CHADIAN REHABILITATION CENTERS FOR DEMOBILIZED CHILD SOLDIERS STAND EMPTY

22 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Despite signing an agreement that banned the use of child soldiers one year ago, researchers say the Chadian government continues to recruit and exploit child soldiers. Though experts say accurate figures are difficult to come by, UNICEF has put the number of child soldiers in Chad between seven and ten thousand. In a letter to the United Nations Security Council, Human Rights Watch said the issue required immediate and sustained attention. “The Security Council should demand that the Chadian government cease child recruitment and release children from the ranks of the armed forces,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa Director at Human Rights Watch. The Chadian government has repeatedly made promises of ending the recruitment of child soldiers to various international pressures, from UNICEF to Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy, who just two months ago told reporters at the United Nations, “I have been given assurances that parties involved in conflict have agreed to free children.” But David Buchbinder, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, said in a phone interview with MediaGlobal that he had witnessed a noticeable increase in the use of child soldiers over the past three years both in the Chadian army and among rebel groups. “Recent demobilization has been negligible. But it’s not because they ran out of children to demobilize – I’ve seen plenty. As recently as June, I’ve seen many obvious children dressed in uniforms with weapons in Chadian army units. The underlying institutional culture of the Chadian army, when it comes to child soldiers, has not changed.” Buchbinder also said the facilities built by international humanitarian organizations to rehabilitate demobilized child soldiers stand starkly empty. A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity expressed to MediaGlobal that France, which chairs the Security Council Working Group on Chad, has fostered a culture of cooperation with the Chadian government.

SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST IMPROVES SYRIAN HEALTH CARE

21 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: With the ongoing evaluation of the progress toward the Millennium Development Goals and mounting evidence that many of the goals might not be met by 2015 due, in part, to inadequate international funding, more and more people think increased regional cooperation is necessary. Such cooperation is occurring successfully in the Middle East, where the Ministries of Health and Higher Education of the Government of Syria and Aga Khan University (AKU) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to increase cooperation in the health sector that began in 2003. The partnership includes linkages between the Teshreen and Al-Baath Universities in Syria and the AKU in Pakistan. Between 2003 and 2007, major areas of cooperation were in nursing education and nursing quality assurance; the national diploma curriculum was changed for nursing, academic management workshops were held, and AKU Hospital Nursing Services helped train nurses in nursing quality assurance concepts at seven hospitals in Syria. Additionally, leadership development support has been provided. Between 2008 and 2012, assistance for the nursing education programs at Al-Baath University will be provided, summer courses will be held, a new program will be held at the Teshreen University, and staff at the Damascus hospital will be trained to establish nursing quality assurance. A group of AKU officials explained to MediaGlobal that the Syrian Government has benefited and will continue to benefit from the partnership because, by receiving enhanced nursing education and training in leadership development and nursing quality assurance, it has been able to improve healthcare for its citizens. Through leadership development and education, Syrian students are being prepared to become leaders in the health and education sectors and raise the standard of the Syrian health care system. Officials said the AKU benefits because the partnership enables it to live up to its mandate to serve the “Muslim Ummah” and developing countries in lasting ways. AKU President Firoz Rasul said, “An important aspect of the partnership between AKU and the Syrian Government is that it is a South-South relationship,” and further explained, “The collaboration between AKU and the Syrian Government has been successful particularly because it is based on a collective commitment to go beyond common boundaries and to build networks through which learning and solutions can be shared.”

VITAMIN “A” CAMPAIGN REDUCES CHILD MORTALITY

19 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: South Africa recently launched its first ever national Vitamin “A” campaign, which over a 12-day period aims to reach over 4 million children. South Africa’s first national nutrition survey among children under the age of 5, found that over a third of children are deficient in this vitamin, reports the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “Vitamin A deficiency is one example of what is termed “hidden hunger” as there may not always be visible signs of deficiency,” Joan Matji, a Nutrition Specialist for UNICEF, told MediaGlobal. This unseen deficiency can make children susceptible to fatal diseases, such as measles, acute respiratory infections and diarrhea. It’s been shown that a single capsule of Vitamin “A” administered to a child lasts for only 4 to 6 months, which is why health experts suggest a supplement be provided to children under five twice a year. Global Data indicates that these twice-yearly doses can reduce child mortality by 23 percent, reports UNICEF. It is unlikely that the Department of Health will implement the Vitamin “A” campaign as a stand-alone intervention, but there are plans in the next 6 months to co-administer high-dose Vitamin “A” supplements with the measles or polio vaccine, Matji shared.

CURRENT LAWS DO NOT PROTECT TRAFFICKED CHILDREN IN SOUTH ASIA

19 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: A recent report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that child victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation across South Asia often do not have the law on their side, as weak legislation blames and punishes the child and can even lead to further victimization. “South Asia in Action: Preventing and responding to child trafficking” found that laws not only need to be strengthened to protect children from being trafficked but must also protect them after they have been trafficked. “Child trafficking is a neglected form of human trafficking, as children risk being picked out as undocumented migrants, juvenile delinquents or unaccompanied minors,” reports UNICEF. South Asian children continue to be trafficked for multiple forms of sexual exploitation and for labor exploitation, and the report indicates that there is often a tendency to overlook the trafficking of boys for sexual exploitation. If these trafficked children are discovered, “instead of being viewed by authorities as victims of trafficking children are punished for the ‘crime’ they are seen to have committed, such as prostitution,” Sarah Crowe of UNICEF told MediaGlobal. A child may also be trafficked into other illegal situations to be involved in such as drug trade, begging, stealing and so on- and may also be criminalized. In order to better protect children, the report suggests making the legal system “more child-friendly” by implanting witness protection schemes and in camera proceedings. The report also notes that while these South Asia countries have criminalized human trafficking, most standards focus on adults and overlook children. This is why UNICEF advocates the signing of the Palermo Protocol, which is the first legal instrument to provide international definition of trafficking in human beings and specifically addresses children. Currently, only India and Sri Lanka have signed the Protocol, but not one South Asian country has ratified it.

WHO ANSWERS TO WOMEN? NEW REPORT ASKS

18 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The title of the new report released by the United Nations agency for women goes to the heart of its system-wide critique: who answers to women? Speaking at the report’s launch Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “If any man asks why I support better accountability to women, here’s my response: because a government that answers to women will answer to you, too.” But the report’s primary author Dr. Anne Marie Goetz, Chief Adviser for Governance, Peace and Security at UNIFEM, welcomed the Secretary-General’s commitment to gender issues, addressing reporters, noted that there remained a major gap between commitment to women’s rights and results across multilateral institutions. Within the United Nations, there is no system-wide mechanism to track the effectiveness or resources and policies dedicated to achieving gender equality. She urged that leaders on all levels be held accountable. Among the starkest indicators of concern in the report were the persistent high rates of maternal mortality in developing countries. Another focus of the report was the implementation of laws addressing violence against women. In all countries, the report found that no more than 30 percent of women victims of violence reported the crime to police. Despite the dismal statistics, UNIFEM Director Inez Alberdi told MediaGlobal “women are finding solutions which we can draw from in strengthening these laws.”

DEVELOPMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE CAUSING MAJOR DECLINE IN MIGRATORY WATERBIRD POPULATION IN AFRICA

18 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: A report from the British Trust for Ornithology launched at the 4th Meeting of the Parties of the Wetlands African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) in Antananarivo, Madagascar highlighted the devastating effects of economic development and climate change on the sensitive habitats of protected migratory waterbirds. “Developments which lead to destruction of habitats, such as intensive agriculture and massive urban and infrastructure development [lead to the decline in population],” Sergey Dereliev, Technical Officer at AEWA told MediaGlobal from the conference in Antananarivo. These habitats, primarily the wetlands bordering the edges of the Sahara, are vital to the survival of the 235 species of migratory waterbirds at risk in Europe and Africa. Development and climate change are slowly causing these critical wetlands to begin drying up; if this were to happen, the birds migrating across the Sahara, where they have no food, water or shelter, would be unable to survive the journey. The report urged inter-country support and cooperation to help protect these species, nine of which will face extinction if the problem is not addressed immediately. “[The report’s findings] are a clear signal that both national and international efforts to conserve migratory waterbirds and their habitats need to be significantly increased,” said Bert Lenten, AEWA’s Executive Secretary.

RUNNING FOR A PURPOSE: DUBAI STUDENT TOUCHES THE LIVES OF UNEDUCATED CHILDREN IN INDIA

18 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: People run for a number of reasons. For 16-year-old Dubai American Academy (DAA) student, Nikhil Kalyanpur, track and cross-country running is an opportunity to raise funds for uneducated children in India. “Thanks to globalization, the internet, books, and television, we have access to so much information. But for illiterate people, it must be a completely different world. This realization shook me,” he said, as the purpose of his mission. Universal child education is a challenge. 73 million children were reported to be out of primary school in 2006, according to the United Nations Department of Public Information. So the teenager traveled to India and ran a 13 kilometer marathon from the Gateway of India to the Haji Ali Mosque in Mumbai in order to raise funds for Pratham, which he heard about through the organization’s Dubai office. “Kalyanpur ran the marathon because he heard of Pratham from our team in Dubai,” Abhay Nadkarni, Director of Pratham UAE, told MediaGlobal. Pratham was launched in the slums of Mumbai in 1994 with the help of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). While UNICEF fostered Pratham for the next three years, thereafter, ICICI Bank, a private sector bank in India, took over. The organization’s goal is to ensure that ‘every child is in school…and learning well.’ Kalyanpur’s choice to run for Pratham was a wise one, because the organization’s record is impressive. “Nationally, Pratham operates in over 20 states in India, with over 10,000 volunteers, and directly teaches about 400,000 kids per year through its programs,” Nadkarni said. Equally impressive is that it takes Pratham a mere three weeks to teach an ‘unlettered child’ to read and calculate basic mathematics. This accelerated learning method has touched the lives of 160,000 children so far. One of the ingredients of the organization’s successful recipe is low administrative costs. “This is done with a very unique, low cost model – it costs about USD 12-14 to teach one child for one year,” Nadkarni said.

GLOBAL MODEL UN CONFERENCE TO BE HELD NEXT YEAR TO ENCOURAGE YOUTH PARTICIPATION

17 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The United Nations announced on Wednesday the first Global Model UN conference to be held next year for university students worldwide. The conference, at which 1,000 students ages 18 to 24 will discuss the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) regarding global poverty, hunger, healthcare and education, will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from August 5 to 7, 2009. In correlation with the announcement of the conference, the Department of Public Information (DPI) and the World Federation of the United Nations Associations (WFUNA) launched a campaign to mobilize Model UN program coordinators around the world to prepare for the upcoming conference. DPI Chief of Education Outreach Yvonne Acosta told MediaGlobal, “The basis of selection of countries is where Model UNs already exist. We’ve been developing a database of Model UNs around the world, and we think about 80 [countries] have Model UNs.” According to a press release, the database currently has more than 400 Model UN program. Regarding Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Acosta said there are quite a few in Africa and Asia, and Model UNs in LDCs will be targeted because the DPI wants to ensure there is both geographic and socio-economic diversity among students at the conference. The campaign is being launched now because it is expected that students at the national-level Model UN conferences between now and August will be chosen by their peers to serve as delegates at the global conference. The Global Model UN is expected to become an annual occurrence and will be held in a different country each year.

NEW FAME FOR SYNTHETIC DRUGS IN DEVELOPING WORLD

17 September 2008[MEDIAGLOBAL]: In high-growth developing countries, getting something to boost stamina while at the assembly line or to keep awake behind a wheel is more than welcome; hence the rise in popularity of synthetic drugs. Indeed, the new ‘Amphetamines and Ecstasy: 2008 Global ATS Assessment’ Report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) last week attests to the increase in appetite for synthetic drugs – such as amphetamines and Ecstasy – in the Middle East and South East Asia. This is not good news. “One effect of Ecstasy is long-lasting brain damage,” Wendy Beccaccini, Communications Director at the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, told MediaGlobal. Even worse than this is that there is a possibility that any human being consuming the drug may eventually have to pay the ultimate price. “Ecstasy can cause death,” Beccaccini said. One reason for rising demand of Ecstasy and amphetamines is the growth in wealth in the Middle East and South East Asia. “Increasing economic prosperity in these regions has provided the means for which drugs can be purchased,” Matthew Nice, member of the Core Team that produced the Report, told MediaGlobal. Meanwhile, in the developed world, where such drugs are used for recreational purposes, consumption is decreasing. “While developed nations have managed to stabilize or even reduce the size of their amphetamines-group problem over the last five years, growth continues in developing countries,” the authors of the Report said of Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) use. Similar success has been won in regard to Ecstasy control – in the developed world. “Since 2001, Ecstasy use in developed countries have been perceived as declining, while increases, albeit moderate, are occurring in developing nations,” the Report observed.

DOING SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS IN ZIMBABWE IS A LONG WAY OFF

16 September 2008[MEDIAGLOBAL]: Zimbabwe is barely mentioned in a new Report produced by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. In fact, the sole two points that are mentioned in the Report in relation to Zimbabwe are negative: Zimbabwe holds a ranking of 158 out of 181 business enabling countries and its reforms in regard to dealing with construction permits is making it more difficult to do business. Fortunately, this does not hold true for the entire African continent. The ‘Doing Business 2009’ Report observes that the Continent has enjoyed a growth rate nearing 6 percent in the past decade – due to better macroeconomic conditions and greater peace. More economic opportunities are available, and governments are increasingly focusing on reducing regulatory constraints on businesses. “Economies in Africa implemented more Doing Business reforms in 2007/08 than in any previous year covered. 3 of the top 10 reformers are African: Senegal, Burkino Faso, and Botswana,” authors of the Report said. There are a number of reasons why Zimbabwe is not included in this shining example of African success. “At the moment things are so chaotic and have been for seven years that nothing works. Two years back all informal businesses in the cities were bulldozed and destroyed by government militias for political reasons but they gradually started again. Legal rights do not exist for poor people in Zimbabwe, or for almost anyone,” Janice Ashby, Founder of Eco Africa Social Ventures (EASV), told MediaGlobal. Because jobs are mostly unobtainable, EASV helps women in dire straits develop crafting skills. The products they make are then imported to the United States. “In the US, the products are marketed,” Ashby said. The funds these women receive in return enable them to support themselves. As Ashby noted: “It gives women the income to look after their families.”

OUTBREAK OF TRANBOUNDARY DISEASE IN NORTH AFRICA PUTS LIVESTOCK AT RISK

15 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Beginning in September, many communities in the countries of Northern Africa will observe the Holy Month of Ramadan resulting in an upsurge in trading of sheep, goats and other livestock. However, a recent outbreak of ‘peste des petits ruminants’ (PPR), a highly contagious virulent disease affecting goats and sheep carrying an 80 per cent mortality rate, in Morocco is putting the regions livestock populations at serious risk. Originally discovered in the Ivory Coast in 1942, PPR has been seen in the countries between the Sahara and the Equator, in addition to some Middle and Far Eastern countries (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal) but had not yet appeared in North East Africa. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) is currently in Morocco monitoring the spread PPR across the region. “FAO is working with all the countries of the region to address the problem through a regional action plan, since what we have in front of us is a transboundary animal disease which requires a transboundary response,” Dominic Otieno Omolo, an expert working with ECTAD, told MediaGlobal. Also aggravating the PPR spread is the nomadic nature of many livestock farmers across Morocco. Omolo explained, “The challenge remains that of reaching the nomadic communities such as those in Morocco.” While the government in Morocco has not requested that FAO design a plan of action for controlling the outbreak, FAO is currently monitoring the situation and is ready to step forward to assist should the outbreak become endemic and the government request assistance.

UNICEF FINDS DECLINE IN CHILD UNDER-FIVE MORTALITY RATE

15 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: UNICEF reported new numbers showing a 27 percent decline in the death rate of children under five in 2007 in the industrialized nations, Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa. According to this data, 12.7 million of the world’s children under five died in 1990, and in 2007 these numbers decreased to 9.2 million. “Much of the decline in under-five child mortality can be credited to a combination of factors. The primary cause is the increased use of basic health interventions: immunization campaigns, Vitamin A supplementation, insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. Hygiene promotion and access to safe drinking water and sanitation are also critical elements to child survival,” Kate Donovan, of the UNICEF Media Section, told MediaGlobal. Countries such as Lao PDR, Bangladesh, Bolivia, and Nepal have cut their childrens’ under-five mortality rate by more than 50 percent since 1990. “However, what is also a significant element to progress is how the interventions are being delivered. Successful programs, such as measles immunizations, are increasingly being used to deliver other life-saving interventions as well. This opportunistic approach is now common, and takes full advantage of every contact with a child to provide a range of critical services with maximum efficiency, while building national systems and capacity,” Donovan added.