Children

The Top 100 Civil Liberties Advocacy Blogs was just released, and it is with great pleasure that I inform you that the Foreign Policy Association’s Children’s Rights blog has made the cut. The list, which was compiled by the Criminal Justice Degree Guide, is broken down by subject matter. Featured our very own blog in under Women’s and Children’s Issues, along with others like, Field Notes, UNICEF’s blog.

The list was created due to the complex nature of issues surrounding civil liberties, and to simplify the search for relevant and reliable information, news, and civil liberties commentary. The list puts together the best in online resources relating to civil liberties legislation and news in one spot. Check out the full list for other interesting blogs of interest.

Making the list is thanks to all of the supportive readers and your great comments! Thank you for all of your support!

Tonight I had the privilege of attending a special screening of the documentary film Traffic, which is part of the MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) campaign. MTV EXIT, which is produced by the 2003 established MTV Europe Foundation, was designed to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking among the MTV demographic. The event was aimed to promote USAID’s (The US Agency for International Development) partnership with the MTV Europe Foundation and MTV Networks, to promote a new multimedia campaign aimed at preventing human trafficking in Asia. The partnership with USAID follows the previous partnership with Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, which launched a similar campaign throughout Europe in 2004.

A PSA/Billboard form the European Campaign 

The EXIT campaign also produced; Parallel Lives, a series of film shorts, and Inhuman Traffic, which both aired in 2005. In 2007 the EXIT campaign produced Sold and Traffic. The campaign is currently working on two collections of film shorts, which are to premiere in the coming months, as well as several PSA’s. The films while focusing on the issue of human trafficking in various regions, have all used the power of pop culture and media to express a message of awareness to many young people who are at risk of falling prey to trafficking. All of the EXIT campaign films and events have are unified with there theme of awareness and dotted by the well known faces of pop and movie stars, which are used to appeal to the MTV generation.

Tom Ehr, Executive Director of the MTV Europe Foundation and Simon Goff Director of MTV Exit-Asia where both on hand to answer questions from the audience. My question seemed to make Mr. Ehr squirm in a way that would have been completely comical had it not been for the obvious disdain at the question. Nonetheless he took the time to address my question;

“How does MTV grapple with running a series of anti-trafficking events like this, in the face of producing shows that glorify the use of the word ‘pimp’ and the ‘pimp lifestyle’?”

In response Mr. Ehr stated that they had tried to be a bit of a ‘Trojan horse’, but the issues of free speech seemed to win out in the MTV board room, however also stated,

“We feel as long as we keep hammering away at this then we can make a difference!”

In other remarks on the question Mr. Ehr made the following statement which I would like to leave you with as a thinking point; “We are doing our best in a company aimed at youth culture…sadly we have all see where youth entertainment has gone.” With that I ask you this one question? I agree a hundred percent that there has been a demise in the quality of youth programing. Therefore should the glorification of ‘pimp’n’ be one of the social responsible acts of MTV and similar companies?

Officials from the United Nations, the European Union and other institutions, as well as several ministers and other leaders have urged that women should be given a bigger voice in helping the world overcome conflicts and poverty. The call came at a conference in Brussels last week. The conference, which included some 50 international delegates, was set to promote issues of women’s empowerment and leadership.

“We must rise to the challenge and push for change, for if we don’t who will?” said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU External Relations Commissioner in regards to the role of women (USA TODAY/AP).

The meeting raised concern over the lack of countries to implement U.N. Security Council resolution 1325, which was the first legal document established by the UN Security Council that required respect for women’s rights during times of conflict, and that they be included in peace negotiations and in post conflict reconstruction

Some things the Resolution calls for:

• Prosecuting people for crimes against women (often such crimes are committed with impunity);
• Extra protection of girls and women in war zones as they are more often deliberately victimized;
• Appointing more women for peacekeeping operations; and
• Involving more women in negotiations, peace talks and post-war reconstruction planning.

The resolution is historic as it is the first to specifically address the disproportionate and unique impact that war has on women. The resolution which was unanimously adopted on October 31, 2000, and in November that year the European Parliament resolution on participation of women in peaceful conflict passed.

The conference brought to light the issue of undocumented and stateless children, which is a major hindrance for ones access to healthcare and education, as well as other key services, thus limiting ones potential to achieve and lead. “…whoever does not exist legally, cannot be a key actor. The same way that 70% of the poor are women and a large number of these children are women, girls, and we have to address this”, said Ana Palacio, Vice President of the World Bank.

The lack of participation of women in conflict is undeniable, and many proponents of increased inclusion for women have agreed that they are vitally needed. We all look at the world with a different perspective, and as they say two heads are better than one.  Thus the need for equal participation of men and women in conflict resolution and poverty reduction is needed if we are to ever see sustainable and positive long term change. As Virgina Woolf said, “War is not women’s history.”, then let us work to set peace as our history.

Authorities in the Republic of Congo have lifted a temporary ban imposed four months ago following the arrest on 25 October 2007 in neighboring Chad of members of a French NGO who were charged with abducting 103 children.

Nutrition experts say governments are not investing enough to prevent and treat malnutrition in women and children in poor countries. “The amount donors have given to combating malnutrition is lamentable,” Saul Morris, one of the authors of a series of reports on child survival published recently by The Lancet medical journal.

In Egypt a drive to boost girls’ education, the drive is sponsored by the government and the UN. The goal is to build over 1,000 “girl-friendly” schools in seven provinces, as there due to the low attendence of girls. Many girls do not attend school due to the proximity of schools, poverty, child labor, gender inequality, and early marriage.

In Sudan around 650,000 or half of all children in Darfur do not receive an education, despite efforts by various organizations to provide schooling in camps and towns across the western Sudanese region, according to Save the Children.

In Chad many young people desperately seeking sex education. Some of the young people who seek help at the Youth Information and Orientation Centre for Reproductive Health (CIOJ) in N’Djamena, capital of Chad, do not understand how they became pregnant or contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Workers at the center blame the high levels of ignorance on the failure of parents to talk to their children about sex.

Burundi’s teachers are calling for more HIV/AIDS education in schools, to ensure that older primary school pupils and secondary school students, many of whom are sexually active, are properly equipped with the facts about the pandemic. Ernest Mberamiheto, deputy minister in charge of primary and secondary education, said government studies in 2004 revealed that 23 percent of school children had had sexual intercourse by the age of 14.

In the Niger Delta there is no lack of youth ready to join militias. And while many young boys want out of the fight disarment will still leave wages twice or three times less, leaving many feeling that the life of a militant is the only hope for economic stability.

Israel sentences man for “honor” killing of sister, the court handed down a 16-year prison sentence Tuesday against a man accused of participating in the killing of his sister, after women in the family stepped forward to testify against the suspect. The sister was the eighth female family member to be killed in recent years, but this was the first conviction in any of the cases. She was 18 at the time, and was the eighth female member of the Abu Ghanem clan to have been killed in seven years

Meningitis is spreading across the region with the death toll reaching 422 since the beginning of 2008 yet, contrary to several recent reports, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said the figures are lower than previous years and that West Africa is well-prepared to contain the disease. Low cost meningitis vaccine developed, which has proven to be highly effective in trials in West Africa, and will be introduced in 2009.

South African schools are the most dangerous in the world, and if the issue is not addressed it will stunt children’s education and jeopardize the future development of the country, according to the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR). However experts warn that safety is part of a more complex problem.