26 January 2006 CRINMAIL 749
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- WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: World economy giving less to poorest [publication]
- UGANDA: Olara Otunnu says children are real victims of war [news]
- DIGITAL DIVIDE: Children's Rights at the World Summit on the Information Society [news]
- SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN TOURISM: 18th Meeting of the Task Force [conference]
- CHILDREN WITHOUT PARENTAL CARE: Foster Care in Eastern Europe [seminar]
- ECPAT: Programme Officer, Associate for South Asia, Intern [job postings]
!! CRIN SERVICES: Coming soon. . . new CRIN website !!
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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
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WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: World economy giving less to poorest [publication]
[LONDON, 23 January 2006] - As the World Economic Forum gathers in Davos, the New Economics Foundation (nef) released a report entitled Growth isn't working: the uneven distribution of benefits and costs from economic growth, showing that globalisation is failing the world's poorest as their share of the benefits of growth plummet, and accelerating climate change hurts the poorest most.
The report reveals that the share of benefits from global economic growth reaching the world's poorest people is actually shrinking, while they continue to bear an unfair share of the costs. New figures show that growth was less effective at passing on benefits to the poorest in the 1990's than it was even in the 1980's- the so-called 'lost decade for development' - and an age of rising climate chaos will worsen their prospects.
Even if global inequality did not increase, the tiny share of the poor in world income would be reflected in a similarly small share in the benefits of growth. In fact, the share of the poor dropped sharply after 1990, at the same time that global growth slowed. New calculations in the nef report reveal that:
- between 1990 and 2001, for every $100 worth of growth in the world's income per person, just $0.60 found its target and contributed to reducing poverty for those living on less than a dollar a day - 73 per cent less than in the 1980's - the so called lost decade for development - when $2.20 in every $100 worth of growth contributed to reducing poverty for those living on less than a dollar a day.
The report says that the notion that global economic growth is the only way of reducing poverty for the world's poorest people is the self-serving rhetoric of those who already enjoy the greatest share of world income. Based on the global distribution of income in 1993, even if the benefits of global growth were distributed evenly, it would benefit someone in the richest 1 per cent of the world's population 120 as much as someone in the poorest 10 per cent.
"Our obsession with growth and our relentless pursuit of a global system which creates ever greater dependency on it has put us on the road to perdition. This confronts us with an artificial and unnecessary choice between the moral imperative of poverty eradication and the practical necessity of environmental sustainability. We need policies aimed directly at reducing poverty and ensuring environmental sustainability, leaving growth as a by-product. That means a new global economic system which will allow, foster and support such policies at the national level." says David Woodward head of the New Global Economy programme at nef, and the report's lead author
More information here.
Read OXFAM's press release: Rich countries must not pursue 'business as usual' in trade talks
Read Amnesty International's press release on Google's launch of a self-censoring Chinese search engine
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UGANDA: Olara Otunnu says children are real victims of war [news]
[LONDON, 18 January 2006] - The worst place in the world to be a child today is northern Uganda, the former UN representative for children in war said, blaming rebels and government forces for trapping an entire population in a nightmare of terror, disease and death.
Rebels have kidnapped more than 20,000 children for use as soldiers, sex slaves and porters while the government is keeping hundreds of thousands of others in squalid camps where disease and violence are rampant. "When adults wage war children pay the highest price," Olara Otunnu said in a speech in London. "Children are the primary victims of armed conflict."
Almost 2 million people have been "herded like animals" into the camps in northern Uganda where 1,000 people are dying a week due to disease and violence, Otunnu said. He added that rape by government troops, many of them HIV positive, was common.
The government says the camps were set up a decade ago to protect local people from attacks and abductions by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), whose 19-year insurgency has taken a horrific toll on northern Uganda's Acholi population. Otunnu, who comes from northern Uganda, accused President Yoweri Museveni, a southerner, of forcing the Acholi people into the camps in a deliberate campaign to wipe them out. The government strongly denied this.
"An entire society is being destroyed in full view of the international community," Otunnu said, calling on Western leaders to demand the Ugandan government dismantle the camps and send in international monitors. Otunnu said there were 200 camps. The government said there were 100.
Ugandan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Oryem Henry Okello dismissed Otunnu's claims, saying people had gone to the camps to escape LRA atrocities. "It's absolutely true that the situation in northern Uganda is appalling," said Okello, himself an Acholi and a lawmaker for the northern Kitgum district. "What is not true is that there's (a) genocidal project to destroy the Acholi people."
Otunnu, who was UN Under Secretary-General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict from 1997 to 2005, said the situation in northern Uganda was far worse than in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
In Darfur, tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million forced from their homes since 2003. "The UN said recently that the death rate in northern Uganda is twice that of Darfur," he said. "Northern Uganda has the worst infant mortality in the world today".
[Source: Reuters]
Full article
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DIGITAL DIVIDE: Children's Rights at the World Summit on the Information Society [news]
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) took place in Tunis, last November. The objective of WSIS was to generate a global discussion on the contemporary global information society and take action on the issue of the digital divide between the rich and the poor.
Thanks to active lobbying on the part of international child rights NGOs such as Child Helpline International (CHI) and ECPAT, children's rights are mentioned in the Tunis Agenda (articles 90q and 92) and the Tunis Commitment (article 24). The articles signify major milestones achieved in placing children on the telecoms agenda. Having achieved the above, all children networks and NGOs will be able to adequately lobby for children's rights and protection.
Moreover, civil Society organisations that took part in the Summit wrote a statement together, called "Much more could have been achieved". Children and young people's rights are mentioned in the Declaration as follows:
"In WSIS Phase I, the Geneva Declaration of Principles explicitly acknowledged young people, in paragraph 11, as the "future workforce and leading creators and earliest adopters of ICTs" and that to fully realise this end, youth must be "empowered as learners, developers, contributors, entrepreneurs and decision-makers." The Tunis Commitment in paragraph 25 reaffirmed the strategic role of youth as stakeholders and partners in creating an inclusive Information Society. This recognition is further supported by paragraph 90 of the Tunis Agenda."
"However we are concerned as to how key decision-makers from Governments, the business community and Civil Society will realise this commitment when the existing structures are not open for genuine, full and effective participation by youth. None of the Tunis documents, specifically in the post-WSIS implementation and follow-up parts, clearly defines how youth shall be "actively engaged in innovative ICT-based development programmes and in e-strategy processes," as paragraph 25 states."
"In this regard, we call upon governments, both national and local, and the proponents of the Digital Solidarity Fund, to engage young people as digital opportunities are created and national e-strategies developed. Youth must be tapped as community leaders and volunteers for ICT for Development projects and be consulted in global and national ICT policy-making processes and formulation."
"While we support the great opportunities that ICTs offer children and young people, paragraphs 90q of the Tunis Agenda and article 24 of the Tunis Commitment outline the potential dangers that children and young people face in relation to ICTs. For this reason, article 92 of the Tunis Agenda encourages all governments to support an easy to remember, free of charge, national number for all children in need of care and protection."
"However, we had hoped that WSIS would have encouraged every stakeholder to support a more comprehensive proposal that ensured that every child, especially those that are marginalised and disadvantaged, has free access to ICTs, including but not limited to, toll free landlines, mobile telephones and Internet connection. In this regard, strategies should be developed that allow children and young people to reap the benefits that ICTs offer by making ICT an integral part of the formal and informal education sectors."
"There should also be strategies that protect children and young people from the potential risks posed by new technologies, including access to inappropriate content, unwanted contact and commercial pressures, particularly with regards to pornography, paedophilia and sexual trafficking, while fully respecting human rights standards on freedom of expression. We are committed to work in the WSIS follow-up process towards a world where telecommunication allows children and young people to be heard one-by-one and, through their voices, to fulfil their rights and true potential to shape the world."
For more information, contact:
Shaheen Hoosenally, Advocacy Co-ordinator
Child Helpline International (CHI)
Prinsengracht 468, 1017 KG Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: + 31 (0) 20 528 96 25; Fax: + 31 (0) 20 638 76 55
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.childhelplineinternational.org
More information about children's rights at WSIS
Statement made by child rights NGOs to the Plenary of Governments
Read the Civil Society Declaration in full
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SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN TOURISM: 18th Meeting of the Task Force [conference]
Date: 10 March 2006
Location: Berlin, Germany
The Task Force to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism is a Global action platform of tourism-related key players from the government and the tourism industry sectors, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, and media associations whose aim is to prevent, uncover, isolate and eradicate the sexual exploitation of children in tourism. It is an open-ended network which was established by the World Tourism Organisation in 1997 as a follow-up to the Stockholm Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.
Meetings programmes generally start with a thematic session on a subject of particular relevance to the members of the Task Force, and are followed by a reporting session on what practical steps have been taken since the last meeting.
The next consultative meeting of the Task Force will be held on 10 March 2006 in Berlin, in connection with this year's edition of the Berlin ITB - International Tourism Fair. The thematic session will focus on campaign design and implementation for the prevention of sexual exploitation of children in tourism (SECT). It will feature guidelines and practical examples of campaign actions for the prevention of SECT. During the meeting, the Task Force will also provide opportunities for participants to exhibit their respective campaign material and posters. Those interested in displaying such material are invited to contact our Secretariat well in advance.
The thematic session will be followed by a reporting session, open to national tourism administrations (NTAs), tourism industry, NGO and media representatives who wish to report on current actions to prevent SECT and exchange experiences on ways to combat this practice.
Moreover, there are two upcoming vacancies on the Executive Committee of the Task Force: one vacant seat reserved for the tourism industry, and the other an "open" seat (originally reserved for the media). The two new Board Members will be elected during the next Task Force meeting of 10 March. Representatives from the industry, media or any other field related to child protection, sustainable development or responsible tourism interested in joining the Executive Committee are invited to apply by 3 March 2006.
For more information, contact:
Task Force Secretariat
World Tourism Organisation (WTO)
Fax: + (34) 91 567 8219
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.world-tourism.org/protect_children
More information here
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CHILDREN WITHOUT PARENTAL CARE: Foster Care in Eastern Europe [seminar]
Date: 4-7 June 2006
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia
The International Foster Care Organisation's "East-East Network" seeks to link together all those involved in the development of family-based care in the countries of Eastern Europe (CEE / CIS / Baltics).
Since 1989 considerable progress has been made in deinstitutionalisation, and the development of family support services and foster care in many countries in the region, but progress is patchy and overall the proportion of children in public care continues to rise.
IFCO has previously held regional conferences in East Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The IFCO 2006 Regional Training Seminar will be held in Bratislava in the residential conference centre established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic.
The IFCO Seminar will bring together people from across the region and beyond to share and learn together in a busy programme of plenary and workshop sessions. All those interested in the development of foster care in Eastern Europe are welcome to attend - places are limited.
Those interested in submitting papers for a plenary or workshop session should refer to the IFCO web site after 1 March 2006 or send an email to Stela Grigoras at [email protected]. The submission deadline is: 14 April 2006
For more information, contact:
Lubka Semrincova
IFCO East-East Network Co-ordinator
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.ifco.info
More information here
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ECPAT: Programme Officer, Associate for South Asia, Intern [job postings]
Programme Officer, Child and Youth Participation
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Duration: 2 years renewable
The Programme Officer will promote, co-ordinate, encourage, and support integration of children and young people's participation in the ECPAT network and among all partners committed to the work against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC). S/he will ensure integration of children and young people's views and opinions in all aspects of ECPAT's work.
Associate for South Asia
Location: South Asia (city/country to be decided)
Duration: 18 months renewable
The Associate for South Asia will support the ECPAT International's South Asia Regional programme in promoting the implementation of the Stockholm Agenda for Action in the region, by researching, collecting, compiling and analysing information, providing reports on progress and advice on implementation tools and strategies. As part of an implementation strategy, the Associate will strengthen and develop the ECPAT network in the South Asia and contribute to raise the profile of ECPAT International at regional level.
Intern
Location: ECPAT International Secretariat, Bangkok, Thailand
Duration: 6 months
The ECPAT International internship programme is designed to provide an opportunity to the eligible candidates to contribute to and learn about the child protection issues, particularly children's rights to live free of commercial sexual exploitation. Interns are eligible to participate in the ECPAT International Secretariat activities. They are expected to carry out the duties assigned to them under the responsibility of the designated supervisor(s).
Closing date: 17 February 2006
For more information, contact:
ECPAT International
328 Phaya Thai Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Tel: + 662 215 3388; Fax: + 662 215 8272
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.ecpat.net
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