On May 6, Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) introduced The Women and Children in Armed Conflict Protection Act of 2003. This legislation, co-authored by Save The Children in consultation with the Department of State and USAID as well as other NGOs, will bridge serious gaps in the way US policy protects civilians in war and conflict situations.

The nature of war and political struggle has changed so much over the last five decades that women and children are now the express targets for incomprehensible cruelty, abuse and exploitation. Save The Children's State of the World's Mothers Report of 2003 asserts that civilians, primarily women and children, make up 90 percent of casualties in today's conflicts. Yet the humanitarian response too often follows a disaster relief model instead of a holistic approach that includes the establishment of safe zones to ensure full security for refugees, psycho-social services such as counseling for post-traumatic stress disorders and educational strategies that seek to provide normalized activities for children caught in the upheaval of conflict. Further, when the conflict begins to diffuse, women and children who should be the building blocks for resurrecting community life and civil society do not receive the treatment, support, and resources they need to recover and reintegrate.

I would like to point out several highlights of this legislation: the creation of a $45 million "Women and Children's Protection Fund" supporting new initiatives that promote the physical and psychological security of women and children who are refugees, displaced persons or living in zones of conflict as well as ensure equal access to basic services;. Require the US government to develop an integrated strategy for protecting women and children in all states of conflict; urge all agencies implementing humanitarian assistance programs to review and revise their camp administration strategies to create a safer and more secure environment for women and children.

War has changed and so must our response to it. US adoption of this act would compel policy change not only in other countries but also at major humanitarian organizations such as the UN. It would ensure that when peace accords finally come, child soldiers cannot be hidden away and denied access to the services provided to adult soldiers. It would create safe havens for the most vulnerable refugees who often find camps as dangerous as the besieged villages they left. It would compel a more rapid response to burgeoning internal conflicts where humanitarian response is often much slower: it might prevent another Rwanda or Bosnia.

Write your representatives urging the support of The Women and Children in Armed Conflict Protection Act of 2003. In a world that now bears witness to more than 40 zones of violent conflict, a focus on the needs of women and children is the best hope we have for rebuilding peaceful, stable communities around the world. More information is available at www.savethechildren.org.

Jennifer T. Naylor