Children

In 1986, Defense Secretary Caspar Weingberger and the US Department of Defense, designated April as Month of the Military Child. The month is set to be a time for each branch of the military to recognizes the sacrifices which are made by the children of those serving our country.

Children of those in the military face separation, frequent moves and school changes, trauma when a parent is in combat, stress, and many other difficulties associated with military life. It is for these reasons that we take the month of April to acknowledge their unwitting sacrifice, and courage.

Links and Resources:
Month of the Military Child
The Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) - promotes partnerships and provides for networking of military installations and their supporting school districts.
Marine Corps Kids Blog
Armed Forces Children’s Education Fund - Provides scholarships and financial assistance for education, to surviving children of the US military and armed forces.
Here are some tips and suggestions parents and teachers can use to help support children in military families.
SchoolQuest™ — The Military Child Education Coalition’s™ SchoolQuest™ is an innovative, free online tool that helps parents and students match their needs with new schools during relocation.
Ask Aunt Peggie - “Aunt Peggie” is a former military-connected child who attended nine schools by grade 12. Combined with her 34 years experience in school administration and the classroom, Aunt Peggie is an expert on all things military and education.
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress - Military Children and Families
National Military Family Association - Resources for Kids - Includes a book list
Our Military Kids - Provides tangible support to the children of deployed and severely injured National Guard and Military OMK -Operation: Military Kids - a program that works with children of deployed Military Families through activities such as Speak Out for Military Kids (SOMK).
Scholarships for Military Children
America Support You - Scholarships for Military Children- The official Department of Defense web site encouraging support of US Military troops around the world.

The donation feature was set up to assist the Children’s writer/blogger, Cassandra Clifford, to raise funds to purse a research project on the use of rape as a weapon of war. In order to conduct her research, write, attend and present on her findings, Cassandra will have to raise funds independently. Thus the FPA has set-up the donation capability on the site to assist Cassandra in achieving her independent research, and allow her to continue working to improve the lives of others around the globe. Please see Where Does My Donation Go if I Donate To Support This Site? for more on Cassandra’s research on the project and upcoming presentation(s) on Rape as a Weapon of War.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed a proposal for outreach centers throughout South-East Asia to promote the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). “The new center, and its local and regional affiliates, will provide continuity for your initiatives,” he said in a video address to a meeting on achieving the MDGs held by the ASEAN in Bangkok. In reaching the MDGs, Ban stated that South-East Asia has made progress in reducing the number of people living in extreme poverty and the number of children who die of preventable causes. The region has also successfully raised primary school enrollment. However, progress remains uneven between countries and across indicators; income disparities have grown, too many young children are underweight and the environment is threatened, he stated.

Human rights groups sue Ghanaian government over detained refugees , for “gross violation” of the rights of Liberian refugees in reaction to the simmering stand-off over repatriations. Some 630 refugees, mostly women and children, are being detained under heavy police guard following their arrest by the Ministry of Interior on March 17. Of these refugees, 16 have already been stripped of their refugee status and deported to Liberia. The refugees were arrested for holding a protest to draw attention to what they said were unfair condition under which they would be repatriated.

Action Against Hunger’s nutritional surveys indicate alarming rates of malnutrition in Liberia’s capital of Monrovia: more than 12,500 children under five years of age are at risk of severe acute malnutrition. AAH, whose teams run and support nutritional activities in Monrovia, has launched an appeal for funding. AAH/ Action Contre la Faim’s (ACF) latest round of nutritional surveys shows extremely disturbing results that indicate a significant nutritional crisis in Grand Monrovia: of the 800 children weighed, measured, and examined, 17.6% (Z-score) were suffering of acute malnutrition, above the 15% threshold that defines a nutritional crisis. The data indicate that some 12,500 children under 5 years of age are in danger.

Namibian flood victims need more than $1 million of assistance, where floods falling recent above-average rainfall have displaced tens of thousands of people and sparked fears of a surge in infectious diseases. More than 65,000 people could eventually be displaced by the floods, UNICEF said in an update issued this week. UNICEF said it was particularly concerned about the risks faced by orphans and other vulnerable children given that northern Namibia is one of the country’s most densely populated area’s and its HIV rates range from 20 to 40 per cent.

‘Slaves’ saved from Italian circus, two teenage Bulgarian sisters have been rescued by Italian police from a circus in which one of them is said to have been forced to swim with piranhas. Police say that while the 19-year-old sister had to swim in a transparent tank, the 16-year-old had snakes draped across her body and suffered bites. Four members of the family have been freed from what has been described as a “circus of horrors” south of Naples. Three men have been arrested and charged with holding them in slavery.

10,000 health workers stop polio in one of most dangerous places on earth, according to the WHO. Polio appears to have been wiped out from Somalia, the World Health Organization and its partners in the fight against the paralyzing disease said Monday. The “landmark victory” was the result of thousands of health workers and volunteers vaccinating more than 1.8 million Somali children under five years old, said the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which also includes UNICEF, Rotary International and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

103 children from Abéché return to their families, four and a half months after the French charity, Zoe’s Ark was accused of child trafficking. Eighty-three of the 81 boys and 22 girls left the Abéché orphanage in Eastern Chad where they had been put up by UNICEF and the Ministry of Social Action since 26 October 2007.

UNICEF sends emergency education supplies to Zambia, as part of its emergency response to assist flood affected schools. UNICEF, has flown in 58 schools-in-a-box, each box contains enough supplies for 100 children.

2007 WFP/Eddie Gerald

News of food shortages are far from new and have now become a staple in the news headlines. Countries across the globe are working tirelessly to grapple with the the spiraling food costs. The Result of much of the cuts to save one country have left others in even more desperate situations, as food aid is dramatically cut. The agency set to feed the worlds poor is struggling to meet the needs of some 73 million this year alone, a substantial majority of which are children.

“Price increases have ballooned WFP’s 2008 costs from an original calculation of $2.9 billion to at least $3.4 billion today — and that doesn’t include new, unanticipated needs as sky-rocketing food prices squeeze the world’s poor”

( UN steps up donor appeal as food aid costs grow).

In response the World Food Program (WFP) has launched an “extraordinary emergency appeal”, urging governments to donate some $500 million over the next four weeks.

“We urge your government to be as generous as possible in helping us to close this gap - which stood at USD 500 million on February 25 and has been growing daily,” WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran wrote.

The appeal letter is aimed at avoiding rationing food aid, was sent to donor countries, claiming that if funds where not in hand by May 1, the effects would be hardest on those who needed it most. The food rations, would gravely impact those countries who are in the most need, and who’s people are heavily reliant on the rest of the world for protection and support.

Food costs are quickly rising, wages are not and the he harsh reality is that while food may line the shelves, the will be no one who can afford to buy it in some areas.

Nasser Ishtayeh Associated Press
“The Way to School” A Palestinian schoolgirl walks carefully past an Israeli tank during clashes near her school in the West Bank town of Nablus, April 19, 2003.

The right to education is all to often taken for granted, while we often complain about our child’s curriculum and the lack of resources in school, we seldom worry about our child walking through a true war zone on the way to school. Yet every day children around the globe are left to literally fight their way to school, risking their safety and lives for an education…for a chance at a future. Schools, students and teachers are increasingly under attack leaving children even more vulnerable to the effects of war. Low literacy rates heavily impact development and poverty, while also leaving children at increased risk of violence.

According to UNICEF, the 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which took place last month, approximately 93 million school-age children are not receiving an education, most of which are girls. The majority of the worlds children out of school are children living in conflict zones. According to the UNESCO special report issued in November 2007, Education Under Attack , 40% of the estimated 77 million children not in school are from conflict ridden countries. The worst-affected countries in the survey period from 1997 to 2007 were Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Nepal, the Palestinian Territory, Thailand and Zimbabwe, according to data based on incidents reported by the media and ministries of education worldwide. Education is also directly related to empowerment, and more than half of those children out of school in conflict zones are girls.

According to UNESCO in the report 2008 Education for All Global Monitoring Report: Education for All by 2015. Will We Make It?, the number of children in school has increased in the last decade. The report refers to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and additionally the Education for All Declaration. According to the report primary school enrollment rose from 647 million to 688 million worldwide between 1999 and 2005. However the report also stated that the “gender parity goal has been missed”, and that “gender equality remains elusive”.

One should also note that adult literacy rates dramatically impact the lives of children in multiple ways, including placing children and families at increased risk for human trafficking and enslavement. A mothers education and literacy has a direct impact on a child’s education and literacy, thus it is essential that when looking into education and literacy we do not fail to see that adults as well as children are included in development programs. According to UNESCO , 774 million adults lack basic literacy skills worldwide, and some 64% of which are women.

It is clear that there is much that needs to be done to ensure that all of the worlds children receive a basic education, and that considerable attention needs to be placed on those children in conflict zones. While much progress has been made in recent years, it is still unacceptable that some 93 million children are without access to an education. If we are to see progress and hope for this and future generations of children, than we must place education for all as a top priority as it is the gateway to peace and prosperity.

Imagine your only a mere child and your parents are nothing more than a foggy memory, a distant voice on the phone! For hundreds of thousands of Romanian children this has become the norm as more and more parents flee the country in search of jobs abroad. The search of economic stability is nothing new, however the number of children left behind continues to grow and the long term effects are continuing to mount.

Short- or medium-term effects, according to Gabriela Tonk, deputy chief of the National authority for child protection also include “a higher risk that the child will suffer emotional, physical or sexual abuse. In extreme cases children are even recruited for prostitution or a criminal network.” (Children left behind as impoverished Romanians migrate).

Effects of Migration: Children Left at Home , a Soros Foundation Romania study compiled in October 2007, estimated that some 115,000 secondary students have at least one parent working abroad, 35,000 have both parents abroad, 55,000 have just their mother abroad and 80,000 have just their father abroad. The study illustrated the physiological effects that separation is having on the children left behind behind their families.

“These children usually encounter the same problems as children who lost their parents through divorce or death; loneliness, problems at school, psychological effects. There are things a parent can provide that a grandparent cannot; some of them just lose control over the children.”, according Mihaela Stefanescu, coordinator of the Soros study.

Now dubbed “migration orphans”, most end up in the care of grandparents or other relatives, however many more are finding themselves in group homes and orphanages.

“I understood at first, because my mother had no work and needed to pay for food for us. But when I talk to her on the phone each weekend, I tell my mother, please come back home, because I miss her so much. I tell her, please don’t desert your children like some parents do. I would not leave my children behind like this.”, says Elena Andrea Pasca, 13, whose mother went to Spain two years ago to pick strawberries, and has since left her husband and married a Spanish man (Prosperity Without Parents).

The story of Romania’s forgotten children may be new to many, however it has me reaching back in my memories some five or six years when I was living in Dublin. There was an obvious influx of migrant workers from Romania, one of which I soon befriend. A young woman, Mikaela, who was in her early 20’s, we worked together in a large company. She was in the country sharing a tiny studio flat with her husband and both where working two jobs, sending almost every penny home or putting it in savings. They planned to live in Ireland for five years, and then return to Romania where they would then be able to live comfortably. By comfortably they planned to have only one job between them and have a few children. Soon Mikaela became pregnant, she worked until she was due and then took her maternity leave, all of which went too fast. For soon she would send her new baby son back to Romania to stay with her mother, so she could again work full time at her two jobs. The situation was hardly ideal, and the effects on a mother who felt she had no alternative, where undeniable.

The families torn apart by the quest for economic stability impacts not only children and their parents, but entire villages and Romanian society on the whole. The true impact of the children left behind are yet to be know, however it is well apparent that besides the economic impact the effects of separation are sure to leave a lasting and detrimental effect on Romania’s future leaders.

“Timoun se riches malere,” say Hatians: “Children are the riches of the poor.” (Skinner, pg.30)

Spring has begun to fill the air, the trees have begun to blossom and the city is a buzz with renewed energy. However there is a darker side to everyday life for many, and tonight a light in the darkness was lit for them. Amid the sound of espresso machines steaming and after work chatter at DC literary hot spot, Bus Boy’s and Poets, there was another buzz in the air…the buzz of freedom!

There are some 27 million people enslaved in the world today…men, women and children seen as nothing more than disposable people. People whose lives are sold for costs of unprecedented lows, often nothing more than a cup of coffee. However tonight one could witness the drive and passion of two men who have stepped forward to answer the call of freedom for each and every one.

“Like plastic pens or paper cups, slaves and potential slaves are so numerous that they can simply be used up and thrown away.” (Bales, pg. 14)

Two men, one goal, separate paths! Both Bales and Skinner have seen the horrors of slavery first hand, and both have witnessed the strength of the surviver. It is this pain and heart that has driven both Kevin Bales and Ben Skinner to dedicate their lives to the fight to end slavery. Skinner literally takes you ‘Face-To-Face With Modern-Day Slavery”, in his writing you can hear the slave holders, feel the suffering of the children, smell the stench of slavery and the distant air of freedom. Bales then takes you into the plan, the plan on ‘How We Free Today’s Slaves’, his passion has taken him to do what no one dared. Bales has molded his undoubted authority and berth of knowledge into a formidable plan to rid the world of this plague. In both books you will find the face of slavery, a human face…a mother, a father, a child; you will hear the voices of suffering, strength, courage and hope.

“You are now about halfway to Delmas, and slaves are everywhere. Assuming this is your first trip to Haiti you won’t be able to identify them….Some are as young as three or four years old, but they will always be the small ones, even if they’re older….” (Skinner, pg. 5-6)

Both books are a must read and once you pick them up you wont be able to put them down without becoming an abolitionist. They say that the pen is mightier than the sword, and it is unmistakably true with both Ending Slavery and A Crime So Monstrous. However what makes both of these more than just a book is the men behind them…true heroes who have risked their lives to bring the plight of the enslaved worldwide to light.

Our children are not disposable…let us not see the children of tomorrow enslaved! Read, learn, fight and let us end slavery once and for all!

In 1993 the World Health Organization declared TB a global health emergency, developing the Stop TB Partnership. In 200o new cases of TB began to emerge which were drug resistant, elevating TB to epidemic proportions for the next four years, as some 20% of TB cases where resistant to standard treatments.

According to the WHO an estimated 1.5 million people died from TB in 2006, with an additional 200,000 deaths from HIV-associated TB. TB is curable if detected early and correctly treated, however multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), HIV-associated TB, and weak health systems continue to pose major challenges in the fight against TB world wide.

The Stop TB Partnership set the Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis, which has aimed to save some 14 million lives between 2006 and 2015. However the WHO claims that Worldwide efforts to confront TB are making progress, but too slowly.

The WHO estimates that around 4.8 billion US dollars is needed to effectively control TB in developing and lower to mid-income countries in 2008 alone. Currently there is some $ 1 billion ear marked for MDR-TB and XDR-TB, however that leaves a substantial gap in funding, of some $ 2.5 billion, which includes $ 500 million gap for MDR-TB and XDR-TB.

Related links:
Tuberculosis: topical overview
WHO program on TB
Stop TB Partnership official World TB Awareness Day 2008 site
Global tuberculosis control 2008 - surveillance, planning, financing - The WHO’s twelfth annual report on global tuberculosis control
Anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in the world report
The Global Response Plan
The Global Response Plan factsheet
Tuberculosis Drugs - Sixth Invitation for Expressions of Interest, May 2005 - UNICEF

Dear Abolitionists,

Please join the fight against slavery and Stop Modern Slavery for an anti-slavery author talk and book signing on March 26th at Busboys and Poets, in Washington, DC.

Featuring:
Ben Skinner, A Crime So Monstrous. Ben is a journalist who traveled the world to document slavery, meeting slaves, slaveholders, traffickers and liberators. His book is a thought-provoking and deeply moving investigation of slavery today, and an in-depth look at the United States’ response to this global problem.

Kevin Bales, Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves. Kevin is the world’s leading expert on modern slavery, President of Free the Slaves and a fellow DC Stop Modern Slavery member. Kevin has researched slavery for over 13 years and has written extensively on the subject, including Pulitzer Prize nominated Disposable People in 1999. In this book, he outlines the first comprehensive plan for ending slavery, Forever!

With photos by Kay Chernush, who was commissioned by the US Dept. of State to photo-document slavery around the world.

For more information e-mail organizers@stopmodernslavey.org.