Children

On Sunday, April 29, 2007, in 35 cities around the world, including London, Rome, Melbourne and DC, demonstrations where held to bring awareness to the victims of the conflict that is raging in Sudan’s, Darfur region. The Global Day for Darfur was organized by various human rights and humanitarian groups, such as Amnesty International. For one week, April 23rd - 30th, in the US alone there are more than 300-400 events promoting the unquestionable needs for millions of men, woman and children who’s voices have gone unheard for two long.

On Sunday I joined one such group of dedicated souls gathered in Washington DC, where the objective was to tell President Bush that, “Time is Running Out!”.  The group of concerned citizens where led by Amnesty International and Save Darfur, and spoke about how we must get UN peace Keepers in Darfur now, call on the U.S. government to act now, and work towards a timeline for funding and getting peace keeping troops in Darfur and neighboring Chad.

Sudan is a country wedged between the horn of Africa and the Middle East, comprising of a majority of Muslims. Sudan has been in and out of embroiled conflict since the 1800’s, after more than 30 years of fighting independence was granted  in 1956.  However Sudan then had two civil wars, the first of which began in 1955, a year before official independence, and ended in 1972.  The second civil war, which was really just a continuation, began in 1983 and did not officially end until an agreement was signed in 2005.  However in 2003 trouble broke out in force again for the nation, in what has turned into a full scale genocide, that looks to have no end in sight.  Sudan’s civil war is one of the longest and deadliest in history and we cannot allow Sudan’s genocide to be the same!

The Janjaweed, which in Arabic translates to mean “devils on horseback”, are composed of nomadic Arabic speaking tribes. The Janjaweed are black or African Arabs, who are a nomadic people, who have been attacking the non-Bedouin tribes of the Darfur region since 2003. Unfortunately the fighting has not ceased, and has only escalated since 2003, hitting a high point in 2006.  The Arab led government of Sudan, of course takes no claim to the violence, and we see little action that they are looking to end this tragedy anytime soon.

Villages burned, men assassinated, woman and girl raped, children left parentless and hungry, physical mutilations and forced amputations…it all sounds to horrid to be true, but it is a continuing nightmare for millions. Try to imagine yourself as one of the millions of survivors living in fear of recurring attacks, fear their will be no food or water, fear that they will never go home again, fear of eminent death.

In the expose, Darfur Drawn: Children’s Images of Sudan, Spiegel Magazine shows drawings, like the one below, by children who witnessed these violent and senseless acts.

Almost half a million lives have been lost, and another two and a half million forced to live as refugees, mainly in bordering Chad. Millions more are forced to depend on international aid to survive, but for how long? We the international community have allowed this conflict to grow and spread, as we have sat idly by for too long. Did we not learn from our mistakes in Rwanda? Can we let millions continue to go hungry, live in disease and poverty, can we sit back and watch them die? The media was relatively good at covering the crisis when the conflict first came to head, however the only reason it gets press today is through the undaunted efforts of those in the west who continue to see that their voices are heard. It all starts with one voice and it is making a difference, but me must get our governments to act, we must make the voices of those who cannot be heard louder and clearer to everyone. We must act now, as time is running out and there are millions of lives must be saved.

Links
Globe for Darfur
Save Darfur
Amnesty International - Darfur
Genocide in Darfur
Passion of the Present - Blog on Sudan - Has great links
Sudan Watch - Blog
Instant Karma - CD with proceeds to Darfur

Today as Global Days for Darfur wind down, the situation in the country rages one, and that’s why we need your help.

“Take Action Today!” Join others and call the White House comment line at 202-456-1414, and “tell the president that time has run out for the people of Darfur and that you urge the administration to institute Plan B without any further delay”.

- Amnesty International

April 23rd - April 30, 2007

Would you sit there and not take your child to the doctor for a vaccine that you knew would save them from disease? Could you sit by and watch your child suffer from illness when all you had to do was get them some $5 worth of medicine? We all know the answer is no! We all take our children and get them vaccinated for everything we can, and when they are ill we make sure they have he medicines they need. Then how is that millions of children die everyday around the world from preventable and curable diseases and illnesses, that together may only cost $30? Is a child’s life not worth a mere $30, when you think of what you last spent that amount on, a meal or a taxi ride, can that really equate with the life of any human being? According to UNICEF‘s 2005 Progress for Children Report, more than 1.4 million children die every year from preventable diseases, however that number is now more likely to be around 2 million.

April 25, 2007 was International Malaria Awareness Day, a day set to draw attention to the fact that every year million people, 90% of which are children (WHO). Malaria is preventable and treatable, yet almost half of the worlds countries are faced with this sever epidemic, as there 350 to 500 million cases of malaria each year. “The average cost for potentially life-saving treatments of malaria are estimated to be US$0.13 for chloroquine, US$0.14 for sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, and US$2.68 for a 7-day course of quinine (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Malaria Facts).” In addition to medical treatments of malaria, one other simple item could help eradicate the disease in our children, it’s as simple as buying mosquito net. A cost of less than $10 can buy a mosquito net and train them how to use it, a simple treated net can cost as little as $3. properly.

“Every day, 5,500 children across 21 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa alone die before they reach their fifth birthday.” That is more children than died in the tsunami! “And unless African governments and their international partners move quickly to redress the situation, 330,000 more children will die in the next two months” (Africa Renewal).

Tuberculosis, or TB, is a disease that is not disappearing, but is actually escalating worldwide and some estimate that it has infected 100 million people. The WTO estimates 9,000 people are infected each year, most in Asia and Africa. The high instance of HIV/AIDS is attributing to the increase. Additionally TB testing is seen as slow, and thus developments for the disease are needed, as “the problem with the 120-year-old test is that it only diagnoses less than 50 per cent of the patients who do have TB.” (WHO Reports that TB is on the Rise). Therefore in the case of TB we not only need to ensure that the medicines are made readily available, but that we also look for a more effective means of testing for the disease.

Measles is a fully preventable with a vaccine, however it is also highly contagious and therefore it can spread to an entire family, or even farther. “One million children without immunity is like dry tinder waiting for a spark,” said a UNICEF spokeswoman.

AIDS has reemerged in our minds thanks to the hard work of many activists and celebrities who have been drawing our attention to this growing crisis. Over two and a half million of children are infected by the HIV/AIDS. Millions of children in are effected by the epidemic in Africa alone, and we still have a lot of work to do to both prevent this disease, education and awareness are key, but not enough. The majority of infants are still being transmitted the disease through there mothers, during pregnancy, birth and through breast feeding. The transmission from mother to child is almost entirely preventable, however greater action needs to be taken to see that antiretroviral drugs are given to mother and child. Antiviral drugs will degrease mother-to-child transmission from 20-45% to less than 2%, however only 9% of pregnant women in resource poor countries were offered any sort of prevention services as of 2005 (AVERT, Preventing Mother to Child Transmissions Worldwide).

Polio has essentially been wipe out in the United States and the Western Hemisphere thanks to immunizations with the polio vaccine, however the disease is not gone. The rest of the world still battles the disease and an epidemic could still arise in the US if we where not properly vaccinated. Africa accounts for the largest amount of polio outbreaks, and as wars and poverty rage in many of the continents nations, immunizations fall by the waste side.

Children die every day from other diseases they get through dirty water, or malnutrition, and yet there are preventable measures. As a child walks the many miles in the blaring heat to fetch water, water that will inevitably make them sick, yet is the only means of survival, we in the west easily spend in a day or weekend enough to put clean water in that child’s village. A measly $10 could give a child access to clean water and $100 could assist a village in getting a sanitation system.

What all of these disease have in common is that they are needlessly killing our children, and we need to find more efficient and effective ways to see that these epidemics are not only curbed, but stopped for good. No child should every have to suffer, but it is an outrage for a child to suffer from a disease that could have been prevented for the same cost as a cup of coffee.

LINKS
Vaccine Preventable Childhood Diseases
Roll Back Malaria Partnership
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Nothing But Nets
Malaria Foundation International
Immunize Every Child
African Medical and Research Foundation
African Well Fund
Doctors Without Borders - Tuberculosis Fact Sheet

I have been painfully aware of the horrid use of children in war and to commit horrendous acts during a time of war. Children are used as soldiers in a time when genocide, rape, and so many other unspeakable acts are committed. For a child to witness such acts is a crime in its self, however using a child to commit such acts leaves one speechless and horrified. These children are essentially being used as weapons, their mental health and future are given no consideration, as the child is seen as nothing more than a disposable tool of war.

Two days ago a child was used by the Taliban to behead a man accused of betraying a high level Taliban official. The incident was made more shocking, as the beheading was filmed, giving even more reality to the shear youth of the executioner, a boy who looks no more than 12. The use of such a young executioner is not only shocking and illegal, but also unprecedented, even for jihad militia.

According to Sam Zarifi of Human Rights Watch, “This is truly shocking, without cultural context or historical precedent. The Taliban must condemn this act and make sure it never happens again,” (Global outcry at Taliban’s use of boy in filmed beheading).

I have touched on the issue of child soldiers in past postings, with approximately 300,000 soldiers plaguing our world, it is a hard subject to avoid. Children are used in wars as they are cheap, effective weapons and in a time of globalization, they allow war to be cost effective in many regions.

Throughout the history of man and war, children have been used in wars and as the nature of war has changed, so has the way children are used. Children have historically been used primarily as non-combat forces. We have seen an increase in the use of children as a sort of shield, being used in the front line of some conflicts.

We see an increase in the youthful faces of suicide bombers and however much we would like to believe that its just not possible, children are killing everyday. But this new public display of violence by a child brings to light the foundation of child soldiers. Children don’t spend there youth dreaming of war, committing and killing others, the are lead, forced or manipulated into these situations. We already know that many countries violate state and international laws regarding the age of soldiers, however using a child to commit a brutal and archaic act, leads one to wonder what will the future hold as our children are forced into increasingly violent situations. All acts of war should never have to be witness, nor committed by a child. Children are the future and if their lives begin in violence and their adolescence is spent in war, then one can only wonder how their adult lives will be, if they live that long. We must increase our stand against the use of child soldiers in war, as we can see that being lax will only increase the violent acts that children are allowed, or forced, to participate in.

Additional Articles:
‘He is a spy’: Boy beheads militant
Children as Weapons of War

People are often driven into slavery by sever poverty, sometimes this is based on a general belief that the child sold will bring money back into the family, or that they will have an honest attempt to escape the poverty of the family and community. Other times people are driven into slavery by economic or social necessity, and they themselves may even be the one who approached the idea of working outside the community. Many times a victim of slavery will even pay a large sum for their travel, and what they believe is their visa and placement fee’s. Unbeknownst to them they are paying money to enslaves themselves. These so called fee’s are just another way the traffickers and slave owners exploited the victims. If a victim or their family has not put up a sum of money the traffickers, and slave owners use the travel expenses as the beginning of their reign over their victims. Ledgers are kept to show the slave has a debt to work off, they often included the travel and visa expenses the owner has incurred to get the slave, and the actual cost they paid for the slave. These ledgers continually mount up the expenses, as housing and food is added to the list, and these so called ledgers are almost always falsified in the favor of the slave owner. A victim realizes quickly that there is little they can do to pay off the debt they owe, for they supposedly incur more fees than they will ever make. If a victim of slavery does manage to find a way to pay off her debt the slave owner will more than likely find a way to add additional costs, threaten the victim or their families, or simply re-enslave them.

Victims of slavery and trafficking are often re-enslaved, and I know you are asking yourself, “how is this possible“? The sad reality is that many victims know that their slave owners, or one of their traffickers, have, and will make threats on their families. These treats are very personal and real to the victim, as the traffickers often know where the families live, and what is the victims weaknesses, thus they can make them sub come again. You must remember these are people who have now been both physically and mentally abused on a daily basis. Often the victims return to their homes and are turned away by their families, and are now seen as outcastes by the community. Many victims have been drugged heavily while in captivity and are now facing serious addictions and withdrawals, which may lead them back into the world of human slavery. When, and if they do return home they again face poverty and hardship, and some are then willing to return to their captors, as they feel they are already so victimized and dead inside that if they can endure this hardship, maybe this time they can go into the sex trade with little to no debts and bring money in for their families.

It is easy to see how this is possible when one looks at various cases of Stockholm Syndrome, where victims of abuse, rape, hostages, etc., become sympathetic, or feel a close bond with their attackers or captors. Many victims of human slavery have been victimized, or enslaved, since an early age, some even since infancy. Therefore it is easy to see how one can be customized to the only life they have known, even if it is that of a slave. The world is a scary place all on its own, so if a child of 10 runs away from years of slavery, one can clearly see how their past traumas will effect them and could easily lead them to be enslaved by another or return to their original owner.

There is not a country out there that is free from slavery, it effects our entire global economy. As individual consumers we are all affected by the slavery of our fellow man, as it is helping to shape our global economy. It is difficult to remember, but when you get something at an unbelievable cost, there is someone out there who is paying that cost for you. According to Jolene Smith, Executive Director of Free the Slaves, our growing economy is what has promoted a large revival of slavery, for as the market increases many people flock to cities around the world in search of better opportunities, and thus creating millions of vulnerable people.

Products which are often made by the hands of child slave labor include; cotton, tea, silk, coca, sugar, steal, carpets, diamonds, etc… Products like coca/chocolate have been known to be produced with the efforts of child slaves, many who have been trafficked in Western Africa, and can only be guaranteed slave free if they are fair trade. In the report, Combating Child Labor in Cocoa Growing, conducted by the ILO, they estimate 200,000 children work on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast. The Ivory Coast is the worst offender in the coca and slave trade today. Coffee has had a heavy past using slave labor, however it has seen a turn around with the ever growing, and conscious public buying fair trade coffee products. This said it In the article, Is There Slavery in Your Chocolate?, Gary Goldstein of the National Coffee Association Said:

“This industry isn’t responsible for what happens in a foreign country,”

Companies like M&M Mars and Heresy’s, both who claim there is little they can do to change the labor practices of the farms they purchase from, both companies use slave grown coca. Chocolate is now receiving a lot of the same public hype and now campaigns are increasing to see that consumers by slave free chocolate. And while buying fair trade helps immensely it alone is not a solution to the problem, and lets face it most consumers will continue to buy the mass produced, name brands. The main reason we really by slave products, is that as consumers we are unaware. For is price really an option when it comes to the freedom of another human!

Which countries are big in the use of slave labor? Well the list I am afraid it too long to go into in depth in this posting, but the largest contributing country for slave labor is India. African nations have a large number of slaves, slaves can be found in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China, Nepal, and so many more, including the United States.

Companies with a slave labor history of producing or purchasing, raw materials or end products include; M&M Mars, Heresy, Folgers, Wal-Mart, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger USA, Gap (including Old Navy and Banana Republic), Calvin Klein and Liz Claiborne, are just some of the companies that have in some what benefited from the use of slave labor.

Now you are probably asking yourself; “How do you stay slave free as a consumer?”, “Who do you avoid and what don’t you buy?”, “How do you know something is slave free?”, “Which countries do you watch products from?”. And the truth is, regardless of how much you try to avoid it you cannot escape slavery. I am sure if I go through my things there is something that is slave made or was in part produced by the slave trade. All out boycotts don’t work, as they only exacerbate the situation most of the time, they carry too much risk as they can cause current slaves in the boycotted industry to become enslaved again in a new industry. However as I mentioned, being aware and being a conscious as a consumer and a citizen is the right start.

The only true way to end slavery is education and alternative solutions, both socially and economically. Knowledge and education are key, we must be aware and make sure everyone is aware of the risks, the true nature of the struggle, and face reality that this is a huge issue. We have to stop slavery at its root, slavery continues to thrive in the modern world because its high level of profitability! And unfortunately for many traffickers and slave owners the risks are low, and as long as there is low risk and high profitability, combined with economic necessity, then the trafficking and slavery of other human beings will continue!

We can end human slavery and suffering world wide and we must. The first step is admitting that the issues is a major one that is facing every corner of the globe. Pay attention you never know when you may witness a victim of human slavery.

SLAVERY LINKS AND RELEVANT ARTICLES

2006 TIP Report
Human Trafficking
Millions Live in Modern-Day Slavery
New Internationalist; Slavery in the 21st Century
Foreign Affairs: The New Global Slave Trade
I Abolish
Stop Child Poverty
International Labor Rights Fund
National Geographic Map - Slavery by Country with Facts

BLOGS
Fading Hope
Stop Child Slavery

Unfortunately this story will not end anytime soon, so please stay tuned for more on human slavery and other related topics.

What is slavery? A horrid word from our past, something we have struggled to forget for almost two hundred years? Its all, and none of those things, it is a plague currently among us! Would you believe me if I told you we have more slaves today, than that of our legal slave trading past?

On January 1, 1863 Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was made and with it the proclamation made the abolition of slavery an a goal that would free approximately four million slaves according to the 1860 Census of 1860. Slavery was officially abolished in the United States on with the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865. The end of slavery in Great Britain officially was passed by Parliament on March 25, 1807.

One does not find the deeds of our ancestors to be noble and just, nor does one find the idea of modern slavery as moral, but the truth of the matter is the problem did not end when it was made an illegal act. As a matter of fact slavery is more rampant today than it was in seventeenth century as there is an estimated 27 million modern slaves today.

Slavery is defined as, “The state of one bound in servitude as the property of a slaveholder or household“. Kevin Bales state in his book, Understanding Global Slavery, that slavery is “the state of control exercised over the slave based on violence or its threat, a lack of any payment beyond subsistence, and the theft of the labor or other qualities of the slave for economic gain” ( Bales, page 9). Therefore in a general respect slavery is still what it was at the time we began taking slaves out of Africa. However today the crime of slavery has a more seedy and sinister side, as it is the dark underbelly of what is often a complex criminal network, which incorporates the arms and drug trades, that spans the globe.

There are various forms of human slavery today, they include debt bondage, sex trafficking, and forced labor. Children are also used as soldiers, which is also a form of slavery, as they are forcibly recruited, misguided, abused ,and are not of an age to legally make a clear and concise choice.

What is the difference between today’s slavery and that the slaves of our past? The largest difference in modern slavery is the lack of value that is placed on a person who is a slave
Life ownership versus months or a few years, they are cheaper - people have become a disposable commodity, cheap and easy labor one can just toss in the garbage when you no longer have a use for them. They are more often taken into the slave trade for one purpose only, sexual slavery, versus agricultural and domestic labor. This is not to say that we do not have a serious problem with slavery today in those fields. But as slaves are cheaper and less valued as a resources of production, they are often even more dehumanized than in that of our past.

The use or treatment of slaves differ in some regions or countries, as well gender and religion can also play a role in the use and treatment of slaves. However what remains the same is that a human being is enslaved by another, stripped of their rights, disrespected, abused and looked upon as subhuman by their owners. The main thing that remains the same is that this practice of selling and abusing another human being is just as appalling today as it was the day the first slave was loaded onto a ship and taken from their home in Africa.

To be continued…

In my last post I covered the effects of climate change and global warning on our world’s children. However I wanted to take this time to add to that posting, and give more focus on the subject. I wanted to especially give more attention to Save the Children’s Legacy of Disasters; Children Bear the Brunt of Climate Warming Report.

Global Warming and Climate Change will affect all of us, but it is the children of the developing world that will be hit the hardest. Global Warming will increasing the amount of natural disasters, as well as their severity. One only has to look at the past few years, and the number of disasters, to see the increasing effect that these disasters are having on the children. If this is only the beginning of a long cycle of large and small scale natural disasters, then millions of our children will only have more suffering ahead.

As the report’s illustrate the true nature and relentlessness that the effects of climate change are having, and how we are taking them too lightly. These effects and disasters, especially slow-moving disasters, are currently seriously underreported. In the developing world children are already suffering needlessly through poverty, unclean water, disease, lack of education, and this will only increase with global warming, and the increase of natural disasters. Issues like poverty and disease are not the only problems that will increase for children as the effects of climate change are felt. As natural disasters continue to occur millions of people will become displaced, grow more economically vulnerable, and often increase civil unrest. This in turn puts children even more at risk for becoming victims of child labor, sex trafficking and tourism, being recruited as child soldiers, and other such appalling abuses. According to both Save the Children and the UNHCR children make up at least half of all the victims of disasters.

If a child’s parents are killed by a tsunami or hurricane, schools are wiped out by floods, crops are left unmarketable by drought, then a child’s right to shelter, nutrition and education needs to be met. Disasters put children at even more risk than adults, as they are more susceptible to disease, malnourishment, exploitation, and many become orphans at a time when there is little structure to take care of them, let alone find suitable placements for them.

So what does all this mean? It means we must take action, as consumers, citizens and parents. Governments need to both individually and collectively work to reduce our carbon emissions to curb global warming, put into place better disaster emergency and preparedness programs. According to Save The Children’s Report; “Rich industrialized countries should reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and agree to limit global warming to no more than two degrees Celsius through a new treaty based on the Kyoto Protocol.” The report also recommends that donors begin putting their funds towards disaster prevention and that child-centered programs should be included in donor plans.

We can not put an end to natural disasters and many are unlinked to global warming. However we must reduce the risk of these disasters ,and have proper emergency and recovery systems in place to eliminate as much needless suffering for our children as possible. I think we all learned from the hard lessons of hurricane Katrina, that even the wealthiest nations are not adequately prepared. If our children in the United States unnecessarily suffered in the wake of disaster, imagine what the suffering of the children in Asia where global warming and natural disasters have hit the hardest.In the article, ‘Refugee Babies: The Lasting Effects of Tsunami Aid in Sri Lanka’, one sees clearly that it is the children who are continually being victimized by the tsunami and its continuing after effects. The article talks not about merely the environmental effects of the tsunami, and how it has shaped these children’s lives, but how the relief work, aid and lack of infrastructure are making this children even more vulnerable almost two and a half years after the tsunami hit.

Prolonged drought is increasing the world’s desertification in many developing areas, which is increasing urban migration, and thus leading to overpopulation and urban poverty. This will only increase, and also be compounded by those seeking refugee in urban centers from other natural disasters. There is expected to be 50 million refugees due to climate change in only five years (“Millions Will Flee Degradation”). The urban population is anticipated to increase from 2.5 billion to 5 billion globally in the next twenty years (Save the Children). This is not just a population shift from rural to urban life, but a food and housing crisis. For where there is desertification, there is poverty and it is estimated that only 25% of the Africa population will be able to be sustained by 2025 if desertification continues at this rate (Mongabay).

The total number of people killed by natural disasters between 1996 and 2005 was 84 per cent higher than the number of people killed in the decade before (Save the Children). However it is not just large scale disasters, but also ‘slow-moving’ disasters, such as desertification, the collapse our fisheries and forests, and the rising sea levels. Sea levels are estimated to increase over 40 centimeters by 2080 (Save the Children), which will jeopardize the survival of many smaller island nations. The rising sea levels and their distruction can already be seen and felt by many communities, especially on one small Alaskan island, in the village of Shishmaref. The village of Shishmaref is already feeling the extreme effects as they estimate the tide is moving ten feet closer each year. The entire village of Shishmaref will be forced to move to the mainland and thus refugees of global warming (‘Sea Engulfing Alaskan Village’).

Predictions for as early as 2080 are not looking good, and though you are thinking, “I won’t be around”, but your children and grandchildren will be. Can we actually go on living like its all out of our control? Well, I know I for one cannot! But the reality is the change is now happening and it’s effects are with us, the worlds citizens. What will really happen in the long run with global warming, no one really knows the answers, but we cannot take any more chances. We must act now and put sustainable programs into place. We must have appropriate infrastructures and disaster response programs, increase and improve early warning systems. As citizens of a shrinking global world we must lobby our governments to make feasible changes, and not close our eyes to millions of children around the world.

Articles, Blogs and Links of Interest:

Again, I suggest that you look at Bill Hewitt’s blog on Climate Change if you have not yet done so.

Save the Children’s Legacy of Disasters; Children Bear the Brunt of Climate Warming Report

The Environment Agency in Britain

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IPCC Summary Report

International Action on Global Warming (IGLO)

Facts and Figures: Desertification and Drought

USA Today, “Millions At Risk From Rising Sea Levels’

Climate Change and Global Warming are hot topics these days. We all hear the buzz around the water cooler, have had arguments with our friends and family, and listened cynically to the extremist co-worker, but the reality is no matter what we hear there is something happening to our world. As I sit here typing this with the Colbert Report on TV in the background, Senator Kerry is on the show discussing his new book, ‘This Moment on Earth’, and I know you’ve all heard of Al Gore’s documentary, ‘An Inconvenient Truth.’ Global Warming and climate change are not a conspiracy theory and regardless of how serious or detrimental you believe the issue to be, it’s something we cannot avoid.

I’m not a scientifically minded person at all, so I will be honest and say I don’t understand a lot of the technical reports on the issues of climate change, but I do understand the detriment of it all. I’m not saying that I’m good at the whole ‘green’ thing and I know I could be better, but I do try. I recycle as much as I can and I try to take my own bags to the supermarket, but I know that’s not enough. I hear people say all the time “Who cares, I’ll be dead when it happens .” and so on, but the reality is it’s already happening. No, we are not all going to melt tomorrow, but the effects are here and they are causing unneeded suffering to the world’s children. It’s hard not to believe that the changes have already started when you see all the natural disasters that have been occurring all around the world: tsunamis, hurricanes, typhoons, landslides and so much more.

But I think where I have been the most surprised lately is by this sudden shock to the press and media over all the reports coming out on the effects climate change is having on our worlds children. I find it no surprise at all that the children are the ones who are being most effected by global warming. The children are the ones who are to inherit our faults and problems, if not today then tomorrow, but they will suffer more than I can imagine. It is always the children who suffer more out of any disaster, and that is what climate change is, a series of disasters that will only heighten the disease and poverty of so many children.

On April 5, 2007, Save the Children UK published a report Legacy of Disasters; Children Bear the Brunt of Climate Warming. The sixteen-page report states that approximately 175 million children will be affected by climate change induced natural disasters every year. The report also says that those exposed to malaria will increase 45% to 60% in the next 100 years because of climate change. Malaria is one of the largest fatal diseases of children under five. They estimate in the report that by 2010, there will be around 50 million people who have been displaced due to environmental disasters, most of whom will be woman and children.

The Environment Agency in Britain also issued a report in which it stated that because of the time delay in the warming effects of carbon gases in the atmosphere, temperatures would continue to rise for the next 40 years regardless of emissions curbs. And it should be no shock to anyone that it is our obsession with cars that is the main contributor, and hardest to curb, to climate control. I know how hard it is to avoid getting in your car and driving anywhere, but we must think harder about how we can be as efficient as possible. I believe our governments have a lot of work to do and more and more standards need to be set. For the consumer will buy it if it’s available, and that included the gas guzzling SUVs that Americans love so well, but I won’t get on my soapbox. The point is regardless of how we do it we must curb our intake of fossil fuels for they are increasing our world’s temperature and we must act now for the sake of our children and their future.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a summary report on April 6, 2007 for policy makers, on the effects of climate change for this century. Africa and Asia are expected to be the worst hit continents, and of course they are more underdeveloped and less prepared to deal with the effects. The report also states that between 200 and 600 million people will face hunger due to the effects of global warming by 2080.

Jasmine Whitbread, Save the Children UK’s Chief Executive, said:

“Our job is only going to get harder. Children are already bearing the brunt of climate change and there will be millions more children caught up in climate-related natural disasters every year that will urgently need our assistance. The warning bells have been sounding for long enough. Children can’t wait. The threat of climate change must be faced head on.”

Save the Children is tripling its capacity to respond to emergencies in response to global warming over the next three years.

The sad reality is we are talking about millions of children who will not only be displaced but also those who will be forced from their homes, killed, go hungry, suffer from disease, and become abused, physically and sexually, due to the consequential effects of climate change. Children make up about half of the victims of disasters and they are more susceptible to disease, malnutrition and other associated issues that will increase as the effects of global warming intensify.

It is the developing worlds children that are more at risk to the added effects of global warming due to the lack of adequate warning and emergency preparations systems. We saw this with the tsunami. However they will also be greatly affected by slower developing disasters like temperature extremes and a rise in the sea level. Many smaller disasters can tend to be ignored by the international community; however these will also increase and heavily affect those communities who are already at risk for poverty and it’s subsequent effects. The developing world is less capable to handle and adapt to these changes as are we, but it is they who are beginning to feel the effects the hardest.

The truth is no matter where we come from, we all share the same world and we will feel the effects of climate change. There is no First World and Third World when speaking of a child’s future, there is only one world and what we do today will effect them more than one can imagine

If you have not already, I suggest that you read my esteemed colleague Bill Hewitt’s blog on Climate Change.

Related Articles and Blogs:

The Boston Globe

Time Thief: ICCP Summary for Policy Makers

Reports From Four Fronts in the War on Warming

Special Report on Climate Change

Stolen Moments a Green Digest

“Children Already Bearing the Brunt of Global Warming”

I am sitting here today and I am at my wits end, just because I cannot get on the internet! Its like my life can’t go on unless I am on the internet, like I cannot be part of the world if I don’t have communication with those outside my geographic reach. So if I am feeling crippled by the lack of the internet for one day, how does a whole village or society survive without it? Yes, I know one will not literally die without the internet or phone, but does one miss opportunities for life advancement without them? Maybe life advancement isn’t really the main issue, but do they loose the ability to be educated and protected?

How would I get a job in my field if I didn’t have the internet, I would have to physically go out and meet people, which I only know where to find through word of mouth or on the internet. So If I took away my internet and phone, what would be my chances of getting a job? Little to none, first of all even if I manage to contact someone, they cannot let me know with ease that they want to hire me. Secondly I would not have access to the knowledge that I continue to gain when I am able to research and share ideas on the internet with others in the field. Much of my in person networking contacts where originally started through the internet, either via another contact or through an online interest group. Therefore without the internet and most defiantly a phone, I would not be able to advance in my career or field. That said and you all know what I’m talking about as I’m not near as bad as many of you who carry your blackberry’s as you can’t go a minute without your e-mail. That leads me to the following thought for you, how one in a remote village in Nepal, Afghanistan or the Caucasus advance in a career and the digital age, let alone be aware of all the current social and economic issues that are facing all of us.

People question me all the time, when I talk about human trafficking, regarding the serious nature of the number of victims. How could they not know? No one is that naive to believe that they where really getting a real job right? But the truth is they can be and they are! But its not their faults, its ours, it’s the world governments. If I sit in the capital of the US and still come across people who have never heard of immensity of human trafficking and slavery, people who only think Georgia is a state and fail to know that its also a country, then of course it is completely plausible that someone who lives a life without modern conveniences’ would not see the full risks of these horrendous trades. Plus even if you have some level of skeptics you may go forward with it, because your economic situation leaves you with little choice. I have found my own self misled by the ideas and words of others, and I too have done something that I knew was risky. I have taken at least three or four major risks in my life, and every time I knew the risks but I did it anyway, as I felt I either had no other option or that if the risk paid off it would be well worth it. Sometimes I have won the gamble and sometimes I have lost. Unfortunately I know all to well how bad the fall was when I lost one of the risks; moved myself all the way across the world lured by the idea of my dream and a promise to fulfill them as long as I was willing to work hard and risk it all. So I took the bait and I packed it all in, and in the end it proved to all be an unfounded reality and there I was alone in a foreign place with no money, no friends, no job and a shattered dream. But I was still lucky as I am privileged by birth as an American and I have modern technologies and conveniences that are accessible to me no matter what my situation.

So if I a well educated person with access to all the tools our modern life has to offer can be conned or fooled by the chase of a dream, and I know I am not alone, then why wouldn‘t someone from a remote area of Nepal believe that their daughter really will work as a maid in India and help save the family from economic hardship or why wouldn’t a young Ukrainian teenager believe that she will be a model or a nanny. When your dream, big or small, is presented to you as a possibility and the reality of your situation is far from prosperous, why wouldn’t you risk it all for the chance of a lifetime. Sure we’ve all gotten that e-mail or letter in the mail claiming we won a million dollars for a sweepstakes we didn’t enter or we get the job offer to make a fortune and all we have to do is make a few bank transfers, and they sound too good to be true, because they are! Its pretty obvious to us in those situations, so we don’t do it, but to a person who is desperate or a person living in poverty, its better to try. These victims of trafficking and slavery are not risking it all on a dream like those in your e-mail scams, no they have risked it all for chances at becoming nannies, maids, models, cruise ship workers, waitresses. If someone offered you a job as a waitress in a bustling town wouldn’t you believe it existed? Ok, maybe you may say the models and actress lines had to be more transparent, but really how many of us have or would chase the rainbow to LA or NYC to be famous if someone told us we have a shot? Many of us would and have, just ask half the waitresses and bartenders in NYC and LA. The truth is the girls led by these false modeling agencies, or real ones with a seedy side business, are actually beautiful and very well could have been, but the reality was far from the dream. Instead of a life as a waitress who makes enough to send a bit home to her parents, child or so on, she is locked away as a sex slave. Oh she does make more money than she imagined, but she never sees a dime, it all goes to those in the underbelly of this criminal network comprised of black-market human beings.

Therefore how do we successfully educate those who are at risk for human trafficking and slavery? A person who is at risk or has become a human slave does not always know that there are laws to protect them. And even when people know the laws they are often hard to enforce in many areas due to a lack of police, corruption and so forth. So where does that leave us? To leaves those of us who are aware of the situation to promote the reality of the truth and to fight for the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves. We have to educate ourselves and the rest of society on the truth, the risks and the signs. We have to work to establish better international laws, support and rehabilitation programs for victims, create more prevention programs. Alternatives have to be there for these potential victims, for if there is no economic alternative the cycle will never end.

Its easy to tell as I have posted this that my temporary shutoff from the rest of the world has now been resolved and I am once again able to speak to the world and learn what is happening far from home. Nevertheless for so many others this is a far cry from their daily torment, as they are abused, violated and treated as a disposable human, to be thrown away when they are no longer of use. It is for them that I speak to you now, lets not forget the privileges we all have. Even on our worst days we are lucky! Don’t forget the children living in poverty and slavery, they need your ears and your voice.

Write you Congressmen, be active…volunteer, talk about it to your friends and family, become a community activist and advocate, learn more about the truth and just be aware! Every person has a voice and no matter how small it makes a difference!

You can start by signing some of these online petitions (these are only a few of the many available for signing online):

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/HelpInnocents/
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/243616047?z00m=9423553&ltl=1176519548
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/international-petition-to-ban-human-trafficking.html
http://www.antislavery.org/2007/actionsign.php
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/997939006?z00m=9423553&ltl=1176521002
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/498423731?z00m=9423553&ltl=1176521202
http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/childtrafficking
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ChildSlavery/
http://www.petitiononline.com/stopWTra/petition.html
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Child_labour/signatures-2.html
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Savetheinnocents/

See my resource pages for more links and organizations working to end these horrid trades.