As you sit and write out your list of new years resolutions, remember life is not about what you have, but what you do.  One is not remembered by the things they leave behind, they are remember by those whom they leave behind…those who's lives you touch.  My resolutions this year include all of the standards, but they also include taking a more active roll in securing a better future for the children.  If we all make one small resolution this year to help secure a better future, and act upon it, then we can truly change the world.

As 2007 quickly comes to a close, have fun and enjoy life and the luck that has be bestowed upon you. I hope you look back with fondness and look forward with hope and ambition.

Do not forget to read my Children and Children's Rights: 2007 Year in Review page.

When one mentions South Africa the things that quickly come to mind, are apartheid, Nelson Mandela, AIDS, poverty and most of all one thinks of racism. Its difficult to think of the country without thinking of the issue of race, as the lines where deeply etched in the countries history, and lines that deep do not fade very quickly. It was almost 14 years ago that apartheid came to an end, and while the wounds of history remain, they are healing.

One teenage girl shows the nation that you can dance in both the black and white worlds, that they can truly become one even in a country with fresh wounds. Isabella Mosime has a white family, and as a black child, she easily stood out in a country which remains intrigued by the issues of race. However Bella says she doesn't see race and she socializes on both sides of the fence, however even Bella and her friends still know that while they may have friends of all colors, that there is much more that has to be done to ensure the country truely grows in the “Rainbow Nation” of so many peoples dream's.

“We have come a long way - interaction is happening between everybody and every race,” she said. “But I think there is not enough understanding. I think we still have a long way to go.”

“I think we are expected to be the perfect nation, but we’re not,” said 16-year-old Khumo Khumalo, a 10th-grader at Parktown Girls who lived in Soweto as a young girl and shares Bella's love for hip-hop dancing. “That's because we’ve had so much to deal with. Slowly, day by day, we’re going to get there, because we have so many young people who want to bridge the gap between the races. I have a lot of hope.” (Living beyond racial bounds).

And while the Bella, illustrates the progress that has been made and can be made, the racial divide remains and much needs to be done to see that the gap closes. The key to bringing all South Africans together as one, is hope and determination and that can be found in the children. Bella's story is only one in a series entitled Mandela's Children, which has articles that document the issues faced by South Africa's first post-apartheid generation. The issue of racial discrimination will not go away if we close our eyes, but this generation was born to keep their eyes open, so that future children will hopefully never see the racial divide.

We must give children every opportunity to express their thoughts and dreams, to share their hopes and ambitions. We as adults, as citizens of the world, must allow children to achieve, and share with us the new and unique possibilities of the future. Children are the ones who will change the world…the ones who will mend the pain and suffering of the past.  It is the child who truly holds the world in their hands!

Three years ago today as many of us sat with family and friends, enjoying the end of the Christmas holiday, an unpredicted tsunami struck South Asia, leaving nothing but destruction and death in it's wake. In remembrance to the estimated 230,000 people from 13 countries, who lost their lives on that unforgettable day, many memorial and remembrance ceremonies where held across the globe today.

Sadly the effects of that devastating day linger on, many children and their families are still unable to escape the detrimental after effects of the disaster. While some $13.6 billion has been estimated donated thus far, many local communities have seen little assistance in getting their lives and homes back to normal, and children are most often the hardest hit.

In the wake of the tsunami many children where left orphans, placing them at risk for trafficking networks, which prey on vulnerable children, who sell children forced labor or sexual slavery. Aid agencies and governments have took numerous steps to see that children where protected, and many safeguard systems where put into place. Education was also a source for concern, as the rebuilding of schools has been slow, but education remains a priority and schools continue to provide stability and hope for the future.

While considerable progress has been made in areas such as health, nutrition, education, and protection, children in the tsunami effected regions continue to remain at risk, as the rebuilding and recovery continues. The three year aniversiry of the tsunami serves not only as a reminder to remember those whom lost their lives, but those who survived and continue to need the international communities help to recover and develop sustainable programs to ensure their futures are never again uprooted in such a devastating way.

Related News Articles and Links:
Three Year UNICEF Tsunami Anniversary Monitoring Report
Commemorations held in Thailand for 3rd anniversary of tsunami
People mark the three-year anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami at a memorial in Khao
Mourners Mark Three Year Anniversary Of Worst Known Tsunami In History
BBC
The Christian Science Monitor
Tsunami Children Lost, Vulnerable
In Pictures: Children's tsunami art
Tsunami Children Foundation
Tsunami Children - CNN Photo's
Children of Tsunami
UNICEF Newsline on the Tsunami

Remember that the best gifts of all are children!

As many of us sit here on this Christmas Eve wondering if we have gotten that last and final gift, hoping the gifts we got are what all of our loved ones wanted, and even a bit selfishly hoping that tomorrow that one item we have been dreaming about for months will be under the tree, millions around the world are dreaming for a Christmas miracle of their own.

While we ponder over scarves, perfume or those cute little earrings….the football jersey, MP3 player or the ultimate video game…children and their families across the globe sit in hope for a gift which could change their lives, a gift that could help them brake the chains of poverty. Thankfully for many children and their families the gift of hope will arrive this year thanks to charitable holiday giving schemes, such as those of Heifer International, World Vision, Oxfam Unwrapped, FARM-Africa Presents, Save the Children “Wish List”, Present Aid, UNICEF Shop, Practical Presents, CAFOD World Gifts, ActionAid - Gifts in Action, and many other programs. Many of these programs directly provide families and individuals with gifts such as live stock and other practical items, which will assist them in becoming self sufficient.

Sustainable giving is the way forward, and while many of the gifts are symbolic to the donor the effects are not. Stories such as Rampai's are becoming more common. “Rampai's fortunes changed when the international charity World Vision gave her Pinki. In the last 16 months, Pinki's proven to be an income-generating resource, producing 24 piglets, which Rampai has sold at various points of development to earn between 150 Maloti (US$21) and 1,000 Maloti (US$145) each (Holiday gifts pave the way to self-sufficiency).

While these gifts do not always prove to be as prosperous and sustainable as donors would like, there is no dispute that sustainable gifts are increasing in popularity for both donors and recipients.

The West African country of Sierra Leone has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world. According to UNICEF, 167 out of every 1,000 children die before their fifth birthday and 1,300 women dying for every 100,000 live births. Thus with the highest infant mortality rate in the world, Sierra Leone is sadly touted as the worst place in the world to be a baby, and therefore from birth children face a life of difficulties. The country still is struggling to recover from its bloody civil war, which has left those babies who do survive, left to face a future of disease, violence and poverty. (The Independent).

UNICEF and other aid organizations have, and are, working to establish feeding centers and various immunization programs around the country in an effort to decrease the  child and maternal mortality rates.  However there is much that needs to be done in the country, and while the programs in place do help, resources, including education, are strained and access is often out of reach.  Many women are unable to access proper medical assistance for child birth, and herbal medicines are often all many women look to in times of need.

It is undoubted that the war in Iraq is taking an unjust toll on the countries children, and this toll leaves not only physical scars, but mental scars that will leave a permanent impression on the Iraqi youth. Children are the innocent victims of wars waged by adults, the blood of children that has flowed through the streets leaves many to question the validity of the war, and many others to fight harder for freedom, so that other generations of children will not have to suffer as this one has. But what about when the one who spills the blood of so many others is only a child themselves? Who is then the victim, or are both the killer and the victim in actual reality victims?

Diya Muhammad Hussein is only 16 years old and he is a seen as a terrorist, and he is not alone in his youthful insurgency. Diya and others like him lay mines, plan ambushes, and prepare to kill Americans and sympathizer's in the name of Iraq. Youth provides a catalyst for such action in a country growing in anticipation more and more as the years of war and occupation roll by. Teenagers and children who are growing more and more hostile as the war looks to continue with no visible end in site. Diya is currently in prison after a failed attempt to blow up a US Marine convoy, and while he may be securely held others like him roam free planning more attacks. More about Diya can be seen in the Spiegel article; A Teenage Terrorist Tells His Story.

The Face of a Killer, 16 year old, Diya Muhammad Hussein

Diya is not alone, as the number of teenage insurgents in Iraq has grown, as has the use of children as weapons of war. However the face of teenage Iraq killers is not the only image to escape the country, as many have proved to be hero's and allies over the years of the now long running war. Despite the positive images that can be found in Iraq the threat of children insurgents is serious and cannot be easily avoided, and should be given serious attention.

The Pentagon has warned that if U.S. reconstruction efforts fail in Iraq, punishing unemployment could drive the country's next generation of workers to join the jihad. 40% of Iraq's population of some 26 million is under the age of 15, leaving the countries youth vulnerable and susceptible to insurgency.

“If economic opportunities don't improve, the children of Iraq represent ‘a potential pool of recruits for terrorism,’ …Iraqi youth currently have a “negative” impression of America due to deteriorating economic conditions. 'they have justified frustration,’…that their resentment will only deepen if economic conditions don't change, says Paul Brinkley, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense at the Pentagon ( Pentagon sees 5 million child terrorists in Iraq ).

Many children in Iraq have lost their parents, siblings, friends and other family members to the fighting, and like many they seek justification for the loss, they seek revenge and thus the Allied troops are key targets for this anger. However Allied troops are not the only targets, Iraqi troops and police are also heavy targets in this youthful insurgency, and all agree the threat of children weighs heavy on ones mind, as to catch a child is far more difficult than an adult. It is the duty of all to protect and serve the children, and thus looking into children's eyes for hate and death is a difficult task.

The children of Iraq live in the shadows of war, and one can only hope that for the majority of children that the shadows of war do not cast upon them the feelings of hate and violence. And regarless the children of Iraq need our utmost attention, they need both physical and mental healthcare professionals to assist them in dealing with the violent images of war, and the feelings of loss and resentment.

Links and Articles of Interest:
The Children of Iraq - A photo essay
Young Children Fight US Troops in Iraq
Teenage Ally Helps Soldiers in Iraq
Iraq's Children In Shadow Of War
Insurgents using children to fight US-led forces
Report: Iraqi insurgents using children
Suicide bomber a handicapped child
Iraq Insurgents Using Children, Corpses for Bomb
Iraq insurgents used children in car bombing

The annual UNICEF Photo of the Year Contest once again in 2007 left millions speechless, inspired, shocked, and enticed into action.

This years winning image looks harmless at first, a man and a young girl sitting side by side, that is until you realize this is not a photo of a father and daughter, but an engagement photograph. The by photographer Stephanie Sinclair, is of a 40-year-old groom sitting beside his 11-year-old future bride, taken last year in Afghanistan. The legal age to wed for a girl in Afghanistan is 16, however child marriages are still common in many areas. Sinclare, asked the child bride what show she felt, she responded, “Nothing, I do not know this man. What am I supposed to feel?”. According to UNICEF some 60 million children are forced to enter into marriages before they are of legal age, half of which are in South Asia. The problem of child brides is the greatest in Rajasthan, India, where 15% of girls are under 10 years old when they married. Child marriages lead to higher instances of domestic violence and early pregnancies, which leave girls at high risk for death in childbirth, complications, and low birth weights.

The second place photograph was of a a 12 year-old boy working in a Bangladeshi brickyard, taken by photographer GMB Akash, of Bangladesh. UNICEF estimates that 4.7 million children between five and 14 years of age are involved in child labor in Bangladesh alone, and some 246 million children aged 5-17 worldwide are involved in full-time labor. Children involved in child labor have little to no access to an education, and therefore their escape from the factories, fields, etc becomes very limited, in addition many children are malnourished and ripe for additional exploitation.

The third-place photograph by German photographer Hartmut Schwarzbach, shows a 9 year old girl jumping in on a junked chair in the middle of a landfill outside of Manila, the day happens to be the young girls birthday. The girl is one of the children who live in the nearby charcoal burners' camp with her family, and like the other children she spends her days in search of wood among the rubbish in th dump. The children in camps such as this are malnourished and lack education, leaving them to continue in the cycle of poverty, with little chance of escape from dumps that consume their days.

Eight other photos where chosen to receive honorable mention by the contest judges, each one is as powerful as the next…do I put photos in or link with a see here? My personal favorite of the eight is ‘Chechnya's Forgotten Children’ by photographer Musa Sadulayew. The photo captures the double edged sword or the war and recovery, the struggle for a normal life for the children of war, and the undeniable scars that war imprints on society.

Dear Santa,

I write to you this year to ask for gifts for all the children around the world, the gifts I ask for you to bring them are;
An end to war and violence in their homelands
Homes and not tents
Freedom from slavery and child labor
Clean Water
Adequate nutrition
An end to the HIV/AIDS epidemic
Accessible healthcare
An escape from hunger
Vaccinations for preventable diseases
A home where they are surrounded by people who genuinely love and care for them
The right to play and enjoy the youth for which they are blessed
Education
Gender Equality
An end to forced marriage and child marriage
That girls will no longer endure Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
An end to the use of rape as a weapon of war
Freedom from physical and sexual abuse
Most of all I ask that you bring the children love and hope!

I know the list is long and daunting, but if you can bring the children just a one or two things on the list this year millions of children will have a happier 2008, and millions more will get a chance to live. The request is really that you bring children their childhood, and give them hope for the future.

Merry Christmas,
Cassandra