A child’s first access to human rights comes with the registration of their birth. Birth registration is more than than a right, but the key to the future. Without a birth certificate a child is left to wander through life vulnerable to abuse and victimization. Despite how valuable birth registration is to a child’s welfare, registering […]
3 women share the Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Committee has awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to three women for working to promote democracy, security and women’s rights. Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee, and Yemeni opposition leader Tawakkul Karman will split the $1.5 million prize. Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland praised […]
In July, the UN declared a famine in two regions of Southern Somalia, the first such announcement in the region since the infamous 1984 famine in Ethiopia. Somalia continues to find itself gripped tightly by starvation; the famine has claimed the lives of some 30,000 children in the last 3 months alone. More than 12 […]
For the second year in a row, the Obama Administration is skirting a new law that prohibits U.S. security aid to countries that use child soldiers. Signed into law only three years ago by President Bush, the Child Soldier Prevention Act is designed to encourage countries to disarm, demobilize and reintegrate child soldiers by restricting […]
Last year in the lead up to Halloween I published the piece, Is Halloween Getting too Sexy for Kids? Four years ago on Halloween I brought you the article, Too Sexy For Your Kids? | Children, where I discussed how our children are over-sexualized. The issue can be far reaching: from what is playing on […]
Last month, UNICEF announced that the child mortality rate has dropped substantially. The new estimates are published in the 2011 report Levels & Trends in Child Mortality, issued by the UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (IGME), which is led by UNICEF and the WHO with participation from the World Bank and the UN […]
October is TransFair USA’s Fair Trade Month, and the 2011 theme is “Every Purchase Matters.” The goal behind this year’s theme is to illustrate how individuals can get involved with fair trade and what impact that can have on farmers and laborers across the globe. The month of October is dedicated to increasing consumer awareness of what fair […]
As a follow-up to the recent post, Bring an end to cyber bullying, it is appropriate to share the story of one mother’s plea to see that anti-gay bullying is denounced by Congress. Tammy Aaberg is the mother of a gay high school student from Minnesota who committed suicide after being harassed and bullied by […]
UNICEF: Global austerity is hitting children hardest Fiscal austerity measures being adopted by governments to combat the global economic downturn are heaping misery upon the world’s poor, especially children, who already are suffering from food, fuel and financial shocks, according to a study by the UN Children’s Fund. Cuts to wages, benefits and subsidies, as […]
Last Spring I brought you the piece, Bullying is Abuse, regarding the case of 15 year-old Phoebe Prince, who committed suicide in Boston following instances of bulling. Now with technology in every child’s hands bullying is even easier, quicker and can be more widespread with only the click of a button or mouse. Children can easily text […]
I don’t know about you, but in the morning the first thing I do after hitting snooze a few times is start to dream about my first cup of coffee. I jump from the bed all energized thinking about the aroma of that hot cup of dark wonder… as if I can already smell it. […]
In 2008 international rumors and reports flared in China that the controversial one-child-per-couple law may be coming to an end, however the rumors turned out to be just that and the law was then set to remain in effect for at least the next decade according to government officials. The statement by the Chinese government […]
Saving a the life of a child is truly simple, yet all too often children suffer and die needlessly. This year alone across the globe some two million children will die from preventable diseases. These children will suffer and die from diseases that here in the United States are nothing more than a faded memory, […]
More vaccinations would save 6.4 million poor children Boosting childhood immunization rates over the next decade in 72 of the world’s most impoverished countries would save some 6.4 million lives, and result in long-term gains in productivity valued at between $151 billion and $231 billion, according to two studies by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of […]
A new report on women and children has stated that “more than 350 000 women die each year in the developing world from complications of childbirth and pregnancy. As many as 2.6 million babies are stillborn annually, and 3 million of the more than 8 million children under five who die each year succumb in […]