Former child soldier, now rapper, Emmanuel Jal has an important message for President Obama that can save lives. Jal is speaking out and joining thousands of activists around the world in supporting a treaty that would end the unregulated flow of weapons globally.
Every minute, at least one person dies as a result of armed violence and conflict. There is currently no universal piece of legislation to regulate and monitor the international trade of arms. Beginning this week, world leaders from roughly 150 countries have gathered in New York to negotiate such a treaty that could keep weapons out of the hands of bad guys likely to use them to rape, recruit child soldiers or commit other severe human rights abuses.
Jal knows firsthand the horrors of being a child on the front lines. At the age of seven, he was uprooted from his village and sent to fight with the rebel army in Sudan’s brutal civil war. For nearly five years, he carried and slept next to an AK-47 that was taller than him. Eventually, Jal and 300 other “lost boys” managed to escape, enduring a 3-month trek on foot without any supplies to reach safety. He was one of only a handful of survivors. The award-winning documentary ‘War Child’ chronicles Jal’s life and his emergence as a musician and humanitarian sharing a message of peace for his war-torn land and beloved Africa.
Today, Jal is doing everything he can to make sure that children and families worldwide are protected from violence. You can show your support by taking action in these final days of Arms Trade Treaty negotiations to ensure that the treaty is bullet-proof.