30 March 2006 CRINMAIL 767
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- WEST AFRICA: Hunger Could Kill 300,000 Children - UN Appeal [news]
- CHILD PROTECTION: Keeping Children Safe Toolkit [publication]
- CHILDREN AND HIV/AIDS: Nearly 2000 Babies Born with HIV Every Day [publication]
- CHILDREN AND HIV/AIDS: HIV/AIDS, Conflict and Displacement [event]
- JUVENILE JUSTICE IN EUROPE: Framework for Integration [event]
- EMPLOYMENT: IBCR - Save the Children Norway [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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WEST AFRICA: Hunger Could Kill 300,000 Children - UN Appeal [news]
[DAKAR, 28 March 2006] - Hunger will kill more than 300,000 children in West Africa this year if donor nations fail to stump up enough money to provide food aid, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The world body said it needed $92 million to help feed over five million people - many of them women and children - at risk of malnutrition in four countries bordering the Sahara desert: Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
"This year malnutrition will be the cause of death for more than 300,000 children in the Sahel region if the necessary measures are not taken in time," said Theophane Nikyema, deputy director in West Africa for the UN children's agency UNICEF. "We know what must be done, but we need the resources to do so immediately," he said.
Aid workers blamed a late response by the international community for exacerbating a food crisis in Niger last year, when donations only started pouring in once images of emaciated infants gained worldwide media prominence.
Niger had warned months in advance that drought and locusts had wiped out harvests, confronting 3.6 million people with food shortages, but children had already started to die of hunger and disease by the time significant funding started to flow in.
Although this year's harvests were much stronger, market prices for cereals remain way above historical norms and many families are still paying off debts accumulated during last year's crisis, meaning they are struggling to feed themselves.
In addition, aid workers warn that malnutrition has long-lasting effects from which many children are still suffering. "It is vitally important that this situation is understood so we avoid falling into the same crisis we had last year," said Christine van Nieuwenhuyse, deputy director of the UN World Food Programme's operations in West Africa. "We've become used to the misery in this region. This situation here is not new. It is not today that suddenly 39 per cent of children suffer from chronic malnutrition," she said.
While massive crises such as that in Sudan's Darfur region attract huge media and donor attention, the grinding poverty that is a fact of daily life for many in Africa's poorest countries goes largely unnoticed, aid workers say.
The Sahel - a band of arid savannah which stretches across the southern fringe of the Sahara - suffers from perpetual food insecurity and last-minute emergency aid only helps alleviate the problem in the short term. The region has been gripped by the worst drought in modern history since the 1970s.
Longer-term commitments from donor nations are harder to secure, particularly in the case of what aid workers call "silent crises" such as that in the Sahel, where there is no constant diet of shocking images to prick donor consciences.
"We can't expect immediate results," said Herve Ludovic de Lys, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in West Africa. "The projects that need to be put in place to correct the structural causes (of this crisis) will take years. But in the meantime, we have an obligation to save lives," he said.
The problem was compounded by neighbouring countries including Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, which import grains from the Sahel, further reducing supplies for local people.
The UN said its latest appeal aimed to help 2.9 million people at risk in Niger, 1.3 million in Burkina Faso, 740,000 in Mali and more than 400,000 in Mauritania.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7821
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CHILD PROTECTION: Keeping Children Safe Toolkit [publication]
The Keeping Children Safe Coalition has developed a set of tools to help organisations working in developing countries to keep children safe. Keeping Children Safe: a Toolkit for Child Protection was launched today in London, by members of the Coalition. Members of the Coalition include: the Consortium for Street Children, EveryChild, NSPCC, Oxfam, People in Aid, Plan, Save the Children, International Federation Terre des Hommes, Worldvision and the Oak Foundation.
Professor Paulo Pinheiro, the independent expert in charge of the UN Study on Violence Against Children attended the launch of the toolkit. He updated the audience on the progress of the Study report, whose deadline is the next UN General Assembly, and pointed that, according to current estimates, 40 million children were being abused each year.
Over recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the global nature of child abuse, and growing acceptance of the potential risks to children of adults working in positions of trust. Greater attention, therefore, has been paid to how aid and development agencies ensure that children they are in contact with are kept safe from harm. As a result, many agencies are now putting in place policies and procedures designed to protect children and keep them safe from harm.
However, many agencies are still not sufficiently aware of the importance of building protection measures into their work. Even agencies that have taken steps to address this are discovering the real challenges of making their agencies ‘child safe’. All are looking for practical guidance, tools and support materials to assist them in overcoming a host of obstacles that confront them in tackling child protection issues in their work.
For aid and development agencies that have contact with children, some of the key issues and challenges include the fact that:
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Protection systems in many countries are often weak, and leave agencies and staff facing complex child protection dilemmas.
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Children in emergencies are especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
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There is little common understanding across agencies of child protection issues, standards of practice, or the organisational implications of these.
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There are huge difficulties in operating child protection policies in the many different legal, social and cultural contexts in which agencies work.
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Children may be at risk of abuse and exploitation, not only from individuals in the communities where they live, but also from agency staff, volunteers or other representatives.
For these agencies, and for the sector as a whole, there is a need to develop a common understanding of child protection issues, develop good practice across the diverse and complex areas in which they operate and thereby increase accountability in this crucial aspect of their work. Keeping Children Safe: A Toolkit for Child Protection will help agencies to:
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recruit staff safely
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strengthen policies and procedures that prevent abuse within agencies –
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help them deter, detect and respond to abuse
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increase staff confidence to deal with child abuse concerns when they arise
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create child safe environments
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keep children safe beyond agency boundaries
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ensure increased protection for children around the world
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integrate child protection into all areas of operation.
The toolkit is based around agreed standards that require staff and other agency representatives to receive an appropriate level of training, information and support to fulfil their roles and responsibilities to protect children.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7819
For more information, contact:
Paul Nolan, Child Protection Manager
Plan International International Headquarters
Chobham House, Christchurch Way
Woking, Surrey, GU21 6JG, UK
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 73 3331
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CHILDREN AND HIV/AIDS: Nearly 2000 Babies Born with HIV Every Day [publication]
[GENEVA - 27 March 2006] - Nearly 2,000 babies are born with HIV each day because their virus-infected mothers do not get the treatment needed to stop transmission, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a report released on Tuesday.
The report, Progress on Global Access to HIV Antiretroviral Therapy, said fewer than 10 percent of HIV-positive women in developing countries got antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy and childbirth between 2003 and 2005, despite a tripling of overall access to the drugs in that period.
"Each year, over 570,000 children under the age of 15 die of AIDS, most having acquired HIV from their mothers," the UN health agency said in a report showing it missed its "3 by 5" goal of getting 3 million people on antiretrovirals by 2005.
By the end of last year, only 1.3 million poor people infected with the lethal virus were taking the life-saving drugs - less than half the number targeted by the WHO two years ago and just one-fifth of the 6.5 million people needing treatment.
Some 660,000 children - mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, the region most affected by HIV and AIDS - were in immediate need of antiretroviral therapy in 2005, said the report, released jointly with sister UN agency UNAIDS.
Kevin de Cock, WHO director for HIV/AIDS, said children account for 15 per cent of global AIDS deaths, but make up only about 5 per cent of those receiving treatment. Frail health systems in impoverished regions were partly to blame for the missed "3 by 5" target, he said.
"Sub-Saharan Africa is short at least 1 million health care workers, and this is probably one of the most formidable obstacles for the future," he told reporters, adding hospitals, labs and other infrastructure were also lacking.
Other factors in the way of the 3 million-person treatment goal included weak partnerships among aid providers, inadequate drug supplies and a funding shortfall, the report said.
Worldwide AIDS expenditures nearly doubled to $8.3 billion between 2003 and 2005, with most funds coming from the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the World Bank.
Still, UNAIDS estimates there remains a $18 billion gap between available and needed funds for the 2005 to 2007 period. By 2008, it said at least $22 billion per year - nearly three times the current funding level - will be required to pay for national HIV prevention, treatment and care programmes.
If financing levels aren't increased dramatically, UNAIDS said antiretroviral treatment would likely remained limited for vulnerable groups like pregnant women and children.
About 50,000 new people began antiretroviral therapy each month in the past year, the report said, estimating that 250,000 to 350,000 premature deaths have been averted in developing countries as a result of expanded treatment access.
The price of first-line treatment meanwhile fell by between 37 per cent and 53 per cent depending on the drug regimen used, making an extension of services more feasible, the report said.
[Source: Reuters]
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CHILDREN AND HIV/AIDS: HIV/AIDS, Conflict and Displacement [event]
Date: 12 August 2006
Location: Toronto, Canada
In light of the emerging importance of HIV/AIDS interventions and programming in conflict and post conflict humanitarian settings, UNICEF and UNHCR, in collaboration with members of the Interagency Task Force on HIV/AIDS (IATF) have organised a one-day event on HIV/AIDS, Conflict and Displacement affiliated with the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto.
The meeting will provide an opportunity for all stakeholders (the humanitarian community, policy-makers, implementing agencies, donors, civil society, persons infected and affected by HIV and AIDS and others) to take stock of the experiences developed over the course of the past years, evaluate the lessons learnt, identify the policy and programmatic ways forward, and set the agenda for the years to come.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7827
For more information, contact:
Betty Noakes
UNICEF Canada
Tel: +1 416 482 4444 ext 826
Fax: +1 416 482 8035
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.unicef.ca
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JUVENILE JUSTICE IN EUROPE: Framework for Integration [event]
Date: 24-25 October 2006
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Since its beginning, the goal of the International Juvenile Justice Observatory has been the promotion of developing a public opinion conscious of the rights of children and, especially, juveniles in conflict with the law. Every two years, the IJJO organises an International Conference with the aim to make possible the meeting of professionals, public organisations, institutions and universities under a common interest: the development of a global juvenile justice without frontiers.
The First International Conference took place in Salamanca (Spain) in October 2004, under the title Juvenile Justice and the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency in a Globalised World, with the participation of more than 300 persons from 30 countries from all over the world. This meeting opened the debate and the analysis concerning the different strategies of juvenile crime prevention, as well as the recent evolution of juvenile justice systems in the world.
To continue on the advances achieved in Salamanca 2004, the International Juvenile Justice Observatory, which belongs to Foundation Diagrama, has collaborated in the elaboration of an European Opinion on Prevention of the juvenile delinquency. The models of Treatment of the Juvenile delinquency and the role of the Juvenile Justice in the European Union, submitted to the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), by Mr. José Maria Zufiaur, President of the Latin American Follow-up Committee and Adviser of the EESC.
For this reason, the Second International Conference of the International Juvenile Justice Observatory will be held in in October in Brussels. The subject matter of this conference is based on the challenge of promoting a reflection about a major harmonization of legislation and common ways of action in prevention, treatment and integration policies, regarding juveniles and young people in conflict with the law.
For more information, contact:
International Juvenile Justice Observatory
C/ Teso de la Feria, 9. 37008, Salamanca, Spain
Tel: +34 923 194 170; Fax: +34 923 194 171
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.oijj.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7817
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EMPLOYMENT: IBCR - Save the Children Norway [job postings]
Save the Children Norway is searching for a research institution, consultancy group or individual researcher/consultant to assist with a thematic documentation and evaluation of child participation in armed conflict, post-conflict and peace-building.
This is an increasingly important area of work for Save the Children Norway. Children and young people have themselves voiced a clear messages for peace and education, for being included in peace processes and receiving support to their ideas and initiatives for peace.
The overall purpose of this thematic evaluation is to support and improve Save the Children Norway’s work to contribute to strengthening children and young people’s capacities regarding peace building initiatives, which make up one basis for including children’s voices in peace processes and agreements. The evaluation should also contribute to increased quality and sustainability of work on child participation in Save the Children Norway’s and partner organisations.
Research is due to start during 2006 and conclude with final reporting in 2008. Activities and projects in several country programmes will be incuded.
Submissions deadline: 15 April 2006
For more information, contact:
Annette Giertsen
Senior adviser child participation
Save the Children Norway
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.reddbarna.no
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7828&flag=news
The International Bureau for Children's Rights (IBCR) is seeking a full-time Programme Manager to lead the implementation of the IBCR’s programme plan on child victims and witnesses of crime. The IBCR is an international NGO (with ECOSOC consultative status) based in Montreal, Canada. The organisational mandate of IBCR includes the promotion and protection of children's rights worldwide, with the current thematic focus on research and reporting on the status of implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, child victims and witnesses of crime, child trafficking, sexual exploitation of children and war-affected children.
Application deadline: 29 May 2006
For more information, contact:
Mr. Luc Ouimet
Administrative Director
Fax: +1 514 932 9453
Email: [email protected]
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