UNICEF, Darfur rebels agree on terms to protect children
One of Darfur’s main rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement, will sign an agreement with UNICEF this week to protect children, according to the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue. Rebel groups and government forces have actively recruited child soldiers into their ranks in the past, say UN officials. The agreement will give UNICEF access to all of the group’s rebel camps to ensure children are kept out of the conflict.
Funding is a major focus for HIV/AIDS conference
Government cuts to funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and health infrastructure programs have limited the number of people receiving lifesaving drugs, falling short of world leaders’ goal of universal treatment by 2010, said officials at an international HIV/AIDS conference. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Michel Kazatchkine, head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, urged governments to refrain from trimming their AIDS budgets. The Global Fund is seeking $20 billion to sustain their work for the next three years.
UN questions Vatican over child-rights reporting
The Vatican has failed to remit any report on its efforts to protect child rights nearly 13 years after a deadline despite repeated reminders from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, committee chairwoman Yanghee Lee says. All signatories to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child are required to submit regular reports. The Vatican provided an initial report in 1995, but has filed no updates since.
UN launches midyear humanitarian aid appeal
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued a midyear appeal for $5 billion in funding to provide help to 53 million people in 34 countries affected by conflict or disasters through the end of 2010. Haiti, Afghanistan, Somalia, Kenya and Sudan are among the countries currently receiving the most aid.
India offers cash incentives to decrease maternal mortality rate
Indian authorities are offering pregnant women a $30 incentive to abandon traditional birthing methods for safer hospital environments in a bid to curb the country’s maternal mortality rates. India has worked to halve its maternal mortality numbers over the past two decades, but still has one of the highest rates in the world.
Philip Morris suppliers use child labor
Kazakh suppliers for tobacco giant Philip Morris International have regularly employed forced and child labor on their farms, Human Rights Watch charges in a report being released today. Tobacco farming is particularly hazardous for children who are exposed to high levels of nicotine for long periods of time, HRW said. Philip Morris has already agreed to review its purchasing policies in response to the findings.
Authorities call for calm after 3 days of Belfast protests
After three days of riots in Belfast in which children as young as 9 years old have attacked riot police, religious and political leaders have called for calm among the mostly young people who have taken to the streets. One authority says that the demonstrators are largely disaffected youths from disadvantaged areas looking to relieve their own boredom — by engaging in clashes with authorities that have led to 83 police injuries.
DR Congo civilians flee new violence
Violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has prompted about 70,000 people to flee their homes in recent weeks, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says. Civilian populations and aid organizations have been under attack as Congolese armed forces battle rebels from Uganda and Rwanda.
African youths lead fight against HIV/AIDS
An increase in safer sex practices by African youths is helping to drive down infection rates in 16 out of 25 countries, UNAIDS says in a new report. Many African countries — including Kenya, Botswana, Ethiopia and Malawi — are on track to reduce infection levels among 15- to 24-year-olds by 25% or more as compared with 2000 levels by the end of 2010.
