A TWO-DAY conference of West African foreign and defence ministers and senior military officials has opened in Accra to examine the problems of children affected by war. The conference co-hosted by Ghana and Canada is also being attended by war-affected children from Liberia and Sierra Leone. In an address at the opening ceremony, Ghana’s President Jerry Rawlings said the conference is a necessary action for leaders, servants of the people and members of civil society to mobilise themselves and send out a “strong message to the world community that leaders of the sub-region are determined to put a stop to this madness”.