In the UK a recently released study showed that 55% of children in the United Kingdom, who have been identified as persons victimized by human trafficking and subsequently rescued will eventually become missing persons. The main reason for the high percentage rate of missing child survivors is due in direct relation to a lack of a guardian or adequate guardian for such children.

In the UK a recently released study showed that 55% of children in the United Kingdom, who have been identified as persons victimized by human trafficking and subsequently rescued will eventually become missing persons. The main reason for the high percentage rate of missing child survivors is due in direct relation to a lack of a guardian or adequate guardian for such children. A recent opinion poll in the UK showed, 44% of British adults believe that the government is unacceptably handling the victims of child trafficking. The poll also found that 86% of adults in the country believe the British government must establish a system of guardianship to ensure that every identified child victim is designated to have a person who has parental responsibility over that child. (Guardian) A recent opinion poll in the UK showed, 44% of British adults believe that the government is unacceptably handling the victims of child trafficking. The poll also found that 86% of adults in the country believe the British government must establish a system of guardianship to ensure that every identified child victim is designated to have a person who has parental responsibility over that child. (Guardian) Much of the current spotlight and uproar is in response to the revaluation that a government-run home had quite literally lost 77 children, only 4 of which have been located, in a matter of three years (Guardian). The investigation led authorities to expose a criminal network exploiting children in the sex and drug trades across the country. Much of the current spotlight and uproar is in response to the revaluation that a government-run home had quite literally lost 77 children, only 4 of which have been located, in a matter of three years (Guardian). The investigation led authorities to expose a criminal network exploiting children in the sex and drug trades across the country. The Home Office’s Centre for Exploitation and Online Protection reviewed several local authorities who serve trafficked children and found that over half the kids who are brought in slip through some rather gaping cracks. There are a number of reasons child trafficking victims get lost: they are re-trafficked by the agency or someone else, they run away out of fear of the trafficker, they are deported, or they run back to the trafficker, especially in cases where the trafficker was a boyfriend first. The Home Office’s Centre for Exploitation and Online Protection reviewed several local authorities who serve trafficked children and found that over half the kids who are brought in slip through some rather gaping cracks. There are a number of reasons child trafficking victims get lost: they are re-trafficked by the agency or someone else, they run away out of fear of the trafficker, they are deported, or they run back to the trafficker, especially in cases where the trafficker was a boyfriend first. The situation has caused ECPAT UK, a leading anti-trafficking organization, to team with the Body Shop, for the creation of a petition, which asks the government to increase the countries guardianship guidelines and develop more comprehensive services for child survivors of human trafficking.

UNICEF, Darfur rebels agree on terms to protect children
One of Darfur’s main rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement, will sign an agreement with UNICEF this week to protect children, according to the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue. Rebel groups and government forces have actively recruited child soldiers into their ranks in the past, say UN officials. The agreement will give UNICEF access to all of the group’s rebel camps to ensure children are kept out of the conflict.

Funding is a major focus for HIV/AIDS conference
Government cuts to funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and health infrastructure programs have limited the number of people receiving lifesaving drugs, falling short of world leaders’ goal of universal treatment by 2010, said officials at an international HIV/AIDS conference. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Michel Kazatchkine, head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, urged governments to refrain from trimming their AIDS budgets. The Global Fund is seeking $20 billion to sustain their work for the next three years.

UN questions Vatican over child-rights reporting
The Vatican has failed to remit any report on its efforts to protect child rights nearly 13 years after a deadline despite repeated reminders from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, committee chairwoman Yanghee Lee says. All signatories to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child are required to submit regular reports. The Vatican provided an initial report in 1995, but has filed no updates since.

UN launches midyear humanitarian aid appeal
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued a midyear appeal for $5 billion in funding to provide help to 53 million people in 34 countries affected by conflict or disasters through the end of 2010. Haiti, Afghanistan, Somalia, Kenya and Sudan are among the countries currently receiving the most aid.

India offers cash incentives to decrease maternal mortality rate
Indian authorities are offering pregnant women a $30 incentive to abandon traditional birthing methods for safer hospital environments in a bid to curb the country’s maternal mortality rates. India has worked to halve its maternal mortality numbers over the past two decades, but still has one of the highest rates in the world.

Philip Morris suppliers use child labor
Kazakh suppliers for tobacco giant Philip Morris International have regularly employed forced and child labor on their farms, Human Rights Watch charges in a report being released today. Tobacco farming is particularly hazardous for children who are exposed to high levels of nicotine for long periods of time, HRW said. Philip Morris has already agreed to review its purchasing policies in response to the findings.

Authorities call for calm after 3 days of Belfast protests
After three days of riots in Belfast in which children as young as 9 years old have attacked riot police, religious and political leaders have called for calm among the mostly young people who have taken to the streets. One authority says that the demonstrators are largely disaffected youths from disadvantaged areas looking to relieve their own boredom — by engaging in clashes with authorities that have led to 83 police injuries.

DR Congo civilians flee new violence
Violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has prompted about 70,000 people to flee their homes in recent weeks, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says. Civilian populations and aid organizations have been under attack as Congolese armed forces battle rebels from Uganda and Rwanda.

African youths lead fight against HIV/AIDS
An increase in safer sex practices by African youths is helping to drive down infection rates in 16 out of 25 countries, UNAIDS says in a new report. Many African countries — including Kenya, Botswana, Ethiopia and Malawi — are on track to reduce infection levels among 15- to 24-year-olds by 25% or more as compared with 2000 levels by the end of 2010.

Yesterday, July 12, 2010 was the six-month anniversary of the earthquake which devastated the island nation of Haiti, killing more than 220,000 and which left even more Haitians displaced, homeless, or without adequate shelter. The earthquake also took a drastic toll on the country’s education system.

In February I reported on the state of the country’s education system in a two part series; The Future of Education in Haiti and The Future of Education in Haiti continued…, in which both primary and secondary education in the country was evaluated.  Highlighting how the aftermath of the quake left children the most vulnerable and susceptible.

According to the Haitian Ministry of Education, 80 percent of those schools in the quake-affected areas were damaged or destroyed. In the six months following the quake, the majority of those schools have now been re-opened and up to 40 percent of schools damaged in the earthquake have been cleared of debris. Nonetheless, school attendance rates continue to suffer as the country slowly works to recover from the devastation, a concern which weighs heavy on many’s minds regarding the stability and future development of the fragile nation.  Schools act as a safe-haven for children and help them deal with the heavy stress that follows disaster, as many children suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome. It is essential that Haitian children return to school as quickly as possibly, and while temporary means are obviously to be sought as the country continues to dig itself out from the rubble, international efforts must seek to see that the country’s educational system is rebuilt.

To mark the day UNICEF Radio podcast moderator Amy Costello reported from Haiti, speaking to Coralie Norris, a 14-year-old student, and Lisa Doherty, the UNICEF Haiti Education Cluster Coordinator, regarding the current climate in the country facing schoolchildren six months after the quake. You can learn more and listen to the podcast here.

In Haiti, reconstruction grinds
Six months after a massive earthquake devastated Haiti relief and reconstruction efforts have stalled as overwhelmed Haitian authorities struggle to assert control and donors fail to deliver promised funding. More than 1.4 million peoples remain without adequate permanent housing. Children’s advocates worry available services are inadequate and the reality many families face will lead to an explosion in the numbers of “restaveks” — children sent to work in slavelike conditions in exchange for food and housing.

UN looks for more action on maternal health
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling for increased efforts on maternal mortality rates and access to medical care for women around the world. A recent UN report shows hundreds of thousands of women continue to die every year from pregnancy or childbirth, and efforts to expand family-planning options have been hampered by poverty and lack of education. “If world leaders put women and children at the top of the global agenda, we can make real progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals,” said Kathy Calvin, chief executive officer of the UN Foundation.

Lead-poisoning epidemic explodes in Nigeria
In an incident that the World Health Organization describes as an “unprecedented environmental emergency,” some 2,000 Nigerians have been exposed to lead poisoning as a result of gold-extraction activities. More than 100 children in the state of Zamfara suffer from lead concentrations 12 times higher than the level considered dangerous enough to cause brain damage. Medecins Sans Frontieres established two units to coordinate chelation therapy to treat children suffering from toxin exposure.

Tuberculosis drugs may fight tropical diseases
Drug treatments being developed to fight tuberculosis may help treat sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leshmaniasis, the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development and Drugs for Neglected Diseases say. The two have launched a combined effort with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to share information and streamline development of treatments.

General Assembly unanimously backs UN Women
The General Assembly voted unanimously Friday to create a UN agency devoted to issues of concern to women and girls. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — to be known as UN Women — will work to promote equality and end discrimination against women around the world.

Haiti’s earthquake orphans find little help
Children orphaned as a result of the Jan. 12 earthquake face an uncertain future, living in orphanages struggling to maintain operations or adopted by relatives also struggling to recover from the disaster. Frades, a local grass-roots organization now caring for children, has battled unsuccessfully to obtain material and financial support to help care for orphans in a makeshift facility consisting of two tents.

Kurdish Iraq is a capital for genital mutilation
Some 90% of women living in the Sulaymaniyah district in Kurdish Iraq have experienced genital mutilation — likely a greater number than in any other place in the Middle East. In this region and in others where genital mutilation persists, the people doing the act could not be considered midwives or surgeons and work in environments lacking facilities for proper hygienic care. Kurdish identity, religion, pressure from peers and an effort to curb women’s sexuality are four factors driving the practice in Kurdistan, according to Human Rights Watch.

Women’s advocates battle rise of DR Congo rapes
Public health and women’s rights advocates warn the prevalence of sexual assault as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the past decade is translating into higher occurrences of civilian rape. A recent study showed a 17-fold increase in the incidence of rapes between 2004 and 2008, prompting many observers to caution sexual assault has gained a disturbing level of social acceptance in DR Congo.

MSF questions WHO measles strategy in Africa
The resurgence of measles epidemics across Africa after 20 years of decreases raises questions about the effectiveness of the World Health Organization’s vaccination strategy, Médecins Sans Frontières says. WHO set a target of measles eradication by 2015, but a lack of coordination between agencies and government representatives, and drops in available funding, have allowed the disease to spread in 2009 and 2010, the group warns.

Actress Davis appeals for better gender representation
The American film and television industries need to do a better job portraying women and girls as American-generated content is the mode widely available around the world, actress Geena Davis urged at the United Nations as the Economic and Social Council opened a weeklong meeting. Media can be a powerful tool in helping empower women and girls and furthering Millennium Development Goals, Davis said, but current content continues to display significant gender disparity

MDG 3: “Finding New Ways to Empower Women”
The United Nations Foundation, in collaboration with Devex, would like to hear from you about your experience promoting gender equality and empowering women. World leaders are gathering again this year to map out the homestretch of this momentous campaign. The Sept. 20-22 United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York promises to revitalize and refocus the international community on proven strategies for eliminating hunger, reducing poverty and boosting labor.This is a unique opportunity for those on the front lines of the global fight against poverty to tell policymakers what is going on in the field — which approaches have proven successful, and which challenges remain. Tell us how your work is helping to promote gender equality and empower women. Your experience and knowledge is key to one of the most important initiatives of our time. Join. Be heard. Start posting your comments and success stories now!

Every Child Matters is holding a video contest in response to the 2010 midterm elections.  The environment, jobs, and consumer protection are the hot button issues at the center of the elections this year and Every Child Matters believes that children and families ought to be made a priority during this year’s campaign season. Therefore they are sponsoring a contest that challenges child advocates to create a non-partisan video illustrating why children should be a political priority in the upcoming elections.

Invest in Kids Video Contest Guidelines:

• The videos should be between 30 seconds and two minutes in length.
• Videos will be judged based on creativity, strength of message and accuracy of information.
• All videos should address the question: Why should the government invest in kids?
• Every Child Matters hopes to use the video to promote our message of making children a political priority, so it is key that the videos be non-partisan and contain no copyrighted material
• First place: $750; Second place: $500; Third place: $250.
• Deadline for submissions is August 16, 2010

For more information about the Invest in Kids Video Contest, click here. Questions should be sent to  contest at everychildmatters.org.

The protection of the rights of women and girls and the increasement of opportunities to women across the globe is often overlooked or undervalued, however they are vital to are vital to the overall economic development and prosperity from the individual family unit, communities, countries, and our global comunity.

Last week, the Economist Intelligence Unit launched the Women’s Economic Opportunity report, an innovative study of the global economic landscape facing women. This pilot effort analyzes the laws, practices and attitudes that affect women workers and entrepreneurs, and points to key steps to improve opportunities and economic performance worldwide.  The 142 page reoprt lists an overall ranking of countries based on their economic opportunites for women and then looks indepth at the potential drivers of womens economic opportunity. 

The Women’s Economic Opportunity Index is a dynamic quantitative and qualitative scoring model,
constructed from 26 indicators, that measures specifi c attributes of the environment for women
employees and entrepreneurs in 113 economies. Five category scores are calculated from the unweighted mean of underlying indicators and scaled from 0-100, where 100=most favourable. These categories are: Labour policy and practice (which comprises two sub-categories: Labour policy and Labour practice); Access to fi nance; Education and training; Women’s legal and social status; and the General business environment. Each category or sub-category features either four or fi ve underlying indicators. The overall score (from 0-100) is calculated from a simple average of the unweighted category and indicator scores. That is, every indicator contributes equally to their parent category and every category contributes equally to the overall score. This is the baseline overall score for the Women’s Economic Opportunity Index.

While progress in gender equality and opportunities for women have greatly increased in the last century the overall economic opportunities for women and girls continue to fall greatly behind those of men and boys. ‘Women, on average, earn 75% of their male co-workers’ wages, and the difference cannot be explained solely by schooling or experience. In many countries, women have fewer educational and employment opportunities than men, are more often denied credit, and endure social restrictions that limit their chances for advancement.’ Much of this is due to the fact that in many developing countries women still cannot vote, own property or in some cases even go outside their family home without the occompanament of a male family member.

This report is a great tool that highlights the value of women’s participation in our economy and can serve as a valuble tool to organizations across the globe.  Working to ensure as a global comunity we help women to make the most of their economic potential is a vital component in tackling inequality and global poverty.

Photo by Ian Livingston

Today I spent my Fourth of July gathered with some dear family and a few close friends boiling in the heat of our nation’s capital.  It was probably the most crowed place I have ever been in my entire life and yet it seemed some how relaxed and uncrowded.  While I am not sure I would brave the crowd and heat again, there was something about watching the fireworks under the shadow of our national monuments to all who served for our freedoms.

Americans gather and celebrate as a nation, our independence our freedom, taking pride in our country and our history. We honor those who have fought and died to give us the ability to walk this land without fear of persecution. A nation built on the back of injustice, a nation with dark slave past (mention here and link to slave apology). We celebrate today a nation which stands for justice, the right to free speech, the right of religious choice, the right to live our lives how we choose to live. However while we may not always agree with each other, and our country is not by far perfect, it is known that our children and their children live, and will continue to live, in a country where their opportunities are endless. Yet lets us also not forget that our freedoms have all come at a price, and that they do not befall upon us, but yet are the inheritance of our forefathers and foremothers. And while freedom is ours, it is still heavily guarded by those men and women, who serve in our military, work in our government, human rights workers and everyday citizens who have ensured that these rights continue to remain for us and future generations.

Take a moment from your BBQ’s and parties, and with your friends and family, and reflect for a moment to remember that countless millions of men, women and children around the globe are not so fortunate. For there are some 27 million people around the world who continue to remain affected by modern slavery, and that millions of children around the world who are faced with the daily ravages of war and conflict. Millions of children continue to face gender inequality; are denied an education, our sexually exploited, suffer needlessly from preventable diseases and poverty. Forget not that these children are not always in some land far away, but here in our own back yard…here in the land of freedom.

Use your freedom and your voice to help those who cannot celebrate today among the summer fun of BBQ’s and sit under the night sky ablaze with fireworks. Remember that freedom is not free, and it is the right of every man, woman and child.

This week the battle against child trafficking has made huge hurdles with the introduction of a new bill, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010 (DMSTDVS). The bill was introduced this week by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who are the co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Human Trafficking, to Congress. The proposed legislation was Maloney and Smith response to the 2009 Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking report by Shared Hope International, which reported in-depth on the high prevalence of child sex trafficking in the United States, giving light to the grave lack of support and services for domestic victims via assessments which were conducted across several U.S. cities. If passed the bill would enable more resources for victims, increase funding to some 45 million dollars to prosecute those engaged in the trafficking of children, and enact stricter reporting requirements for missing children.

One key area of success the new legislation could have is that it will focus on of the gaping holes that allow trafficked children who are U.S. citizens to be overlooked. The proposed legislation specifically targets assistance for domestic victims, United States citizens. , many of whom are runaways, throwaways, or homeless youth. These teens, who range in age from pre-pubescent to 17, are often addicted to drugs, sometimes forcibly by traffickers. The new legislation would establish grants to appropriate much-needed funds into shelters and other services for minor victims of sex trafficking. One highly needed and substantial portion of the bill would likely be for the establishment of a shelter. Currently there are only some 50 designated beds in the country for U.S. sex trafficking victims,  in spite of the fact that there are approximately 100,000 domestic victims.

While the bill is heavily supported by the anti-trafficking community and long overdue, the wait continues as eyes now turn to Congress to see if the DMSTDVS Act will pass through their hallowed halls.

Pope decries Belgian police raid over abuse allegations
Pope Benedict XVI sharply condemned the decision by Belgian police to conduct a police raid on church property, seizing files, detaining bishops and even searching at least one cardinal’s tomb for evidence. The pope expressed solidarity with Belgian Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard, while the Vatican said that police had violated the confidence of those who have come forward recently alleging abuse in Belgium. Belgium’s justice minister said the raid had been carried out appropriately.

“Conflict minerals” are part of daily life
In a development resembling the debate over “blood diamonds” sold by resource-rich countries with atrocious human-rights records, activists are beginning to organize against so-called conflict minerals: heavy metals whose use in products such as cell phones and computers contributes to the brutal conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Activists urge companies such as Apple and Intel to buy tantalum from Australia rather than from the Congolese militia — and to find alternative sources for other industrial metals abundant in Congo.

Mexico battles high maternal-mortality rate
Access, cultural concerns, and affordability and quality of care are helping to keep Mexico’s maternal-mortality rate, particularly among indigenous and poor communities, the highest in Latin America. More than one-third of maternal deaths are the result of malpractice, mistakes during operations or administration of improper medications.

Kimberley Process deadlocked over Zimbabwe diamonds
Days of marathon negotiations on the future of Zimbabwean diamond trade have failed to produce agreement among member countries of the Kimberley Process, a voluntary system that works to prevent trade in conflict diamonds. Human-rights advocates argue the Zimbabwean military remains in control of mines and is continuing to commit abuses. Zimbabwe has vowed to pursue diamond trading regardless of a Kimberley Process approval.

Developing world is on target to meet poverty MDG
Despite the challenges of the recent global economic crisis, the developing world is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals poverty targets, the United Nations says in a report. The global poverty rate will shrink to about 15% by 2015, mainly because of economic advances across Asia. “This report shows that economic uncertainty cannot be an excuse to slow down our development efforts. It is a reason to speed them up,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

WHO study points to cheaper polio vaccines
A lower dose of polio vaccine administered just below the skin is cheaper to obtain and as effective as the traditional larger doses, doctors from the World Health Organization report. Public health planners hope to use the findings to craft more cost-friendly polio-immunization programs for developing countries that are struggling to eradicate the crippling disease.

Rape incidents are rising in wake of Haiti earthquake
Sexual assaults in Haiti have risen dramatically in the wake of January’s devastating earthquake, aid groups and Haitian authorities warn. Tens of thousands of women and girls are living on Haiti’s streets or squeezed into camps without sufficient security. Joint Haitian-United Nations police patrols have deployed at some camps in an effort to improve security conditions.

Aid groups launch emergency appeal for Niger
Oxfam and Save the Children have launched an appeal for $10 million in aid for Niger, where some 400,000 children under the age of 5 are at risk of starvation after massive crop failures last year. Increases worldwide in the price of foods combined with a devastating drought last year have led to food shortages affecting half the country’s population. The UN has described the crisis in Niger and other West African nations such as Chad as similar to the disastrous 1984 famine that struck Ethiopia.