An Iranian judicial official announced Thursday that Iran will move to ban execution of juveniles. Over 130 juveniles are currently awaiting execution in Iran. Iran's Prosecuting General said their death sentences will be commuted to life behind bars. The announcement came a day after 300 non-governmental organizations from 82 countries urged the UN General Assembly […]
"Poverty is the worst form of violence." – Mahatma Gandhi Poverty is the worst form of violence, and it is the most common form of violence which is committed daily against on quarter of the world's children. Over a billion people across the globe live on less than a dollar a day, placing them in […]
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty , was established in 1993, by UN resolution 47/196, when the United Nations General Assembly designated October 17th to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries. Particular interest and attention on this day is however focused on developing countries, as the day […]
The rising of fuel and food across the globe has left few unscathed and one can easily find themselves feeling the hit at both the pump and in the checkout line, enough to cause one to curtail their spending. Unemployment rates have spiked all time highs and worldwide everyone is tightening their belts. With many […]
The Sudanese government is set to begin its own Darfur trials, without Colonel Al-Bashir as a defendant. International fugitive Ali Kushayb, however, reportedly will be tried. Meanwhile, Colonel Al-Bashir is holding an international peace conference on Darfur without the participation of Darfuris. It is not clear what al-Bashir hopes the conference will accomplish.
“Welcome to Sierra Leone, one of the world's worst places to live.” Not really the slogan you want to read on a travel brochure, but what happens when you have no choice and that place is your home? According to the 2008 Global Hunger Index (GHI), which was released on the 14th, showed Sierra Leone, […]
October 15th is the first annual UN Global Handwashing Day, set in conjunction with 2008 being the UN International Year of Sanitation, the day is set to both echo and reinforce the UN's call for improved hygiene practices across the globe. The goal of the week of activities is to encourage people, especially children, to […]
As time quickly passes by and our daily lives seem to be one endless “To Do List”, the worlds “To Do List”, the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) still has a lot of things to be checked off. Now that we are more than half way to “D-Day” what begun to weigh heavy on most […]
In autumn, most children return to school. For those unfortunate to live in the countryside of Uzbekistan, most have debarked on an annual two-month field trip. To pick cotton. Some as young as seven are forced to work the fields, toiling in the heat and in the pesticide ridden crops. There is little to no […]
We wrote recently about the difficulties facing the International Criminal Court's indictment of Sudanese ruler Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The Christian Science Monitor had a great article Saturday by Heba Aly, detailing continued janjaweed- and government-sponsored violence against civilians in Darfur. The Sudanese government – and many Western analysts – have asserted moving forward with the […]
In posts one may find that I often mention the Millennium Development Goals, and if countries are on track to meet them. Thus I wanted to provide background on the MDGs and how they came to be established, in order to give you a better understanding of what they are and what needs to be […]
There are many good questions that NBC's Tom Brokaw could have asked Senators Barack Obama and John McCain about Russia and Georgia during the second presidential debate. Instead, the candidates were instructed to give an up or down vote on an infamous Cold War phrase: Brokaw: This requires only a yes or a no. Ronald […]
UGANDA: Children eke out a living on the streets The streets in Gulu have more children like Kibwola, their stories often similar. The majority are also orphans, who lost their parents in the two-decade long war in the north that pitted government forces against LRA rebels. Hawking is not the only trade for this these […]
Randy Cohen, American writer and humorist once said, “There is a kind of virtue that lies not in extraordinary actions, not in saving poor orphans from burning buildings, but in steadfastly working for a world where orphans are not poor and buildings comply with decent fire codes.”, and it is that reason alone for which […]
The US Agency for International Development is advancing Bush's conservative pro-life stand. Tens of thousands of Africa's poorest will no longer receive any US funded aid nor counseling on contraception. Six African nations have been ordered to stop distributing US funded contraceptives. Marie Stopes International (MSI), a UK charity organization with clinics in 40 countries […]