in
Jalozai Camp, Pakistan. An estimated 90 000 people were living in the UNICEF-supported camp at this time.
UNICEF/NYHQ2007-0596/Giacomo Pirozzi – Jallah Agustene, 15, reads aloud in class in Monrovia the capital city
of Liberia. The school condenses six years of primary schooling into three to enable children to make up for years lost to
armed conflict.
UNICEF/IRQ08/Sabah Arar – In the aftermath of severe clashes flared between militia and the military, a girl walks
through the rubble of her bombed classroom at a school in Sadr City in Baghdad.
UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1147/Julien Harneis – A child carries a plastic container filled with safe water, near a water
distribution point in Kibati camp for the displaced near Goma, 2008, Democratic Republic of the Congo. UNICEF worked
with the NGO Mercy Corps to distribute water via truck to tens of thousands of displaced people.
UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1226/Kate Holt – Children play a game of ‘blind man’s bluff’ with a group leader, in a UNICEFassisted
child-friendly space near Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0624/Ramoneda – Boys queue with adults during a food distribution in Lahore Camp, Pakistan,
2009. 1.9 million people were displaced in the region after a period of intense fighting.
UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0687/Marta Ramoneda – People set up tents in Jalozai Camp in Pakistan, joining 555 000 others.
UNICEF/NYHQ2004-0763/Dan Thomas – Members of a performing troupe warn of the presence of landmines at
Boeng Prolith Primary School in Cambodia.

“Above all, children who have survived
conflict must tell their stories, while the rest of
us must listen and act upon what we hear.” – young
woman 17, United Kingdom
(taken from pg 186, Machel Study 10 Year Strategic Review
Children and Conflict in a Changing World, UNICEF April 2009).
© UNICEF NY/HQ2004-0763/Thomas