Child marriage is not one of a mere social and gender discrimination issue, but also a global health problem. Child marriages lead to early pregnancies, which leave girls at high risk for death in childbirth, complications, and low birth weights. What is the global cost of child marriages? According to a new World Vision report, […]
Rasim Delic, a former commander of the Bosnian Muslim army, received a three-year prison sentence at The Haque for failing to intervene in torture committed against captured Serb soldiers in the 1990s. Prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison term for the former commander, The New York Times reported, though trial judges failed to find sufficient […]
Let us not forget the ongoing tragedy of Darfur. Countless UN Security Council resolutions, an American administration that rightfully called it by its proper name: genocide…and yet nothing is stopping the humanitarian disaster from unfolding under the world's spotlight. Five years of failure. Early warning signs in the summer of 2003 could have been heeded. […]
New York ends schoolchildren's UN visits, citing safety concerns New York City has ordered city schools to suspend all class visits to the United Nations headquarters over concerns that the facility, now more than 50 years old, is not meeting current fire and safety codes. The city and UN have been at loggerheads over the […]
Clint Williamson, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes, visited the Georgian capital of Tbilisi Friday to examine accusations of war crimes, local reports said. “My visit to Georgia underlines how seriously the U.S. regards the information on crimes committed during the conflict and how Washington is concerned about proceeding events that result in ethnic cleaning,” […]
“Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world” -Maria Montessori (Italian physician and educator, 1870-1952) Giving children freedom of expression and the freedom to pursue their own interests is the greatest gift we can give our children and our future. Sadly this gift is all too often unseen around the globe, […]
Today began like any other day for me and so many others, as in an early morning fog craving a cup of coffee I boarded the metro praying for a seat. My prayers were answered and I put on my headset and tucked into my magazine. Then I could faintly hear an announcement…something about the […]
Today is, of course, the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. President Bush's remarks on the dedication of the Pentagon's memorial to the victims are here. There's little Dan or I can add to the great deal that has been said about the attacks except to add our prayers for the victims and their families […]
I received information from a source inside Human Rights Georgia that some of the components of the cluster bombs dropped on civilians may have been manufactured by a German facility that produces decoy countermeasures. These include flares and chaff amongst others. It is claimed that the said company's labels were found on unexploded cluster bomblets. […]
Former Darfur Commission chair and ICTY President Antonio Cassesse has this op-ed in the Lebanese Daily Star on the international law implications of the Russia-Georgia conflict.
Starting this month, secondary school students will learn about Britain’s involvement in the slave trade and in the abolition of the trade in their history classes. According to activist, having children study the slave trade will help to combat modern slavery. As an abolitionist myself I am ecstatic to hear that the UK will be […]
photo – nikolaj nielsen Three years ago I attended the Make Poverty History month in Edinburgh, Scotland. I distinctly remember the chain of people forming a circle, hand in hand, united against the struggle of poverty afflicting many of Africa's poorest. I also remember being rather disappointed about the extravaganza as the partying seemed detached […]
Over the last year I have received a number of e-mails from children and young adults, asking me what they, or their groups, can do to help other children across the world. Therefore I am writing this post just for you, and for all the other young people out there who want to find more […]
People ask me all the time about why ‘my cause’ is modern slavery when there are so many other causes to choose from. Funny enough last night a group of fellow abolitionists' and I had the same discussion about how to promote the cause in a city full of worthy causes, many whose numbers cry […]
ETHIOPIA: Families hard hit by food crisis Mothers and children are being targeted as Ethiopia battles mass hunger. Drought, a shortage of resources and the global food crisis are helping drive hunger and malnutrition as Ethiopia faces one of the world's most severe food crises. About 1.6 million mothers and almost 6 million children are […]