Soldiers, police officers, demonstrations and attacks are recurrent themes in Saharawi children’s drawings. A child’s
drawing, as a spontaneous expression, represents a child’s thought processes and its perceptions of the world around it.

Fear and sadness which children transmit through their creativity are a reflection on the systematic exposure to violence which the Saharawis are subjected to, particularly during childhood. The conflict has now persisted for over 40 years, meaning that several generations of children have never known peace.
Young people, who constitute a significant proportion of the Saharawi society in the Occupied Territories of Western
Sahara, are forced to witness violent encounters on a daily basis which inevitably becomes part of them. Humiliations, detentions and torture are constant in the lives of Saharawis….. READ FULL STATMENT