Home Press Room

Creative Expressions: Youth Against War

Offering chilling details through performance and spoken word, youth groups from around the world plan to act out war experiences and sound dramatic calls for peace, Thursday May 9, at Manhattan’s Beekman Theater.

Using theater, dance, song, art, dramatic readings and poetry as vehicles of expression, adolescents will tell their personal stories of life during armed conflict and make persuasive arguments for peace.

"These children have lost everything, their homes and members of their families," said Allison Anderson Pillsbury, Project Manager, Children and Adolescents Project of the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, one of the sponsors of this event. “Despite this, their strength, resiliency and courage to make a difference and work for peace is inspirational.”

One theatre performance depicts the plight of adolescents in war and songs for peace by Ugandan and Sudanese youth from northern Uganda, an area with huge numbers of former child combatants and child soldiers.

'Given that policy-makers and heads of state from around the world will be at the UN Special Session on Children, it is a wonderful chance for the adolescents to show them how much they can contribute and how much they are doing already," said Ms. Pillsbury.

The performers include: the Sri Lankan Centre for Performing Arts, performing "In the Cradle of War"- a pantomime depicting the plight of children caught in war and how these disadvantages can be overcome; Undesirable Elements, a music and theatre piece by GlobalKids/Dreamyard; and songs, poetry and dramatic theatre by youth from northern Uganda, Palestine, Israel, Afghanistan, southern Sudan, Kosovo and Sierra Leone.

The event is being sponsored by the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children; UNICEF, the Sub-working group on Children and Armed Conflict, Caucus on Children and Armed Conflict; and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict. It is scheduled for Thursday, May 9 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Beekman Theater located on 49^th Street and 1^st Avenue.

Experts available for comment:

Allison Anderson Pillsbury, Project Manager Children and Adolescents Project, (212) 551-3107

Sarah Spencer, Program Specialist, Children and Adolescents Project and Leadership Council on Children
and Armed Conflict, (212) 551-3140

Julia Freedson, Coordinator, Watch List on Children in Armed Conflict, (212) 551-2743

and Youth Participants in the event

To facilitate interviews or for more information please contact Diana Quick at 212-551-3087, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Allison Anderson Pillsbury at 212-551-3107, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children works to ensure that refugee and displaced women, children and adolescents are given protection, encouraged to participate, and have access to education, health services and livelihood opportunities. Through a vigorous and comprehensive program of advocacy, supported by extensive research and technical expertise, the Women's Commission serves as an expert resource and works with governments, United Nations agencies, international and local nongovernmental organizations and donors to improve the lives of displaced women and children. The Women's Commission was founded in 1989 under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee.