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| © UNICEF/HQ02-0113/ DONNA DECESARE |
| Ishmael speaks during a panel on child soldiers held at the UN in 2002 |
Biography
Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone in 1980. When he was eleven, Ishmael’s life, along with the lives of millions of other Sierra Leoneans, was derailed by the outbreak of a brutal civil war. After his parents and two brothers were killed, Ishmael was recruited to fight as a child soldier. He was thirteen. He fought for almost three years before he was removed from the army by UNICEF and placed in a rehabilitation home. In 1998, Ishmael came to live with an American family in New York City. He completed high school and was subsequently accepted to Oberlin College. In May 2004, Ishmael completed his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and won Oberlin’s Dainne Vruels Fiction Prize for his story At Noon. He is currently completing a book about his experiences in the war, which will be published by Farrar Straus and Giroux.
Issues and Activities
Throughout his undergraduate education, Ishmael continued his advocacy work to bring attention to the plight of child soldiers around the world, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, serving on a UN panel with Secretary General Kofi Annan and discussing the issue with dignitaries such as Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton. Ishmael gave the "Call to Action" speech at the Religions for Peace Youth Assembly, “Religious Youth for Peace: Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared Security” which took place from 21-25 August 2006 in Hiroshima and Kyoto, Japan. He also wrote a daily diary on the Youth Assembly in Japan, where approximately 300 religious youth leaders from every region of the world gathered to discuss such issues as preventing violence, transforming conflict, building peace, and advancing sustainable development. The delegates developed a plan for youth-led multi-religious advocacy and action in their respective regions and beyond.
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