On November 14th UNICEF launched their annual Christmas fundraising campaign, the web-based Star Appeal. Now in its third year and UNHCR hopes to surpass last years total of US$560,000. The funds raised will be used to providing shelter and schooling for refugee children around the world. UNHCR launches Christmas appeal for refugee kids This year's […]
Imagine one who is the "only doctor for nearly half a million people", and who also teaches, runs a clinic, and still manages to be on the counsel of his tribe. No, this is not a character in a movie, nor an action hero, but a simple doctor and gentle man who only wants to […]
Investigators found Blackwater security personnel fired indiscriminately in 14 of the 17 shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians on Sept. 16. The FBI said the contractors violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors, suggesting the contractors acted recklessly. Officials familiar with the case say they are cynical about the ability to prosecute individuals in the […]
So what do you do if there are places unfit for children to live? The obvious answer is to remove them, and of course this is what we look to do on an individual case. However how do you do that when you are no longer talking about individual children, or isolated cases, but when […]
For anyone in the fight against injustice around the world, especially concerning children, the battle has always been long and hard, and sadly it seems to be a declining one in many cases. I have recently found myself wondering if we had suddenly tipped the scales in the opposite direction, as recently the news wires, […]
The UN Peacebuiding Commission has made important and significant progress in its first year of operations, however a great deal of support is still needed. In a recent meeting in Geneva more than 150 representatives of governments, UN entities, regional organizations and civil society groups attending agreed that much still needs to be done. In […]
Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese rebel leader accused of conscripting child soldiers, will face the International Criminal Court in March 2008, the ICC announced today. Lubanga, was arrested in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, during a crackdown following the murder and mutilation of nine U.N. peacekeepers. He allegedly forced children to undergo training for the armed wing […]
Cambodian police officials arrested the former foreign minister of the Khmer Rouge along with his wife Monday and brought before the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Officials detained Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, at the tribunal headquarters in Phnom Pehn at dawn. A filing […]
The so-called “infant killer”, pneumococcal diseases, which are caused by the common bacteria, Streptococcus pneumoniae, needs a killer of its own according to doctors. The diseases which can have a number of deadly causes, depending on where they attack, can include; pneumonia (lungs), bacteremia (bloodstream), meningitis (brain), and middle ear infections and sinusitis. Pneumonia is […]
All over Cambodia teachers’ demands for “informal fees” are forcing children to quit classes because their parents cannot afford to pay. Seng Hong of NGO Education Partnership, an umbrella grouping of Cambodian education organizations, says research shows sending one child to school uses up almost a tenth of the average family income. “This increases if […]
On November 7th, 2007, Priority Films, much anticipated film “Holly”, had its world premier at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Honorary Committee members include: Susan Sarandon, Sen. Hilary Clinton, Ron Livingston, Lisa Ling, Ally Sheedy, congressman Mark Udall and others. The movie screening was followed by a reception to benefit the Somaly Mam […]
Many eyes and ears have been on Chad as the child trafficking case gets underway. The children, most of which proved to have family, the majority of which contained at least one parent, have been left in limbo. The children who have all been placed in protective custody of the Chadian Social Services, may have […]
The UN Human Rights Council has decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, or a three-year period, to replace the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. This will include examining its causes and its consequences, the Special Rapporteur focus principally on aspects of contemporary forms of slavery which are not […]
The defense team for a Canadian citizen held at Guantanamo Bay on terrorist-related charges said the U.S. government withheld essential evidence in its effort to rush ahead with the tribunal in an attempt to validate its existence. Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler said the government withheld information obtained from several witnesses in his defense of […]