Ann-Charlotte has been working as an independent researcher and gone back and forth between Sweden and Washington D.C., USA between 1997-2012 for her research, while also traveling extensively. She applies a multidisciplinary approach to research with a framework of human rights, international humanitarian law and conflict prevention and conflict resolution. Within this framework she focuses on issues such as children and youth in armed conflict, transitional justice, politics, ethnicity and tribalism, political violence and terrorism, governance and political psychology, public health, trauma issues, refugees and internally displaced, harmful traditional practices, sexual violence against women, men and children, human rights of children and youth including the right to education and health.Her deep understanding and knowledge about this wide range of issues are to be used to assist and help people understand their experiences and reality and with the belief that ultimately healing is always possible no matter the experiences or circumstances. Focus countries and regions: Global, including Colombia, Peru, Central America, Israel/ OPT, the Middle East, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the African Great Lakes Region, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Kashmir, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Ann-Charlotte will attend the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict that the UK Government is hosting in London from 10 June to 13 June 2014. Please see for details: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/sexual-violence-in-conflict

In January-February 2014 Ann-Charlotte was in Myanmar and conducted an Impact Assessment for UNICEF Myanmar on the work of the United Nations Country Task Force on the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism regarding children in armed conflict (the CTFMR).

Ann-Charlotte’s book ”Children and Youth in Armed Conflict” has been published in two volumes, please see www.amazon.com for details.

In November 2012 Ann-Charlotte gave a lecture at the United States International University (USIU) in Nairobi on what the United Nations does for children in armed conflict. There is a reporting and monitoring mechanism set up at the United Nations with regards to children in armed conflict, and Ann-Charlotte has interviewed for her upcoming book on “Children and Youth in Armed Conflict” representatives of the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on children and armed conflict (SRSG-CAAC) and UNICEF, and US’, UK’s, France’s and Mexico’s representatives on the UN Security Council working group on children and armed conflict (SCWG-CAAC).The work of the Office of the SRSG-CAAC and the SC Working Group on CAAC is primarily focused on children up to the age of 18 years old, which means that youth over the age of 18 years are not covered by their work and this gap possesses a challenge in terms of securing the rights and protection of youth. In November 2012 Ann-Charlotte was to go to Centre Olame in Bukavu in DRC-Congo to prepare for a workshop for children, and flew to Kigali to take a taxi to the border, however the very day she arrived in Kigali the group M23 was advancing towards Goma and consequently took over Goma, so after having waited three nights in Kigali she flew back to Nairobi as it was impossible to go into Bukavu at that time. However she plans to go back to Centre Olame in Bukavu when it is possible as the armed conflict continues at the time of this writing.

In September 2012 Ann-Charlotte gave a lecture at Georgetown University on “Sexual violence, trauma and reconciliation” where she among other things discussed the need to make room for women and youth in the public sphere of a country as well as securing their economic, social and cultural rights.Here she gave as an example Kenya where in its new Constitution from 2010 provisions have been made for the representation of youth in Kenya’s parliament and senate, and that a discussion has been and is still going on in Kenya in terms of what this representation means. This needs to be seen in the context of both extensive electoral violence in Kenya December 2007-January 2008 where it was mainly youth that carried out the violence, and that the African Union, because of the reality that more than 50% of the African countries’ populations are made up of youth younger than 25 years of age of which many are unemployed and have never been to school or have very little education, has developed a Youth Charter where governments are to for instance develop a national youth policy. This also needs to be seen in the context of both armed conflict in some countries as well as very high levels of social violence in many communities and countries. Kenya has taken this one step further as it has also a youth policy, the provisions in the country’s 2010 Constitution for youth representation in the parliament and senate. In both the AU Youth Charter and the Kenyan Constitution ”youth” as a category has been both identified and importantly defined.

The 2010 Constitution of Kenya that here makes provisions for youth participation in politics and the African Youth Charter are examples of how to give room for youth in very challenging circumstances.While reality on the ground is of course something completely different in Africa and Kenya with regards to the actual protection of the legal rights of youth, at least in binding documents such as the Kenyan Constitution these provisions for the rights of youth are indeed a fact. To bring in youth into if not a political process but meaningful living is a true challenge.

In the fall of 2009 Ann-Charlotte gave a lecture in Nairobi at a human rights course for youth NGO representatives from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Ethiopia and Kenya on sexual violence against women and children in armed conflict including trauma issues.

LINKS & REFERENCES
Kenyan 2010 Constitution: http://www.kenyaembassy.com/pdfs/The%20Constitution%20of%20Kenya.pdfThe Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict: http://childrenandarmedconflict.un.orgThe United Nations Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict: http://www.un.org/sc/committees/WGCAAC/Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict: http://watchlist.orgCurrent Issues: United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, UNODA: http://www.un.org/disarmament/,
UNODA, Chemical Weapons Convention, CWC, and 1925 Geneva Protocol: http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Chemical/New Weapons Committee, Understanding effects of new war technologies: http://www.newweapons.org