13 October 2005 - CRINMAIL 721
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- ASIA EARTHQUAKE: Helicopters Bring Aid to Remote Areas [news]
- JUVENILE JUSTICE: US Children Sentenced to Life without Parole [publication]
- CITIZENSHIP: World Congress on Childhood and Adolescence's Rights [event]
- RIGHTS BASED PROGRAMMING: Review of Corporal Punishment [publication]
- HIV/AIDS: World AIDS Day and the Lesson for Life 2005 [event]
- ENVIRONMENT: Educational Resource on Water and Sanitation [game]
- EDUCATION IN EMERGENCIES: Voices of Courage Award [call for nominations]___________________________________________________________
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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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- ASIA EARTHQUAKE: Helicopters Bring Aid to Remote Areas [news]
[MANSEHRA, Pakistan/NEW YORK, 12 October 2005] - Survivors are struggling to stay alive after the South Asia earthquake that claimed at least 33,000 lives and injured at least 50,000 more. At present more than 120,000 people are in urgent need of shelter; the number of people left homeless as a result of the disaster could rise to over 4 million. Among the critical supplies being rushed to affected areas are tents and tarpaulins.
One in five persons in the affected areas is a child under the age of five. UNICEF has issued an appeal for over $64 million to help children and families affected by the disaster.
A supply hub has been set up in Mansehra, located in an especially hard-hit area of Pakistan. Incoming supplies are routed to a warehouse, and then to the Mansehra stadium, which is now being used as a helipad. Helicopters, among them two on loan to UNICEF from the Pakistani government, are being used to carry medical kits, blankets, tents, clothing and other essential items to areas unreachable by road.
Crowds have gathered at the stadium to watch the relief efforts. Many of the people present have already been the beneficiaries of aid themselves. Among the supplies are 300,000 Aquatabs (water purification tablets), 375 cartons of nutritional biscuits, 500 tents, 12,000 rolls of tarpaulin, 10,000 blankets and 12,000 sweaters of associated sizes.
Tens of thousands of children and families, their homes badly damaged or destroyed, are currently surviving outside exposed to the elements. "The temperatures here are dropping every night," said Spry-Leverton. "We have to move fast and get blankets to the children, to keep them warm. They are exposed to deteriorating weather and living near snow-filled mountains. A bitter wind has recently risen, and the weather is unseasonably cold."
[Source: UNICEF]
For more information:
Read more UNICEF press releases on the earthquake:
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/pakistan_28727.html
Visit Reuters' earthquake news page: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/emergency/SA_EAR.htm
Read reports of CRIN members' relief efforts:
http://www.crin.org/membersnews
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- JUVENILE JUSTICE: US Children Sentenced to Life without Parole [publication]
[NEW YORK, 12 October 2005] - There are at least 2,225 child offenders serving life without parole (LWOP) sentences in US prisons for crimes committed before they were age 18, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a new joint report published yesterday.
While many of the child offenders are now adults, 16 per cent were between 13 and 15 years old at the time they committed their crimes. An estimated 59 per cent were sentenced to life without parole for their first-ever criminal conviction. Forty-two states currently have laws allowing children to receive life without parole sentences.
The 157-page report, "The Rest of Their Lives: Life without Parole for Child Offenders in the United States", is the first national study examining the practice of trying children as adults and sentencing them to life in adult prisons without the possibility of parole. The report is based on two years of research and on an analysis of previously uncollected federal and state corrections data. The data allowed the organisations to track state and national trends in LWOP sentencing through mid-2004 and to analyse the race, history and crimes of young offenders.
"Kids who commit serious crimes shouldn't go scot-free," said Alison Parker, senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, who authored the report for both organisations. "But if they are too young to vote or buy cigarettes, they are too young to spend the rest of their lives behind bars."
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are releasing the report at a critical time: while fewer youth are committing serious crimes such as murder, states are increasingly sentencing them to life without parole. In 1990, for example, 2,234 children were convicted of murder and 2.9 per cent sentenced to life without parole. By 2000, the conviction rate had dropped by nearly 55 per cent (1,006), yet the percentage of children receiving LWOP sentences rose by 216 per cent (to nine per cent).
The United States is one of only a few countries in the world that permit children to be sentenced to LWOP. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by every country in the world except the United States and Somalia, forbids this practice, and at least 132 countries have rejected the sentence altogether. Thirteen other countries have laws permitting the child LWOP sentence, but, outside of the United States, there are only about 12 young offenders currently serving life sentences with no possibility of parole.
For more information, contact:
Human Rights Watch, Children's Rights Division (HRW)
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor, New York, New York 10118, US
Tel: + 1 212 216 1837; Fax: + 1 212 736 1300
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.hrw.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6313
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- CITIZENSHIP: World Congress on Childhood and Adolescence's Rights [event]
Date: 21 - 25 November 2005
Location: Lima, Peru
The Second World Congress on Childhood and Adolescence's Rights will take place in November in Peru; it will focus on "Children and Adolescents' citizenship: their rights' requirement from the approach of human rights and development".
Children and adolescents' citizenship is a source of many debates in several academic disciplines. Thus it generates opportunities for children to express their own self-perception as holder of rights and responsibilities. This is a path for participation in the society that they belong to and in which they play their role in the psychological, social, cultural, economic and as well juridical contexts.
Therefore, the discourse on citizenship starting from early childhood puts an emphasis not only on political rights but also civil, social, economic and cultural rights, allowing children to claim for the fulfilment of these rights. The objective of this Congress is to create an opportunity to exchange experiences which could offer guidelines for an integral intervention pointing to the real fulfilment of children's rights.
The Congress is organised jointly by the Congreso de la República del Perú, the Comisión Nacional por los Derechos de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes, COMETA (Compromiso desde la Infancia y Adolescencia), IFEJANT (Instituto de Formación para Educadores de Jóvenes, Adolescentes y Niños Trabajadores de América Latina y el Caribe) and the Fundación ANAR.
For more information, contact:
Flora Chalco, IFEJANT
Jr. Tomás Guido 257, Lima 14 (Lince), Perú
Tel: + 51 1 2655160; Tel: + 51 1 2661227
Email: [email protected]
Website for adults: http://www.iicongresomundialdeinfancia.org
Website for children: http://www.iicongresomundialnna.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6008
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- RIGHTS BASED PROGRAMMING: Review of Corporal Punishment [publication]
Save the Children Sweden Southeast Asia and the Pacific has recently published its regional submission to the UN Secretary General's Global Study on Violence against Children: "Discipline and Punishment of Children: a rights-based review of laws, attitudes and practices in East Asia and the Pacific", by Judith Ennew, Natsu Nogami, and Dominique Pierre Plateau.
Concentrating on corporal punishment, the document reviews available information on legislation and practice, providing a state-of-the-art account of what is known, and also identifying knowledge gaps in 19 countries in the East Asia Pacific region. As far as possible, the review roots its information in history, political and economic realities and culture, exploring differences, and explaining commonalities. The main target for the review is the UN study, however it provides a useful overview for lay people, as well as being a tool for regional policy makers and planners.
For more information, contact:
Save the Children Sweden
Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific
14th floor, Maneeya Centre, South Building
518/5 Ploenchit Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Tel: + 662 684 1046/7; Fax: + 662 684 1048
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.scswedenseap.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=6302
To order, contact Save the Children Sweden: [email protected]
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- HIV/AIDS: World AIDS Day and the Lesson for Life 2005 [event]
Date: 1 December 2005
This year, on World AIDS Day, millions of children around the world will take part in a 'Lesson for Life': a 'lesson' on HIV, AIDS and the effect of the crisis on children. So far, 46 countries are involved, and an estimated 4 million children are taking part in the Lesson, organised by the Global Movement for Children, and supported by the World AIDS Campaign and the Global Call to Action against Poverty.
During the Lesson for Life 2005, children will be learning about and planning how to take action in their communities on HIV/AIDS and children's rights. From putting on a play to contacting the media, from supporting a local family to conducting a survey of the community, children all over the world will use the Lesson for Life to take the crisis into their own hands.
Read on to find out news from four countries involved in the Lesson for Life!
In Malawi the Lesson for Life has already begun. The launch of the campaign took place in September at a Lesson for Life involving four schools and the local community. Songs, plays, poems and music 'spiced up' the Lesson, which was covered by the national TV station and a radio station, as well as community TV. Malawi is planning to engage 1,000 secondary schools and 500,000 young people in the Lesson for Life this year.
So far, the Lesson for Life is happening in: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, DRC, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Indonesia, Kenya, Kosovo, Laos, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Taiwan, Province of China, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkmenistan, UK, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zambia. Some great stories have already been sent in from a few countries.
The Lesson for Life is an activity initiated by CARE, ENDA, the Latin American and Caribbean Caucus, NetAid, Oxfam, Plan, Save the Children, UNICEF and World Vision as part of the World AIDS Campaign and the Global Call to Action against Poverty.
For more information and to contribute, contact:
Kate Norgrove, Global Movement for Children
c/o Save the Children, 1 St John's Lane, London, EC1M 4AR, UK
Tel: + 44 207 012 6860
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.gmfc.org/hiviads
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6314
To contact country co-ordinators and find out how to participate, visit:
http://www.gmfc.org/index.php/gmc6/content/view/full/642.
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- ENVIRONMENT: Educational Resource on Water and Sanitation [game]
A new interactive game "Water Alert!" was developed by UNICEF and its Voices of Youth project. This educational resource on water, environment and sanitation is intended to engage young people in an adventure of strategy and survival. The object of the game is to ensure that the people in this drought-challenged village, who are facing the threat of a flood, have water that is safe to drink and a clean and healthy school environment.
Available in three languages, English, French and Spanish, the CD version of the game includes a field facilitator's guide with instructions for use of the game as a teaching tool. The game can be played online, on the Voices of Youth website at http://www.unicef.org/voy, or on CD, to be ordered via Voices of Youth.
UNICEF hopes that Water Alert! will enhance NGOs' programming options, especially in service of the goal to strengthen capacity of adolescent and youth participation. UNICEF welcomes comments and feedback on the game and its future application, including field facilitator trainings at regional and country levels.
For more information, contact:
Voices of Youth
Tel: + 1 212 326 7050
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.unicef.org/voy
Visit: http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/wes/explore_1818.html
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- EDUCATION IN EMERGENCIES: Voices of Courage Award [call for nominations]
Each year the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children holds a luncheon to honour individual refugee women and young people who are working on behalf of other refugees. The Women's Commission is now seeking candidates for the "2006 Voices of Courage" awards to be bestowed at their May 2006 luncheon.
The theme of the 2006 luncheon will be "Promoting Education in Emergency Situations." The award will honour individuals and organisations in the United States and overseas who have been key players in promoting education for children and adolescents displaced by armed conflict.
Candidates should be refugee or internally displaced women or youth who work or have worked to provide education for refugee and internally displaced children and adolescents. They should be passionate advocates for the right to education in emergency situations. Candidates should also be able to travel to New York in May 2006 to accept their award.
Nomination deadline: 1 November 2005
For more information, contact:
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children
Attn: Luncheon nominees
122 East 42nd Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10168-1289, US
Tel: + 1 212 551 3088; Fax: + 1 212 551 3180
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.womenscommission.org
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