News…
Palestinians return to school despite hardships As one million Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip prepare to return to school next week, UN agencies and the Palestinian Ministry of Education have been stressing the problems schoolchildren face in the occupied Palestinian territory [oPt].“We should celebrate - in spite of all the hardships - going back to school,” said Filippo Grandi, the deputy-commissioner of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, at a press conference held under the banner of “Unite for Education”.At the same time he noted that 76 Palestinian children had been killed so far this year, a 50 percent rise on last year.
Yemen confronts plight of child brides
Owing to widespread poverty and deeply rooted tradition, child marriage makes up nearly half of all marriages in Yemen. A law prohibiting marriage for girls under aged 15 was revoked in the 1990s because some readings of Muslim law suggest that age of marriage cannot be restricted. Parents who are unable to provide for families send off, and sometimes, sell their daughters.
Searching for Freedom, Chained by the Law
Increasing numbers of Pakistani women are stepping forward to challenge gender inequalities ingrained in Pakistani society. The brothers and husbands of women seeking independence often use false charges of extramarital affairs or other immorality to imprison women who refuse an arranged marriage or seek a divorce.
Germany Reports Hike in Childbirths
For decades now, Germany has been a demographic time bomb, with a fast-graying society and a shrinking population…creating a recipe for disaster for the future of the country’s cradle to grave social welfare system. On Wednesday, though, the country reported its first fertility rate increase since 2001, with an average number of 1.37 children per woman in 2007 — up from 1.33 the previous year. Germany’s Federal Statistical Office reported 685,000 births in the country last year, 12,000 more than in 2006.
UN mission alarmed as another child kidnapping victim is killed
Officials with the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti have voiced alarm at the continuing spate of kidnappings of children, days after abductors killed a boy apparently because his family could not pay the ransom. The body of the 12-year-old boy was found in Grande Ravine on August 16, four days after he had been kidnapped, the mission reported on August 19. He was the third child kidnapping victim to be killed this year. UN Police (UNPOL) announced that a 10-year-old boy was kidnapped last week in a separate incident in the Martissant neighborhood of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
End Beating of Children in Public Schools
More than 200,000 US public school students were punished by beatings during the 2006-2007 school year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a joint report released Aug. 20. In the 13 states that corporally punished more than 1,000 students per year, African-American girls were twice as likely to be beaten as their white counterparts. In the 125-page report, “A Violent Education: Corporal Punishment of Children in US Public Schools,” the organizations found that in Texas and Mississippi children ranging in age from 3 to 19 years old are routinely physically punished for minor infractions.
UN project in Cote d’Ivoire to speed up reintegration of ex-combatants
The UN mission in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) launched a USD 5 million project on August 14 to speed the reintegration of ex-combatants from the country’s civil war, as well as young people at risk. The “1,000 micro-projects” initiative was launched in Bouake by the UN’s top envoy in the West Africa nation, Y.J. Choi. The projects seek to support ex-combatants, ex-militias and young people at risk, along with children and women associated with the Ivorian conflict. The projects cover a range of activities, including technical training, agriculture, cattle rearing, fishing, forestry, construction, transportation, motor mechanics, public works and catering.
Children are main victims of violence in Chad, Ban says in new report
Children continue to be the primary victims of the conflict in Chad, whether they are recruited as soldiers, killed or hurt by landmines or denied humanitarian access, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes in a report made public August 12. “The political, military and security situation remains highly volatile,” he said, due to the ongoing violence between Chadian armed forces and rebel groups, the presence of foreign rebels in the country’s east, cross-border raids by allied militiamen known as the Janjaweed and continuing tensions, mainly between Arab and non-Arab communities. As a result, children are made to suffer.
UN probes India ‘abuses’ in Congo
The UN has found that its peacekeeping troops from India may have engaged in abuse and exploitation while serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was deeply troubled by the findings. Ban said the Indian government had assured the UN the allegations would be thoroughly investigated and if proven action would be taken. One UN official said there may have been abuse of young girls and boys by at least 100 Indian peacekeepers.
Australia Increases Support for Food Security in Indonesia
Australia will provide USD 6.5 million over two years to the World Food Program (WFP) to address malnutrition caused by chronic food shortages in Nusa Tenggara Timur and Nusa Tenggara Barat in Indonesia. Nutritional food supplements will be provided to the most vulnerable, including pregnant and nursing women and children. This two-year program continues Australia’s partnership with the WFP and will also build the Indonesian Government’s capacity to respond to the adverse impact of food shortages on communities in these provinces. Australia has committed USD 38 million to lift productivity in Indonesia’s agriculture sector.
UN mission launches countdown to International Peace Day
The top UN envoy to Afghanistan joined graduating students from Kabul’s Polytechnic to launch a countdown on Aug. 12 to the annual International Peace Day intended to be marked by a global ceasefire on September 21. “Peace is Afghanistan’s greatest need and it is the United Nations’ highest calling,” Kai Eide, the head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said. In other news, three female international aid workers were killed on Aug. 13 in an ambush by insurgents in the Logar province in southern Afghanistan, a provincial governor said.