Children waging peace, changing nations: An exploration of child participation in peacebuilding in Majority World nations impacted by armed intrastate conflict

www.JustChildren.org Ninety one percent of the world's 2.2 billion children live in Majority World nations. Eighty percent of the poorest nations are experiencing a major civil war or have in their recent past. Eighty-six percent of all countries experiencing a new outbreak of civil conflict had sixty percent or more of the population younger than thirty.;This study seeks to develop a descriptive moral framework for mobilizing effective and ethical child participation in peace processes in Majority World nations impacted by or at high risk of armed intrastate conflict (MWNIAIC).;Part one explores the contemporary reality and dynamic interaction of children, poverty and violence in MWNIAIC, and then violence and peacebuilding in the Latin American and Colombian contexts.;Part two considers the gaps and contributions of just peacemaking, pacifism and just war theories toward forming a better understanding of children's appropriate participation as peacebuilders in MWNIAIC.;Part three describes the Colombia research methodology. Grounded theory, ethnography and theoretical sampling were used. Sixteen semi-structured focus groups were conducted in all, seven with adults and nine with children eight to seventeen years old. Twenty-three interviews were conducted overall, eleven with adults and twelve with children nine to fourteen years old.;Part four analyzes data gathered from interviews and focus groups conducted with children and adults in Colombia. Findings from themes resulting from each question are produced. The value of having discovered limited religious or spiritual responses from participants are also explored.;Part five presents a descriptive moral framework for child participation in peacebuilding in the form of a Child Peacebuilding Wheel. It draws upon: (a) the moral frameworks of just war, pacifism, and just peacemaking theories, (b) good practices presented in child participation theory, (c) works addressing child and youth peacebuilding, (d) my own original research findings in Colombia, and (e) my personal experience that includes over a decade of work with children in MWNIAIC, experience in over forty countries, and practicing as a child psychologist. The moral framework addresses both physical and psychological issues related to children's: (a) security, (b) peacebuilding freedom, and (c) their developing capacity and responsibility.