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 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 […]
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 […]
“I have come to realize more and more that the greatest disease and the greatest suffering is to be unwanted, unloved, uncared for, to be shunned by everybody, to be just nobody (to no one).” -Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) To think of any child being unwanted or unloved is heartbreaking, but a sad reality […]
Last week, on October 3, 2008, President Bush signed the Child Soldiers Accountability Act into law. The Act “makes it a federal crime to recruit knowingly or to use soldiers under the age of 15 and permits the United States to prosecute any individual on US soil for the offense, even if the children were […]
“Every 2.2 seconds, a child loses a parent due to war, natural disaster, poverty, disease and other causes. Today, there are 133 million children who have lost one or both of their parents, and 15 million are orphaned due to AIDS.” This week is World Orphan Week (October 5-11, 2008), and in support of the […]
YEMEN: Protecting women, children from violence A Netherlands-funded project is aiming to provide better protection for women and children exposed to violence and sexual abuse. In June 2008 Interior Ministry statistics revealed 2,694 cases of violence against women in 2007, with cases ranging from killing to harassment; 130 women died as a result, 88 of […]
“Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time.” – Grace Abbott (American Social Worker & Child Labor Reformer Director, Children's Bureau, U.S. Department […]
That time of year is once again here, the time for little fairy princesses, super heroes, goblins, witches and warlocks, to descend upon the streets in search of fun and candy. The Halloween weekend is full of fun and festivities for kids big and small, but we all know that the day quickly fades and […]
October is Children's Health Month, which gives one the opportunity to look at the opportunities we are providing our children to live healthier and safer lives, both within the United States and across the globe. While the month of awareness is generally geared at the general health of US children, it also opens the door […]
We all know that the internet is a powerful tool, in the click of a button I’ll send this post out to hundreds of thousands of readers. Every day we all sit there and can send our thoughts to just about anyone and anyone, and in that same moment that we; send forwards of jokes, […]
NEPAL: Stronger child protection needed for flood-displaced As the numbers of people displaced by floods living in camps in eastern Nepal grow, aid workers are calling for stronger child protection measures. More than 60,000 people are displaced after the Koshi River , Nepal's largest , burst its banks last month, flooding the Sunsari and Saptari […]
“Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance." – Kofi Annan The key to a prosperous future lies in the youth of the world, however if we ignore half of our future we will only have […]