From Despair to Hope: Children beyond Armed Conflict features the stories of conflict-affected children through powerful portraits taken by photojournalist Paddy Dowling. Each portrait tells the unique, tragic, and compelling story of a child living in a conflict setting and emphasizes their plight, but also their resilience.
Children are the most vulnerable in situations of conflict. Wars and hostilities deprive them of their lives, families, homes, education — essentially from their very childhood. They become both targets and instruments of war. They are recruited as child soldiers, abducted, sexually violated, maimed, or killed. Their schools and hospitals are attacked, and they are deprived of essential humanitarian aid.
Ensuring that the needs of children are addressed before, during, and after conflict is at the core of the Children and Armed Conflict Mandate. Despite the horrors they have endured, children have a chance to recover from atrocities and become positive agents of change in their communities. But for that, they need our support.
Using portraits as its basis, the exhibition From Despair to Hope: Children beyond Armed Conflict aims to reflect on the complexity of the lives of children amidst conflict — emphasizing both the tragedy and the faith in a better future.