Evelyn S. Kandakai Minister of Education Dr. D. E. S. Kandakai has been the Minister of Education in Liberia since August 1997. She previously worked at the Catholic Education Secretariat in Monrovia, as Assistant Education Secretary for Curriculum and Textbook Development and at Cuttington University College in Liberia as Dean of Academic Affairs and Head of the Education Division. She did a stint at the Independent Elections Commissions where she served as one of the six Liberians Commissioners, along with 3 international Commissioners in 1997. From December 1999 to December 2003 she sat on the Steering Committee the for the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) representing the Bureau of African Ministers of Education. She has served two terms on the FAWE Executive Committee as First Honorary Secretary General and as member of the Executive Committee. Dr. Kandakai has taught at Cuttington University College, the Graduate Program in Education at the University of Liberia, among educational institutions and other schools. She has written a novel entitled: The Village Son. She has written many professional papers and articles and attended numerous conferences in Education and Peace-Building. She is a founding member of the Liberia Women Initiative (LWI), the Mano River Women Peace Network (MARWOPNET) and Working With Our Children (WWOC) a Children's Advocacy group. Dr. Kandakai was married to Chris Kandakai (deceased), has two children of her own and other children who have become part of her family. She is a practicing Episcopalian.

Education for Children Associated with fighting Forces in Post Conflict Countries: The Case of Liberia

Liberia is presently undertaking a major exercise in its peace building efforts. Liberia is going through a process referred to as the Disarmament, Rehabilitation, Reintegration (DDRR). Again the disarmament and demobilization are expected to be over by the end of December, 2004. However, the Rehabilitation and Reintegration are going to be going on for a long time to come.

The majority of the former combatants estimated, at over 53,000 with some 15,000 Children Associated with Fighting Forces (CAFF's) have made it known that they would like to receive some vocational technical education (49%), and would like regular academic programs (39%), according to an UNMIL source.

UNMIL is the acronym for the UN Mission in Liberia. With the huge presence of UNMIL in Liberia and the corresponding programs, activities and interventions, it is likely that peace this time around, will be irreversible. This is the saying of UN officials and the prayers of Liberians. Vis a vis the topic at hand, there are at least three major concerns of this writer.

The first concerns the need to ensure that all of these children of fighting forces are sufficiently rehabilitated to arrest the development of the recurrence of the situations which have given rise to the involvement of huge numbers of youths across Africa in wars, violence and carnage; selfdestructing themselves, their families, their communities, and countries. Secondly providing Vocational-Technical Education, proper academic foundations and other types of education that would forestall such recurrence is of paramount concern for Liberians in general and educational practitioners specifically. Furthermore, how can we arrest a situation where the gun has been used as source of livelihood and providing fast money for these youths in the most negative sense?

The requirements for peace education, human rights education. civil education, life skills education are compelling. In other words in order to assist such a situation there is a need to deliberately design programs to deal directly with the huge psycho-social gaps that these youths have to be able to surmount.

I was somehow taken aback recently on listening to my colleagues from other post-conflict countries (Sudan, Sierra Leone, Burundi, DR Congo, etc..), to hear that similar problems exist in their educational systems as obtain in ours such as the inroads being made by HIV/AIDS in these vulnerable situations; sexual abuse of girls; predominance of overage youths in school; the long periods of time that lapse before schools/universities open and re-open in these conflict and postconflict countries; as well as the problems with re-educating those young men and women who have been dubiously glorified in many instances as rebels and have now become the bane of African education system and societies.