In the shadow of war: the images highlighting the devastating impact of conflict on children’s lives

Save the Children have released a series of pictures that were captured by award-winning photographers in war zones across the world

A portrait of Prisca*, six, inside her home in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Hugh Kinsella Cunningham/Save the Children)

Jim Huylebroek, Oksana Parafeniuk and Hugh Kinsella Cunningham have documented the inspiring stories of children living through the endless war in Afghanistan, the grinding frozen conflict in eastern Ukraine and those fleeing the atrocities of Ituri in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Their powerful images provide a truly global perspective of the experiences of children living through war.  

Each photographer captured their unique perspective on the conflict they’re covering and contributed to a series of diptychs. They combine the portraits of six children with pictures of the sky above them, representing the fragility of their situation and the shadow war casts over their childhood.

When searching for hope in a desperate situation, many of us look to the sky. For children in conflict zones – often reacting to the sounds of shelling, planes or gunfire – that hope is frequently overtaken by fear and the sky becomes both a symbol of hope, but also one of potential danger.  

The series comes as Save the Children released its annual Stop the War on Children Report which reveals that nearly 100,000 children have been killed or maimed as a result of conflict over the last decade. This shocking figure equates to an average British classroom full of children killed or injured in conflict every day for the past 10 years.

Of all the child casualties in 2019 more than a third were caused by explosive weapons which are routinely deployed in urban areas without regard for the consequence or damage they cause and the lives they destroy. When explosive weapons are used in populated areas, up to 90 per cent of those killed and injured are civilians.

Over 400 million children live in conflict zones across the world, with more and more living in higher intensity battle areas resulting in more atrocities being committed against them. The data also shows that 200,000 “grave violations” have been committed against children in war.

Nine-year-old Shogofa*, who took part in the project, was severely injured when a rocket hit her family home killing her three brothers instantly. She was forced to flee her home town, and now lives in a tent on a dusty plain in northern Afghanistan with her mother, father and remaining siblings.  

When asked about what happened she said: “My mother was cooking and then suddenly a round landed in our house. My brothers were hit with shrapnel and died.”  

She says her family had “everything” in her home town and now they struggle for food in the camp where they live. Despite this she hopes to study be a doctor one day, and that her and her siblings can play in the street once again when there is no more war.  

In Ukraine, six-year-old Olha*, almost lost her life and her best friend Boris*, a nine-year-old boy, lost four fingers when they picked up a mine in the street thinking it was a whistle.

Olha’s mother Valentyna* describes the incident, saying: “I saw that everything was covered in blood, I didn't understand anything at first. I just held her close against me and I was crying.”

Olha still lives with over fifty pieces of shrapnel in her body and the significant scars from her injuries, but still has big ambitions for the future. Her mother says she can’t keep up with what she says she wants to be, one day it’s a cook, then a police officer or a doctor. “She first dreams of one thing, then she dreams of something else.”

Six-year-old Prisca*, from Ituri in the Democratic Republic of Congo, fled her village when it was attacked by armed groups. She walked for miles to find safety, and saw the bodies of people who’d been killed along the way.

When asked about what happened she says: “We left our village, we fled the war there. There was gunfire and machete blows. I saw a lot of corpses. We took some small luggage on our heads and just the clothes we were wearing.”

Prisca now lives in a camp on the outskirts of a city in Ituri province with her family. She feels safe at the camp and never wants to go back to her village even though some of her friends are still there.

Roman* is 17 years old and lives with his grandparents in a village on the “contact line” between Donetsk People's Republic-controlled territory and Ukrainian government-controlled territory.

When he was just 12 years old, Roman was walking through his vegetable garden when he stepped on a trip wire attached to an unexploded bomb. He suffered critical injuries to his legs and ear and spent over three weeks in hospital to recover.

He says he was in shock after it exploded and couldn’t feel anything but when he got home he was covered in blood. Six years into the conflict, Roman and his family have grown used to the constant threat of shelling and gunshots.

* Names have been changed

To limit the disastrous impacts of explosive weapons on children, Save the Children is urgently calling on states, including the UK, to curb the use of the weapons most harmful to children, control the sale of such weapons if they might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law, and hold those who disregard international laws and standards to account. Save the Children is also calling for the UK to support an Irish-led political declaration aimed at curbing the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Find out more about Save the Children and their projects here