News

Sacrificing the future - 30/09/2010 16:59

Many Iraqi refugee children growing up in Syria are struggling to make the most of their education for various social and economic reasons, according to UNICEF. 1.2 million of the 2 million people who had to flee Iraq in 2003 due to the war were taken in by Syria and are managing to make lives for themselves, but legal restrictions on their employment mean that many are struggling to make a living. Often the only way to survive is by working under the legal radar, in jobs which tend to be very badly paid so that children have to contribute to the family income too, working for money instead of going to school. Even for those who don't have to work, even nominal school fees are sometimes too high or there are other problems such as the only available schools being too far away. Refugees do get financial support from...

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Economic crisis devastates impoverished children in the Philippines - 30/09/2010 11:57

A recent study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and UNICEF has found that approximately 12.8 million children aged under 15 in the Philippines are living in poverty. (For perspective, that's 1.8 million more than the entire child population of England.) This number represents 44% - nearly half -...

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Violence Against Children - 20/09/2010 10:39

In early September this year, a global conference was held in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on the subject of violence against children. "Global conference" might bring to mind a meeting of the powerful and the privileged, politicians and heads of state, but the participants here were children and young According to a 2006 study by the UN, between 133 and 275 million children are affected by violence at home every year, mostly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. These are huge numbers but they are only a guess at the real extent of the problem. Part of the trouble is "Very little is known about the extent of violence affecting the most vulnerable children," says Marta Santos Pais, UN Special Representative on Violence Against Children, going on to cite children abandoned in the street, those in institutions, those living with HIV/AIDS and children with no family or friends as the Although 194 countries have ratified the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (some with reservations), only 29 have passed laws explicitly making violence against children illegal. Tunisia and Kenya are the only African nations to have done so. Marta Santos Pais wants to see four changes in the This view is echoed by Thales, a 17-year-old delegate from Benin: "We children suffer mistreatment and are often afraid to speak out. At this forum, I can learn what children in other countries are doing to combat violence." The world may be far from a solution, but admitting there is 275 million children suffering from violence is a huge number. But speaking out, recognising that there is a problem and coming together to tackle it is a giant step....

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Patrick's story - 02/09/2010 10:50

16 years have passed since the brutal genocide swept through Rwanda. Yet for so many, the suffering still continues. Patrick can remember the contagious fear which spread through his village as his parents ran with him and his sisters, fleeing with their neighbours to find sanctuary in the church. He He remembers all too well how the door burst open and men armed with machetes poured into the church. He will never be able to forget the sight of his neighbours being cut down and killed. Then the men made their way towards his family. His parents and four of For two whole days they lay under the corpses, too terrified to move even to find food or water. Eventually a neighbour who had escaped returned to the village to search for survivors and found them. The immediate danger was over, but for Patrick a new ordeal was beginning. He Patrick has spent the last 16 years working whatever odd jobs he can find simply so that he and his sisters could survive. He has sacrificed his own childhood and education to keep them alive. Only now is he finally getting the support he needs: vocational training, trauma counselling, health Patrick sacrificed his own future for his sisters. What could you sacrifice to help more children like Patrick? Join our fight for justice... Donate now >>...

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Building Peace in Brazil - 02/09/2010 10:32

Brazil is well-known for being a land of contrasts, and, with one of the greatest wealth disparities in the world, it is hardly surprising. But it is one thing to know this on an intellectual level and quite another to see it with your own eyes. It was, therefore, with The drug culture is evident everywhere in the favela. Two young men, almost certainly drug dealers, suspiciously eyed our progress. As an obvious outsider, I must have been easily mistaken for an undercover policeman. Warned by our project partner, I was careful not to turn around or catch their eye Children become involved with drugs from a very young age. The dealers target children, initially supplying them with free drugs. Once hooked, in order to pay for their habit, they are forced to become small-scale dealers themselves. Being a child of the favelas is no easy life. I met so I was so impressed to see the amazing work of the Hope and Life Centre, which truly is a beacon of hope to these children, intervening wherever possible on the children's behalf and providing them with a safe place to learn and play. Situated in neutral territory on the fringe Peace is the overwhelming focus of the Centre, providing a haven for the children and sending young ambassadors out into the community to spread the message of hope and life into this violent favela. I'm so glad that we, too, can be a key part of this peace-building by supporting Nigel *Names have been changed....

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