Report finds Haiti child slavery rampant
Poverty has driven more than 225,000 children into positions as unpaid household servants across Haiti, the Pan American Development Foundation says in a report. Families unable to provide for the children send them to wealthier households to work, where some face mental and physical abuse on top of long work days.

Malnutrition continues to stalk Afghan women, children
Malnutrition continues to drive high maternal and child mortality rates in Afghanistan despite billions of dollars in aid, education and infrastructure improvement since 2001. The World Food Programme and UNICEF are working to feed an estimated 100,000 children and 35,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women at clinics and through free lunches provided at schools.

Improved education, infrastructure raise Zambia’s cholera season hopes
As the rainy season in Zambia picks up, so does the threat of Cholera; around 60 cases have been recorded since mid-November, but the authorities and aid agencies hope education and improved infrastructure will help keep the waterborne disease at bay.

Study: Orphanages’ care equal to family life in poor countries
The care orphans in poor countries receive at orphanages is at least as good as care they might get when taken in by family members, says a study published in the journal PLoS One. The number of children worldwide missing one or more parents tops 143 million and continues to grow.

Egyptian academy stops publishing book after Christian protests
In what is seen by many as an unprecedented response, Al Azhar’s Islamic Research Academy has decided to stop publishing a book criticized for defaming Christianity. ‘The Scientific Report’, written by Muslim intellectual Mohamed Emara, was released alongside the institution’s monthly magazine in November. The author said the work was commissioned by the Research Academy to refute a book written by a Christian Coptic writer a few months ago that was regarded as denigrating Islam.

Nepal child soldiers to be freed
The Nepalese government and former Maoist rebels have agreed on a plan to free thousands of child soldiers from camps. United Nations programs will provide the former fighters with education and training to help rehabilitate them. The children have been living in Maoist camps since a UN-brokered end to the country’s civil war three years ago.