Ishmael Beah is a former child soldier, and the author of the memoir, A Long Way Gone:  Memoirs of a Boy Soldier . In 1991,  Sierra Leone became embroiled in a vicious civil war. He claims that  at the age of 13, he was pressed into service as a child soldier. According to Beah's  account, he fought for almost three years before being rescued by UNICEF. He fought in the  war, and after the war he continued to fight.

Later in 1998, he fled from Freetown due to the increasing violence there and traveled to  New York City. He now considers his foster mother, Laura Simms, his mother. In New York  City, Beah attended the United Nations International School in Manhattan. After high school,  he attended Oberlin College, graduating in 2004 with a degree in Politics.

This inspirational young man made a visit to Jamaica last week and visited some inner city  communities where crime and violence are the order of the day.   This was his first mission  as UNICEF’s Advocate for Children Affected by War and he brought with him messages of hope  and resilience.

Violence threatens Jamaica's children

Violence is a major threat to Jamaican childhood. Eighty-seven per cent of children aged 2  to 14 are reportedly subjected to psychological or physical punishment. Only 28 per cent of  children think their communities are safe, according to a national survey.

“You all have the strength and the capacity to triumph over violence,” Mr. Beah told a group  of children and young people in Spanish Town, west of Kingston. He was visiting the  UNICEF-supported non-governmental organization Children First, which offers remedial  education, life-skills training and other opportunities to children at risk.

Children across Jamaica are being pressed into gang warfare, where they are used as spies  and look-outs, and are often forced to conceal and use guns. In the violence-prone  communities of Trenchtown, Arnett Gardens, Federal Gardens and Dunkirk in Kingston, Mr. Beah  urged children who lack education and employment opportunities not to give in to the appeal  of gangs.

Child soldier in Africa