30 August 2005 - CRINMAIL 708
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- IRAQ: Child Mortality Rates Finally Dropping [news]
- CHILD ABUSE: EU / US Summit on Missing and Exploited Children [event]
- CHILDREN'S RIGHTS IN EUROPE: Politics, Science and Practice [event]
- AUSTRALIA: Grant for Child Protection Projects [call for applications]
- PERU: Photographic Exhibition of Childhood Poverty in Peru [event]
- EMPLOYMENT: CARE USA - CRIN [job postings]___________________________________________________________
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Your submissions are welcome if you are working in the area of child rights. To contribute, email us at [email protected]. Adobe Acrobat is required for viewing some of the documents, and if required can be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html If you do not receive this email in html format, you will not be able to see some hyperlinks in the text. At the end of each item we have therefore provided a full URL linking to a web page where further information is available.
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- IRAQ: Child Mortality Rates Finally Dropping [news]
[BAGHDAD, 30 August 2005] - While the health situation for Iraqi children remains perilous, reports from the Ministry of Health and Environment indicate that the last year has witnessed an important drop in rates of disease among children under five, particularly for cholera and diarrhoea. "Things are better now especially after we have received aid from international organisations to support child health and to rebuild our health infrastructure," acting Minister of Health Nermeen Osman told IRIN.
The Health Ministry is currently implementing a new US $3.5 million programme with help from UNICEF and the WHO to decrease mortality rates among children by the end of 2006, said ministry spokesman Qasem al-Dulaimi. The programme began last August and after one year in operation, the ministry reports impressive results but has yet to release numbers. Staff has been trained on the types of food and medication which can help malnourished children and prevent cholera and diarrhoea.
Reports by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and UNICEF in July 2004 said that the health situation of children in Iraq was serious and a break down in social services was leading to illness among the young. The issue of child mortality has long had a political element to it in Iraq, especially under the rule of Saddam Hussein during the period of UN sanctions on the country.
An August report by the Ministry of Health says that Saddam Hussein over-reported the number of children who died from 1992-2003 for political ends. According to al-Dulaimi of the Health Ministry, the real figure for child mortality during the sanctions era was 870,240, rather than the 3 million reported by Hussein. "Saddam Hussein used child mortality in a political game," al-Dulaimi said.
The UN imposed sanctions on Iraq in 1991 after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. A figure of 5,900 deaths of children under the age of five every month, was reported by the old regime, according to local officials. "It was an exaggerated number fabricated during Saddam Hussein's rule for political gain to draw the international committee's attention to the sanctions," Osman noted.
The child mortality rate for under fives between, 1989-2003, was 40 cases per every 1,000, according to another survey developed by the Ministry of Planning and Development co-operation in partnership with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and published in May 2005. In response to Saddam's statistics, the World Health Organisation (WHO) printed a report in 1995, showing an average of 4,500 deaths among children in the country every month.
But according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), reports during the last eight years of the sanctions showed that half million children in that age group were registered dead, due to poor nutrition and bad health conditions. Many children died from diarrhoea and cholera, caused by unsafe drinking water along with other deadly diseases such as diphtheria and measles.
[Source: IRIN]
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- CHILD ABUSE: EU / US Summit on Missing and Exploited Children [event]
Date: 25-27 October 2005
Location: Buonas, Switzerland
The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (International Centre) and Child Focus - the European Centre for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children, are organising the European / US Summit on Missing and Exploited Children, to be held in October in Switzerland.
The Summit will examine the underlying causes that impact children; define the scope of the problem; discuss current and emerging issues, as well as gaps in services; and develop an action agenda for moving forward collaboratively and collectively to improve the response to the plight of missing and exploited children.
Invitees include the Board of Directors of the International Centre; the members of the European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children and representatives of other non-governmental organisations; government and law enforcement officials; industry leaders; and advocates and experts in the field of abduction and exploitation.
For more information, contact:
Jessica Derder, Programme Manager
International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children
Charles B. Wang International Children's Building
699 Prince Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3175, US
Tel: + 1 703 837 6218; Fax: + 1 703 549 4504
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.icmec.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6112&flag=event
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- CHILDREN'S RIGHTS IN EUROPE: Politics, Science and Practice [event]
Date: 29 September 2005
Location: Berlin, Germany
The European Network of Masters on Children's Rights (ENMCR), is a group of five European Universities that offer interdisciplinary Expert and Master Courses on Children's Rights. ENMCR is organising a conference entitled: "Children's Rights in Germany and Europe: Politics, Science and Practice" in September in Germany. The conference addresses the academic and professional world working in the field of youth and children's rights as well as the general public.
The conference will present the Network, and articulate demands to and shortcomings in the academic qualification of professionals trained to work in the children and youth sector, in order to promote closer co-operation between the professional world and academia. Participation possibilities for children and youth will also be presented through an introduction of successful participation projects. By this, incentives for an active and effective participation of children and youth in societal processes should be given. The instrument "Child Rights programming" developed by Save the Children will be presented and discussed. In an evening panel discussion, international representatives of politics, practice and science will discuss critical and neuralgic points of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Budde, CR Co-ordination
European Network of Masters on Children's Rights
Jean-Monnet-Haus, Bundesallee 22, D-10717 Berlin, Germany
Tel: + 49 30 88412 191; Fax: + 49 30 88412 222
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.enmcr.net
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6078
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- AUSTRALIA: Grant for Child Protection Projects [call for applications]
Thanks to a donation, the Australian Section of Defence for Children International (DCI) is in a position to fund carefully planned action strategy projects that directly seek to protect, promote and/or advance the rights of children and young people who encounter the child protection, criminal justice and/or juvenile justice system.
Possible examples of action strategies are: test case litigation; piloting a targeted service provision model; demonstration of peer support/education methods concerning the exercise of rights; and the development and field-evaluation of a rights-centred protocol. The funded action strategy may take place anywhere in Australia and should be designed to principally concern under 18 year olds. The action strategy project design and implementation must incorporate the meaningful participation of children and young people. The maximum amount of a grant will be $5500.
Application deadline: 7 October 2005
For more information, contact:
Defence for Children International - Australia
32 Botany Street, Randwick NSW Australia 2031
Tel: + 61 2 9398 7488; Fax: + 61 2 9398 7416
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.dci-au.org
Visit: http://www.dci-au.org/html/competition.html
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- PERU: Photographic Exhibition of Childhood Poverty in Peru [event]
Date: 6-16 September 2005
Location: London, UK
Young Lives will celebrate the launch of a new exhibition on childhood poverty in Peru entitled "Niños del Milenio" in London, on 6 September 2005. There will be an opening talk by renowned economist Enrique Vasquez on child poverty in Peru and the Millennium Development Goals, accompanied by the premiere of a Peruvian documentary on the same theme.
The result of an open competition organised by the Young Lives project, "Niños del Milenio" showcases the work of a host of contemporary Peruvian photographers. Young Lives is an international study of childhood poverty, a partnership project between Save the Children UK and academic institutions.
Many of the universally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aim to dramatically reduce child poverty around the world, and the international community will review progress towards the Goals at the UN MDG + 5 Summit, September 14-16 2005. This launch event will provide a timely insight into, and opportunity for discussing, the significance of the MDGs in Latin America.
For more information, contact:
Falguni Patel, Communications and Information Officer
Young Lives Economic Policy Team
c/o Save the Children, 1 St. John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK
Tel: + 44 20 7012 6796
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.younglives.org.uk
Website: http://www.ninosdelmilenio.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6113&flag=event
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- EMPLOYMENT: CARE USA - CRIN [job postings]
CARE USA: Director, Basic and Girls Education Unit
The primary role of the Director, Basic and Girls Education, based in Atlanta, Georgia US, is to provide strategic direction and intellectual leadership to CARE's effort in the education sector by evolving its strategy, approaches, linkages and internal capacity to effectively promote fulfilment of the rights to quality education for all. This role requires excellent leadership and communications skills, a well-known and internationally recognised profile, deep understanding of poverty issues and rights-based approaches to development and the ability to develop strategic internal and external partnerships and teams, as well as lead policy and advocacy work. The Director is also responsible for supporting the acquisition of financial and technical resources for field programmes and for the global leadership and technical support capabilities. Application deadline: 16 September 2005.
For more information, contact:
John Trew, Care USA
151 Ellis Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30303, US
Website: http://www.care.org
CRIN: Communications Assistant (volunteer)
CRIN - which is hosted by Save the Children - operates a network that disseminates information about child rights amongst NGOs, UN agencies, educational institutions and other child rights experts. CRIN is looking for two interns - one fluent in Spanish and English, the other fluent in Arabic and English. Working closely with CRIN staff, in the London office, the interns' work will include developing services and outreach relevant to child rights organisations in Spanish or Arabic speaking regions as well as helping maintain existing services in these languages. An ability to translate in and out of Spanish or Arabic and English is required. Applicants should have an interest in human and/or child rights, and be able to commit 1 day per week, for a minimum of six months. Application deadline: 16 September 2005.
For more information, contact:
Child Rights Information Network (CRIN)
c/o Save the Children, 1 St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK
Tel: + 44 20 7012 6867; Fax: + 44 20 7012 6952
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.crin.org
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