Children

In the Online Africa Policy Forum, the NGO Women for Women International explains why ending sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) should be a global priority. Patricia Morris, the Director of Program Development for the NGO, went on to explain not only the horrors of gender based violence in times of conflict, but how the effects stretch beyond the victim and effect all of civil society:

“Women’s status in conflict and post conflict countries is a leading indicator of a state’s strength or fragility. Countries in the world where women are the most marginalized, oppressed, and victimized are the ones that are the most fragile; they are the weakest of states. The overwhelming majority of the productive, reproductive and community work that builds strong nations is done by women. When women are destroyed, societies are destroyed and when women are uplifted, societies are uplifted – weak women, weak states, strong women, strong nations. Women must be brought from the background to the foreground of discussions on peace, security and development.”

The epidemic of the use of rape as a weapon of war, I want to point out that while the DRC has one of the highest levels of use of rape in combat, they are far from alone. The use of rape as a weapon of war is rooted deep in our history, however in it’s modern form it has become more violent and more destructive to both the victim and society. The long-term reaches of rape as a tool of warfare go beyond victim and state, they are global and their impact will continue to be felt time and time again. Therefore it is imperative that we make gender inequality a global priority, and see that the use of rape as a weapon ends it’s long run of impunity.

To see the unspeakable horrors of rape as a weapon of war, and it’s effects first hand, you can tune into HBO this month. HBO is airing the documentary The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo.

Countries where rape has been used as a weapon of war in recent conflicts include:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Chechnya, Congo, Cyprus, East Timor, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Liberia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Turkey, Uganda, Vietnam, The Former Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia), Zimbabwe.

Countries currently engaging in the use of rape as a weapon of war include:
the Sudan, Chechnya, the Central African Republic (CAR,) Congo, and Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC).

The number of cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis around the world is higher than ever, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Tuesday. Eastern Europe, China and India have been hit particularly hard, the agency notes in its report, driving concerns that some health care systems may soon be overwhelmed by the potentially lethal disease.

10 UN agencies urge end to female genital mutilation, a painful and dangerous ritual still imposed on many girls in Africa, Indonesia and the Middle East. The initiative to change this tradition best comes from the inside, as evidenced by several West African villages that have abandoned the practice, the UN says.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges General Assembly to hold special session on suicide bombings, considering them a growing threat against humanity and political stability, a UN spokeswoman said Wednesday. Ban will personally urge General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim to hold the session, the UN chief told leaders of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish rights group that has pushed for the initiative.

U.S. lawmakers, agree to triple AIDS funds, the U.S. House of Representatives have reached an agreement with the Bush administration on new legislation that would authorize $50 billion over five years to fight HIV/AIDS in poor countries and help children orphaned by the disease. The amount, if approved, would more than triple the funds for the White House’s global anti-AIDS program, which already is the largest commitment ever by a government to fight a disease in foreign countries.

World’s food price crisis expected to worsen, as food staples have risen 75%worldwide since 2005 due to a combination of growing demand, rising oil prices and global warming, and the troublesome trend shows little sign of abating. As a result, more governments are forced to struggle with hostile protests, food riots and widespread dissatisfaction, in addition to trying to counteract the growing threat of malnutrition.

WHO warns Paraguay’s yellow fever going urban, for the first time in six decades in Latin America. WHO officials said improvements to the hygiene and sanitation situation in and around the capital Asuncion, accompanied by a widespread vaccination campaign, are key to helping to prevent the spread of the disease.

China mulls end to one-child policy Chinese officials said Thursday the government is considering an end to its controversial one-child policy in light of an aging population and widening gender gap due to cultural preferences for male children.

Child abuse spreading in Zimbabwe, UNICEF warns, largely because of increased family tensions related to the country’s economic collapse, UNICEF said Wednesday. The agency rolled out a new campaign in the southern African country called “Stand Up and Speak Out,” urging people to battle the “staggering statistics on the unspeakable evils of child abuse.”

UNICEF and the Gulf charity Dubai Cares have launched a new education initiative to help bolster access to education for children and promote gender equality in the small East African nation of Djibouti. Although 126,000 children in Djibouti are old enough to go to primary school, tens of thousands of them are not enrolled, and more than half of these are girls. Under the new partnership, UNICEF will use almost USD 1.9 million in funds donated by Dubai Cares to build new schools and rehabilitate existing ones, as well as to spur school enrollment through awareness-raising.

China’s “One Child” policy has been consistently broken by the country’s elites, but this issue is more than one of law braking and population control, it only brings light to the great divide between the countries rich and poor. Many elites ignore the laws and simply pay the hefty fines, which could amount to $130,000, while others are more blatant in their actions. Non-city dwellers are still allowed to have a second child if their first child is a girl, however the policy, which has been in existence for 30 years continues to cause great concern and divide among the population, especially as millions of girls have been systematically aborted, abandoned or killed over the years due to the policy.

Chevron gives $30m to global health fund, to be dispersed in cash over the next three years to the United Nations-backed Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria. The move to lend direct corporate support to international health programs, has been seen as a ground braking move by many, as in addition Chevron will provide local assistance through employees to Global Fund projects in six developing countries in Africa and Asia.

Health workers in Botswana have confirmed two cases of extremely dangerous TB strains, which are extremely drug-resistant, raising fears of a new health crisis. TB cases that show resistance to the first-line treatment drugs had already been rising in numbers for more than a decade in Botswana. Almost 10 million children die before their fifth birthday across the globe, with , this has many have been left baffled and confused at UNICEF with the mixed progress on children’s healthIndonesia female circumcision traditions continue in spite of the outrage and opposition to the practice in most corners of the world, the overwhelming majority of Indonesian girls are still being forced by their families to undergo female circumcision, usually before their 14th birthdays. Debate in Indonesia has only just begun, on whether or not to an the practice.

Sri Lanka has been engaged in a civil war for 25 years, causing displacement, death, and poverty, and while many have longed for peace it appears it now one step farther away at the country has withdrawn from the Ceasefire Agreement.  The agreement was negotiated with the help of Oslo in 2002 between Colombo and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE ).  According to an interview with a Peace Negotiator, ‘Civilians Are the Ones Who Will Suffer’, including the children who now know nothing other than conflict and despair.  Their are currently some quarter of a million people displaced, a large majority of whom are children, left without their basic fundamental rights to education, healthcare and nutrition.

Over one week a total of 15 FGM’s took place in one Burkina Faso town, Pabre, culminating in the death of one teenage girl. In addition to the death of the one girl, seven other girls are currently being treated at a local hospital for various infections and/or hemorrhaging. Sadly these 15 girls where not alone in their suffering, as reports quickly came of another five girls in the countries second largest city, Bobo-Dioulasso.

The death of the girl, has brought FGM back into the spotlight, a light many in Burkina Faso thought was over. However the country, who was one of the leaders promoting the rights of young girls when they outlawed Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in 1996, seems to have kept many in secrets in the dark. While its true that many girls have been prevented the torture of FGM, since the law was passed a decade ago, many rural areas , mostly in the north, of the country remained unchanged.

Following the young girls death, Social Action Minister Pascaline Tamini said that Burkina Faso has cut FGM nearly in half in the last decade, with estimates now at 45% (Burkina Faso reduces FGM). The year following the ban estimates where about 80%, while in 1999 State Department estimates where 71.6% (Burkina Faso: Report on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Female Genital Cutting (FGC)).

“While prevalence of FGM/C among women aged 15-49 varies according to residence and ethnic affiliation, the latest (2003) DHS data indicate 77% of women in Burkina Faso have undergone some form of FGM/C. This level decreases among women in the younger age groups of 25 and below suggesting potential generational changes in the practice.” (Burkina Faso FGC/M Country Profile- UNICEF)

What does this all mean for the fate of girls in Burkina Faso?

“It means there is resistance and we need to seek new strategies so that people can give up the practice that some still believe to be of divine origin,” Marie Berthe Ouédraogo, chief of child protection for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Burkina Faso, told IRIN (BURKINA FASO: Girl’s death prompts search for new strategies to fight FGM). Ouédraogo added, “We must innovate. We must find new strategies… We must change the way we give the message.”

What has people shocked is that the areas in which the FGM’s took place, where ones where NGO’s have been active. It only serves to illustrate that while progress has been made…there is much more to do. It will take substantial efforts, and new thinking to ensure that Burkina Faso is truly FGM free!

Adjaratou, pictured above, was around 12 when her parents forced her to marry her maternal cousin, where she suffered countless abuses. When she refused her husband’s demands to do such things as cover her head, she was beaten, and therefore suffered two miscarriages (Too Young to Wed).

Adjaratou, is just one of the millions of girls and women in the western African nation of Mali, who was forced to marry as a child. Child marriage brings with it many associated children’s rights abuses and health issues, such as Female Genital Mutilation (which in Mali is as high as 90%), early childbirth (one in ten give birth by the age of 15), an increased risk for HIV/AIDS, poor to no education, and sexual and physical abuse. Child marriages also result in larger age differentials, as according to the Population Council the average age difference in Mali is 12.7 years, and 15.1 years for polygamous marriages.

“Child marriage has far-reaching health, social, economic, and political implications for the girl and her community. It truncates a girl’s childhood, creates grave physical and psychological health risks, and robs her of internationally recognized human rights.”(Health Consequences of Child Marriage in Africa -Dr. Nawal M. Nour)

The Convention on the Rights of the Child has no specific article on child marriage, however through it’s articles and outline, it does list numerous protective measures against child marriage. The convention lists a child as one under 18, and thus age is a clear violation of the convention, however some provisions allow this age to be lower, that said even lower legal ages are broken. Many Articles of the convention are clearly broken with the case of child marriage. Such as Article’s include The right to life, health, education, the right to be protected from harmful practices, the right to freedom from abuse and exploitation, and the right to participation.

In Mali the legal age for marriage is 18 for girls and 21 for boys, however Mali remains to have one of the most extreme number of cases of child marriage in the world. A girl may be allowed to legal marry from the age of 15, with her parents consent, however as in the case of Adjaratou, the child’s consent is more often than not given. According to the Mali Demographic and Health Survey 2001, 25% of girls were married by age 15, and 65% (out of woman 20-24 surrveryed) were married by the time they reached the age of 18.

The unfortunate case of child brides in Mali, is that they are far from alone, as child marriage is one of the most neglected children’s rights abuses. According to estimates from UNICEF now estimates that 60 million children under the age of 18, mostly girls, are already married without their full understanding or consent. Therefore the Population Council estimates that if child marriage continues undisturbed, another 100 million children will be forced into early marriage over the next ten years according to the Population Council.

Why are more efforts to end child marriage not being put into place, one may ask? In Mali the government must step up it’s efforts to enforce the laws regarding age of consent, and see that consent is really given by the bride. One must also note that in Mali many efforts by International aid organizations are being focused into the fight against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting.

“There hasn’t been a really concerted effort to address the issue [at the international level],” said Naana Otoo-Oyortey, a founding member of the Forum on Marriage and the Rights of Women and Girls, a network of mostly UK-based organizations who campaign against early marriage and violence against women. “It’s been a neglected issue.” (child marriage is a neglected problem)

The report Ending Child Marriage: A Guide for Global Policy Action, listed recommendations in the following areas; Enact, standardize and enforce national laws, Create an enabling environment for social change, Develop multi-sectoral program approaches and partnerships, Priority areas for policy and program development, and Strengthen research and data collection systems. These specific recommendations such as; “Strengthening the integration of child marriage prevention and support programs into other government sector initiatives, especially in the areas of health, education, HIV and employment”, increase access to health and education, “Combat all forms of violence against girls and women, especially sexual violence and abuse, through policies and programs focusing on prevention, treatment, counseling and legal protection”

In Mali and across the globe, child marriage remains heavily prevalent, and the international community must give the issue higher relevance on their agendas, in order to ensure that the rights of millions of girls are enforced and protected. Please see my earlier post on Child Marriage for further general information and reference links.

Links:
Child Marriage Fact Sheet - UNFPA
Child Marriage Fact Sheet - International Women’s Health Coalition
Population Council Child Marriage Briefing - Mail
Early Marriage: Child Spouses - UNICEF
Mali Statistics - UNCIEF

Norway pledges funds to help UN fight female circumcision, pledging $3.4 million USD to the UN, Norway hopes to make considerable strides in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM). “Genital mutilation is a brutal violation of the basic human rights of women and children,” Norwegian Aid Minister Erik Solheim said in announcing the pledge. “According to the World Health Organization, 6,000 girls are circumcised daily.”

Photo: Heba Aly/IRIN

In the town of Malicounda Bambara, population of around 3,000, a large crowd gathered on 5 August to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the day that the community publicly stated its commitment to abolish female genital mutilation (FGM). The declaration, which was officially made on July 31, 1997, made headlines around the world, however fears run heavy for some as stories of FGM continue a decade later.

As one woman told IRIN, “They haven’t really abandoned the practice,” she said of the women of Malicounda Bambara. “The same women who are publicly declaring it has been abandoned are continuing to cut,” she said. The woman told IRIN that a young girl was circumcised in the village only one week before the anniversary celebrations. ‘IRIN also spoke to 14-year-old Mariama Ba who said she had been circumcised in Malicounda just four years ago.’ Some in the international NGO community note that these abuses of FGM are hideous crimes, and see the ban as a failure. Others note that any decrease in FGM is a step forward, and that much of the FGM that continues, occurs from outside influences and those who are committed to the abolishment of FGM remain as such. Regardless of your stance on the issue, it is one that is not easily won, and a full abolition of FGM will be a long time in the making.

FGM can be the partial or full removal of the external genitalia. FGM can often be fatal, especially when done in none sanitary condition, and/or by non-medically trained persons, which can often cause excessive bleeding, transmission of disease, or shock. The complications and long term effects of FGM, can include; pain, infertility, difficulties in child birth, trouble with menstruation or urination, problems and extreme pain with intercourse, lack of sexual desire, no sexual stimulation, and mental illness.

The law against FGM in Senegal specifies it is a criminal offense, resulting in imprisonment for 6 months to 5 years, and while the law is a positive step in the right direction, some have criticized the law as they believe programs to educate on the dangers of FGM, should have been more widespread prior to its implementation. Since July 1997, approximately 708 villages in Senegal have banned FGM, there is an estimated 5,500 villages in the country that continue to practiced FGM according to the US Department of State.2001 US State Department Report on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)/Female Genital Cutting (FGC) in Senegal.

While laws are a great step in the right direction to ending the practice of FGM once and for all, the banning of the practice alone is not enough to ensure the practice is abolished. Governments and NGO’s must work together with community leaders, on all levels, to see that the entire community is adequately educated on the full facts of FGM, and the long term effects it has on a girls mental and physical health. The case in Malicounda Bambara, Senegal only illustrates the increasing need to both educate communities and promote legislation to ban and criminalize FGM.

Links:
Female Genital Mutilation – The Facts
Giving up on FGM: why a village midwife put down her scalpel
World Health Organization (WHO) - Female Genital Mutilation
Razor’s Edge: The Controversy of Female Genital Mutilation
CHANGING A HARMFUL SOCIAL CONVENTION: FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION/CUTTING
USAID: A Tradition No Longer: Rethinking Female Circumcision in Africa
US Department of State: Senegal: Report on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Female Genital Cutting (FGC)
Tostan
Stop FMG/C

The practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is not reserved to the Middle East and Africa, as the law enforcement in the UK has discovered the hard way. Female genital mutilation is on the rise in Britain, as Scotland Yard estimates that up to 66,000 girls, 74,000 according to the woman’s rights group Forward, in Great Britain are at risk.

FGM has been a criminal offense in the United Kingdom since 1985, with the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act. In 2003 England, Wales and Northern Ireland, repealed and then re-enacted the 1985 Act, replacing it with the Female Genital Mutilation Act, which increased the maximum penalty for FGM from 5 years to 14 years. Unfortunately, there have been no prosecutions, just a change in the law itself. Thus the fight is not over, to rid the UK of FGM, it has only just begun, and the lack of prosecutions leaves many to question if it will ever end. To show they are stepping up their efforts and taking it more seriously, “police are offering a $40,000 reward for information leading to Britain’s first prosecution for female genital mutilation”.

‘They say this “extreme child abuse is illegal and won’t be tolerated.” Yet, it’s been illegal since 1985, and no one has yet been prosecuted for it.’ (Mutilated Girls; U.K.’s Ignored Secret)

Despite the law, and the lack of prosecutions, there has been an increase of girls presenting FGM related issues in NHS facilities. Many believe that FGM is only being pushed farther underground, and causing some to try and avoid the law by sending girls overseas to undergo the practice. While it is mostly found in first generation Britons, some fear that they will only continue see the practice rise, despite decreases over the years immigration in the UK remains high. Therefore prosecutions of those involved in the practice of FGM are essential in showing that Brittan will not tolerate such an inhuman practice against girls.

UNICEF UK, stated in a position paper, that it “supports the Female Genital Mutilation Bill but also stresses the need for the Government to invest more energy into exploring the reasons why there have been no prosecutions for FGM, and to address culturally sensitive, educative approaches for the eradication of this gross breach of the rights of young girls.”

Not only must the UK address the issues as stated by UNICEF, but it must address the fact that it is increasingly difficult to identify which children in the UK are at risk for FGM. As in any heavily diverse and culturally mixed community, risk factors are often easily over looked, and it is heightened by the sheer length in which a girl may remain at risk for FGM. As FGM is not just a practice that occurs in infancy, but can occur at anytime from birth through adolescence.

Shortly after the announcement of the reward money, a 36 year old woman was arrested on suspicion of trying to arrange a FGM proceedure. The woman has since been bailed, but is due in court on September 6, 2007, and while her fate is unknown girls in the UK continue to remain at risk. Therefore it looks to take much more than an increase in penalty of the law, and reward money, to eradicate FGM under the Queens Crown.

Links:
British Medical Association (BMA): Female genital mutilation - caring for patients and child protection
Blog: Female Genital Mutilation Taking Place In Britain, Are Police Afraid To Stop It?

No matter what you say, or what you do, it all leaves a mark on the children around you. A child who witnesses violence and war, is forever scared by what they see. A child who hears nothing but negative, cannot erase the voice that says, “you can’t”. But the child who witnesses peace and love, will carry that with them forever and continue to share hope for the future.

We cannot erase the mistakes of the past, but we can leave a bigger impression on a child with hope, than with despair.

Any time that a child spends in a refuge camp, isn’t ideal, and is usually ripe for children’s rights violations. However many children in refugee camps around the world, know no other life outside the camps, and Somalian children in Kenya are no exception. The question is, when and how can they leave life in the camps behind? The sad truth is no one knows, and leaving is not an option that looks to resolve it’s self in the near future.

Unemployment in the camps is continuing to increase, as jobs are far and few in between.  While many children have been unable to continue their education, as an estimated 2,000 children have been able to pass the secondary school entrance exams, others seem to have little advantage with an education.  Education in the camps seems to have little value, regardless if a child moves on to secondary education or vocational training, the high unemployment leaves little room for hope at employment opportunities. Regardless of high levels of unemployment, education still has an incredible value in the camps to most parents. Therefore while free education heavily outweighs the unknown instability that awaits many back in Somalia, others question the point of an education that they have no outlet to use.

“I‘ve stayed in the camp for 11 years and now I am about to finish grade four in secondary school. I think that after that I will just go somewhere else. Perhaps I might go back to Somalia, my country, without even waiting for repatriation. There is not peace there, but at least there is a life. If you manage not to be killed or robbed, then you can have a normal life there,” said 17-year-old refugee, Abdi. (Which way out of the camps for Somalia’s young refugees?)

Photo: Department of State

Children’s organizations in the camps have placed considerable effort and resources into eduction on other children’s rights issues, especially Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)/Female Circumcision. The efforts to end FGM in the camps have been a great success, as has disease preventions, such as promoting the use of treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria.

Returning to Somalia is not a viable option for adults or youth alike, as the country is still embattled with the conflict between the country’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). Thus the indefinite nature of life in the camps has many worrying that the efforts in the camp are not enough.  Concern that the ngo’s and governments are not looking at resources and services that are enabling the refugees for the long run, nor the return home, when ever that may be.

“What the UNHCR has been doing is to find short-term solutions for a very long time. We need a real solution, not another emergency one,” said Mohammed, 24. (Which way out of the camps for Somalia’s young refugees?)

Other concerns in the camp, are the over all health conditions of children, and with chronic malnutrition of children in the camps now above the emergency level, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). The WFP is now launching an appeal in conjunction with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“The malnutrition crisis that we are witnessing in the refugee camps in Kenya is the cumulative effect of years of recurrent budgetary shortfalls,” said UNHCR acting representative Eddie Gedalof. “Year after year we are unable to fully meet refugees’ needs for firewood, soap and other essential commodities. We must get to the core of the issue if we are to eradicate malnutrition in the camps.”(UN agencies seek funds to help hungry refugee children in Kenya).

The instable situation in Somalia, and the uncertainty of returning home, has placed many youths at risk for being recruited to join the Islamic Courts’ Militia. Others are at high risk to return home only to find themselves caught up in the instable environment, and discover only poverty, unemployment and violence awaits them. Unfortunately the questions that weighs heavy on the minds of all Somalian refugees, ‘When can we go home?’, remains unanswered.