 Newsletter No. 1 2024 It is long since we published the last newsletter, but this does not mean nothing has happened over the past few months. Quite on the contrary! Here some of the main news and developments. CBOW Project News Norway Releases 2023-2030 ‘Women, Peace, and Security’ Guidelines May 2024 The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published their Guidelines for the Norwegian Foreign Service (2023-2030) on “Women, Peace and Security”. Page 22 explicitly mentions: “Expect recipients of Norwegian humanitarian funding to carry out intersectional needs analyses, which should form the basis for how humanitarian efforts are implemented. We should be particularly aware of the needs of: […] Children born of war* *Footnote 8 states that these are “Children who are conceived through rape during armed conflict, and other children of war who have parents from opposite sides of a conflict.” The CBOW project is delighted to see that after 20 years of outreach, advocacy, and lobbying the concept “Children Born of War” is included in this important guideline of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs! We are particularly grateful that the ministry has followed our recommendation to keep the definition broad taking into account that CBOW may be born in various circumstances and that having parents belonging to opposite (enemy) sides of a conflict may put the children in a vulnerable situation independent of the situation in which it was conceived. To read the full guidelines, please see here. ‘Lebensborn’ Shortlisted for 2024 Rencontres d’Arles Book Award Book “Lebensborn – Birth Politics in the Third Reich” has been shortlisted for the Rencontres d’Arles Book Award 2024. The Rencontres d’Arles Book Award supports the extraordinary creativity of photographic publishing. We are honoured that the book “Lebensborn – Birth Politics in the Third Reich” by Angeniet Berkers including the essay by the CBOW Project managing director and chairwomen Ingvill Constanze Ødegaard has been shortlisted. For more information see. For further information on the book, book reviews and how to order it see here. The CBOW Project report 2022-23 is now available. It includes amongst others the final report of the projects supported by the 2022 grant call, events, publications, and conference and media contributions. You find the report here. CBOW Project and Partners Host Online Training on CRSV Impact and Support in Eastern Ukraine May 22-23 2024 the Children Born of War Project (CBOW Project), Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies and Charitable foundation «Unity» for the Future» organised a joint online training for civil society organisations, social workers, and the heads and deputies of local communities in eastern Ukraine on the topic “What are the consequences of CRSV and how to provide the support for CRSV survivors & Children Born of War (CBOW)?” For further information see. CBOW Chair Ødegaard Contributes to GSF Report on Children of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence CBOW Project chairwoman and managing director Ingvill Constanze Ødegaard gave a key note and contributed to the Global Survivors Fund (GSF) report “Expert roundtable on children born of conflict-related sexual violence. Breaking down barriers to accessing the rights to identity and nationality, OUTCOME REPORT, June 2023, published March 2024. The report can be found here. CBOW Chair Ødegaard Featured in Kindernothilfe Report on Sexual Violence in Ukraine CBOW Project chairwoman and managing director Ingvill Constanze Ødegaard was part of the expert group interviewed by the German NGO “Kindernothilfe” for the report “Sexualized violence against children in Ukraine – “Empowering children to talk about it“”, February 2024. The report can be found here. CBOW Project Admin News Relaunch of webpages! Although not yet completely finalised, the CBOW Project web pages have been updated. Please have a look and feel free to share with us any relevant information you may have www.cbowproject.org Welcome Gabriella! We welcome the CBOW Project administrative manager, Gabriella Rodriguez, back from maternity leave and are grateful for the excellent support by Kimberley Anderson during Gabriellas absence. We wish Kimberley all the best in her new position at Terres des Hommes, the Netherlands and are happy to have Kimberley on board as an affiliate expert of the CBOW Project. Research Projects Two new research projects have been shared with us: PROFILING CHILDREN BORN OF WAR IN NORTHERN UGANDA: A CASE STUDY OF AMURU by The Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) which is a national Ugandan non-governmental organization based in Gulu, Uganda. Sexual Violence & Childhood in War. This is a 3-year project, interdisciplinary (historical studies, medico-psychological studies, and legal studies) and international (French, Belgium and Congolese partners). We are working with partners from different entities : la Chaire Internationale Mukwege ; the research program « EnJeux enfance et jeunesse » ; legal students from the legal clinic The LightHouse ; and a consortium of universities (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Université d’Angers and Université de Liège). If you have relevant data to share, please contact: anr.vseg@gmail.com Global News Call to Action Healing the Unseen Wounds of Rwanda’s Second-Generation Survivors Born from Rape as a Weapon of War By Intare R., Second-Generation Survivor, Foundation Rwanda Ambassador. For further information see here. Reparations to be paid to survivors of wartime sexual violence in Ukraine. For further information see here. Publications & Media Zehn Jahre Distelblüten, 2024. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary since the first meeting in 2014 the association published an updated book with stories from their members who are children of German mothers and Russian fathers born during and after WWII. Further information and how to order the book (German hard copy/English as PDF) can be found here in German. Besættelsen (The Occupation). This is a podcast in Danish which is strongly recommended to listen to for those who understand Danish! It shows that focusing only on CBOW conceived by conflict-related sexual violence is too narrow. Translated description: The Occupation is a decades-long family story of love, war and lies during the Nazi occupation of Denmark during World War II. Arne Øland never knew his father. His mother refused to talk about either Arne’s father or her own past. One day, however, a little of the secret and a wild story unfolds. A story that develops into an obsession for Arne. The question is, how well do we really know our parents, and what it does to children not to know their origins? The Podcast can be found here. The CBOW Project Newsletter is published end April, end August and end December If you have any information you would like to have included, please send it to info@cbowproject.org by the 15th of the respective month. |
A foundation for Children Born of War
A foundation for Children Born of War