Teen terror suspect argues that current international law regarding to the use of child soldiers, rules out over the the governments efforts to prosecute him as a war criminal. Omar Khadr, was only 15 years old when he was captured and detained by United States military forces in July 2002, for throwing a grenade which […]
In a release issued on January 29, 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged that he United Nations impose sanctions against those countries that partake in the use of child soldiers. Ban's statement was largely related to the Children and armed conflict Report of the Secretary-General, which was issued on December 27, 2007. The report, which […]
An international study into the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) shows that each month 45,000 die from the consequences of war, disease and malnutrition. The fighting has cost the country 5.4 million lives in the last ten years, more than half of which where children, the largest death toll since World War […]
Children look to us, the adults for guidance and inspiration, they look to us and they see their future. Therefore it us up to us to give them images of hope, leadership, strength and justice. We give our children two options, violence and hate or peace and love. One only has to look at the […]
When it comes to issues of children's rights there is no debate as to the fact that children should not be abused either physically or sexually. Therefore when the debates do arise, they are mostly on the fact that we seem to be doing little as an international community to stop the continuous and often […]
Recently Uzbekistan has begun to receive some scrutiny over the use of forced child labor in the cotton fields, however for many its long over due. The use of children in the cotton fields dates back to the Soviet era, and as a signatory of The Convention on the Rights of the Child, Uzbekistan has […]
Afghanistan has fallen off the radar for many in the wake of the ongoing war in Iraq, however the struggle in Afghanistan is far from over. Rebuilding after a war, and years of repression, is never easy, especially for the children. The children of Afghanistan have been born into hardship, they dream of prosperity, and […]
China's "One Child" policy has been consistently broken by the country's elites, but this issue is more than one of law braking and population control, it only brings light to the great divide between the countries rich and poor. Many elites ignore the laws and simply pay the hefty fines, which could amount to $130,000, […]
Children truly are the messengers of the future, and it is up to us to ensure that the messages we give them are ones of truth, peace, hope and tolerance. If we give children only images of hate and war, we give them a future of hate and war. Let us not forget the power […]
"Child survival is not only a human rights imperative, it is also a development imperative," said Joy Phumaphi, Vice President, Human Development Network at the World Bank. "Investing in the health of children and their mothers is a sound economic decision and one of the surest ways for a country to set its course towards […]
The word ‘Freedom’, has been used to wage wars and to stand in honor, yet one rarely thinks of the word ‘Freedom’ as something that the majority of the world is without, but as we dawn a new year that is the case for much of the world. According to a recent report by Freedom […]
Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see. – The Measure of a Man, 1958 Those words ring as true today as it did then, we still walk around in the light failing to to see the shadows that are all around us, ignoring the children of the […]
Most anyone knows that the first two years in a child's life key to adult development, and it is the undernourishment of children and pregnant mothers that is the underlying cause of some 3.5 million preventable child deaths each year. After the age of two much of a child's life is already permanently imprinted upon […]
While the bruises of the body fade in time, the scars of child abuse never fade. Children are never the same again after an abuser has entered their lives, they loose not only the innocence of childhood, but also the chance at a normal future. One cannot erase the memories of abuse, they live in […]
Guatemala: Alvaro Colom was sworn in yesterday as Guatemala's new president. Colom pledged to alleviate poverty in the country, where half the people live on an estimated $1 per day. Afghanistan: Due to an increase in prices, more than 1 million people in rural Afghanistan are at risk of food shortages, says the United Nations […]