The World Bank’s HIV/AIDS programs have failed to produce satisfactory results during the past decade, with the worst performances in Africa, where the disease is most heavily concentrated, according to an internal Bank review. Complicated program design and limited government capabilities hampered the HIV/AIDS efforts, and the Bank’s increased focus in HIV/AIDS has adversely affected efforts on other health concerns.
8-year-old Saudi girl divorces 50-year-old husband
An out-of-court settlement has enabled an 8-year old girl to divorce her middle-aged husband in a case that drew international criticism regarding child marriages in Saudi Arabia. The case has help spur a drive to create new legislation setting the minimum age of marriage at 18.
US clash brewing over global Rights of Child pact
Opponents of the UN Convention on the Rights of The Child within the U.S. argue a new constitutional amendment affirming the rights of parents is necessary to prevent Geneva from meddling with child-rearing. Conservative groups claiming to represent parents in the U.S. expressed the fear the treaty, which addresses protections for children worldwide who are drafted as soldiers or abused, would place too-rigid limits on parental autonomy.
WEST AFRICA: Health workers inch toward eliminating polio
Efforts to eradicate polio in West Africa are driving forward with improved logistic and public communication of vaccination drives reaching tens of millions of children in seven countries. Three more African countries will join the drive in May in an effort prevent any spread into countries previously declared polio-free.
Former child soldier urges UN action
The world community must do more to punish those responsible and end the suffering of children in war, particularly those conscripted into service, former child soldier Grace Akallo said Wednesday in testimony before the United Nations Security Council. Akallo was abducted, repeatedly raped and forced to fight for the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda.
Congo ex-rebel ‘working with UN’
The BBC is reporting Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, indicted by the International Criminal Court as a war criminal, is participating in a UN-backed mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ntaganda is accused of recruiting child soldiers when he served as a high-ranking member of Laurent Nkunda’s rebel militia. The UN’s peacekeeping force in DR Congo denied the report, which is based on Congolese army documentation.