Project description
Background[edit | edit source]
- In 1996, Graca Machel, former Minister of Education of Mozambique, published a report presented at the UN General Assembly entitled The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children.
- Developed over a two year process of research and consultation, the report was the first of its kind in providing groundbreaking analyses of the ways by which modern warfare “kills, maims and exploits children more callously and more systematically than ever before,” (Machel, 2001).
- Machel argued that modern-day conflicts are particularly lethal for children because little or no practical distinction is made between combatants and civilians. Since the 1990’s, an increasing number of children have died, been permanently disabled or seriously injured as a result of armed conflict (Machel, 2001).
- In March 2022, after only a month of war in the Ukraine, 4.3 million children had already been displaced (UNICEF, 2022).
- To date, approximately 5 million children are displaced inside and outside Ukraine (World Vision International, 2023).
- Attacks in highly populated urban areas have resulted in high numbers of civilian casualties, including children.
- The war has left children with no homes, no schools, no hospitals and without access to basic services.
- This project asks - and provides some ideas - on how makers and communities in the Ukraine can come together to design spaces for intergenerational play. How can designing play spaces contribute to a sense of safety and security and psychosocial wellbeing for children, families and communities? How can access to play spaces complement current education in emergencies initiatives? How can play support child development here and now and the rebuilding of communities in the years to come?