The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) has recently released their 2010 annual report, “building a just world for workers”. The ILRF seeks to achieve just and humane treatment for workers worldwide, from campaigns working to end the use of child labor in cocoa and cotton, to our urgent action efforts aimed at defending the right […]
For followers of Islam, Ramadan is the holy month that marks the revelation of the first verses of the Koran to the Prophet Mohammad and is a time of fasting, contemplation, and charity. As the Arab Spring continues to progress through 2011, many wondered what effect Ramadan would have on the protests. On the one […]
Well, some think so. The question has generated quite a bit of controversy; here’s my blog post on the topic: http://stepheniefoster.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=319&Itemid=54
Airing tonight as part of the POV series on PBS is the stirring documentary film “Mugabe and the White African.” The film follows the story of Michael Campbell, one of the few White farmers to stay in Zimbabwe following the introduction of Robert Mugabe’s controversial Land Reform program in 2000. Fed up with intimidation and […]
UGANDA: Sanitary pads keep girls in school While other children head home after school, some pupils in Uganda’s northern Amuru and Gulu regions stay behind to make sanitary pads using cheap, locally available materials, to ensure girls do not miss school during menstruation. Pakistan polio campaign struggles in CIA aftermath Recent revelations about a […]
The drought that has stricken much of Africa, particularly Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Djibouti and Kenya, has now left at least 500,000 children malnourished and at great risk of death. According to Anthony Lake, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) executive director, children who are the worse affected by drought plagued famine, are suffering from ‘severe acute malnutrition, whose […]
Earlier this week I wrote the piece, Caylee’s Law: Is Justice Served?. The article asks the question; As many across the country were outraged at the “not guilty” verdict of Casey Anthony, is the question for justice for Caylee now to be served via increased legislation? Casey Anthony, a young mother from Orlando, Florida, was on trial […]
Much of the country was tightly glued to their televisions as the Casey Anthony trial was underway- there was virtual media frenzy pending her verdict. Casey Anthony a young mother from Orlando, Florida, was on trial for the murder of her daughter, Caylee. Caylee was last seen with her mother, Casey, on June 16, 2008, […]
Today is the world’s first International Criminal Justice Day. It marks the thirteenth year since the passage of the Rome Statute in 1998 that created the International Criminal Court. Today the I.C.C. has 116 state-party members. There are currently six active investigations into situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Sudan, the Central […]
The UN Security Council held its annual Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict, 12 July 2011 in New York, at which time the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution expanding the criteria for listing parties to conflict in the Secretary-General’s annual report, the 10th Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, published in April […]
Documenting the seldom-seen world of child brides Photographer Stephanie Sinclair is interviewed about her work documenting child brides — some as young as 5 — in Nepal, India, Yemen, Afghanistan, the U.S. and elsewhere. An estimated 50 million girls younger than 18 in developing countries were married, with 100 million more expected during the next […]
After a decade of reporting, this year’s focus shifts to how to move forward. In the words of Ambassador-At-Large Lou CdeBaca, “This year’s TIP Report focuses on how governments can move toward a more targeted, purposeful approach that fully addresses the minimum standards to fight trafficking in persons… For a maturing modern approach, it is […]
Today, July 11, 2011, is World Population Day, an annual event established to raise awareness of global population issues. The day was set by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. It was inspired by the public interest in Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987, when the world’s population was […]
The plight of Somali children, whose families are fleeing the country’s ongoing 20 year conflict and continuing drought, attempting to reach refugee camps in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, is ringing alarm bells at the United Nations. Somali children are dying in great numbers- aid workers have begun to discover that many are unable to survive […]
Freedom House’s 2010 edition of Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa is out and a great resource. It analyzes the status of women in the region country by country. As Queen Noor has said, “It is vital that MENA countries more urgently recognize that the status of women is the key determinant […]