The United Nations called on Tuesday for action around the world to build safer schools after natural disasters killed thousands of children from China to Haiti in 2008 because of poor construction. “Safe schools don't just save children's lives, they can also serve as temporary shelters for communities in times of disasters.” said UNICEF education chief Cream Wright.
Up to 6,000 child soldiers recruited in Darfur – U.N.
Thousands of children are being recruited by rebel and government forces in Darfur even though Sudanese law forbids the use of child soldiers, UNICEF said. “All the armed factions and groups in Darfur have used children … We have seen children in uniform and children carrying weapons with virtually all the forces. An 11-year-old in this sort of situation basically looses their childhood. It dehumanises them.”, head of the U.N. children's fund (UNICEF) in Sudan Ted Chaiban told reporters.
Saudi girl, eight, married off to 58-year-old is denied divorce
A petition for divorce in Saudi Arabia between an 8-year-old girl and a 58-year old man filed by the girl's mother was dismissed after the judge ruled that only the girl can file for divorce and only after she has reached puberty. Although senior Sunni clerics have denounced child marriage, human-rights watchers say that it is common in conservative parts of Saudi Arabia. Shariah law does not provide a clear definition of adulthood and gives great discretion to judges, who frequently rule that women cannot bring forth cases to court except through male guardians.
Nothing But Nets delivers 740,000 bed nets to the Central African Republic
The UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets campaign, a global, grassroots initiative to prevent malaria, announced today the distribution of nearly 1 million bed nets to children and their families throughout the Central African Republic. The nets will be distributed as part of an integrated measles immunization campaign led by the government of CAR with support from the Measles Initiative. The bed nets contributed by Nothing But Nets will provide full coverage for 740,000 children under the age of 5 who are being targeted in this effort.
Angry Youths Become a Force in Darfur
The youngsters of Darfur, who have grown up in Sudan's refugee camps, have become a political force of their own, challenging traditional tribal systems and adopting a pro-rebel position. The younger generation has expressed a more hard-line position, which may complicate efforts to strike a peace agreement with Khartoum. The New York Times (12/20)
New target for Mexico's drug cartels: schools
Mexico's drug war has heated up in the past year increasing in violence, as related deaths have doubled, and now the drug cartels are expanding their targets to include children, as was seen in Ciudad Juarez. Fear has increased as threats have now been left at schools, including Kindergartens, threatening to harm the children. Ricardo Ravelo, an investigative journalist with Proceso magazine, says that children in states torn apart by the drug war now idolize and imitate narcoculture. “The narcos are powerful, untouchable, undefeatable,” he says. “For these children, it's not very important to them to study or imagine themselves on a career path. For them, the attractive path is drug trafficking and its personalities.”