Children

Photo: Paska Akwero was one of the thousands of Ugandan girls abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army and forced into marriage. At age 12, she was given to LRA leader Joseph Kony and bore him a son. Like many former captives of the LRA, she and her son are shunned every day by Ugandans. Credit: Edward Echwalu/PRI

Children Born of War Remain Invisible Victims of Sexual Violence

Viewpoint by Tonny Raymond Kirabira and Leila Choukroune*

PORTSMOUTH, United Kingdom (IDN) – Thirty-four years ago, northern Uganda was plunged into a two-decade-long civil war between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).

Numerous children were victims of abduction, sexual violence, forced labour and soldiering. More specifically, children born of war continue to be the invisible victim of sexual violence. Non-governmental organisations estimate that over 66,000 children and youths were abducted by the LRA to serve as soldiers or sex slaves.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 02 December 2020

Photo: Children playing on the riverside in Naryn. Credit: Sehar Naz Janani

A Kyrgyz Activist Translates UNICEF Mandate into Action

By Sehar Naz Janani

NARYN, Kyrgyzstan (IDN) – His pale skin, teary eyes, shivering body and trembling voice added to the air of grave solemnity pervading the room.

Breaking the dead silence, his mouth slowly started murmuring, “I am an orphan… But, I have a sister… She beats me every now and then” and added, “She also abuses me emotionally. I could not take it anymore.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Central Asia; 09 December 2019

Photo: Children raise their hands to answer a question in class at a UNICEF learning space in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (8 July 2019). Credit: UNICEF Patrick Brown

Odds Still Stacked Against Poorest Children

By Sean Buchanan

NEW YORK (IDN) – Although there have been historic gains over the last 30 years in improving children’s lives, urgent action is needed if the poorest children are to feel the impact, warns a new UN report.

The report, published on November 18 by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and released ahead of World Children’s Day on November 20, calls on countries to recommit to promises made under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 19 November 2019

Photo: Chinese trucks which bring goods to local markets. Credit for all photos: Bagymdat Atabaeva

Chinese Mining Company in Kyrgyzstan Suspected of Playing Havoc with Ecology

By Bagymdat Atabaeva

SOLTON SARY, Kyrgyzstan (IDN) – On August 5 about 300 villagers from Solton Sary area, about 200 km from capital Bishkek, gathered at the Chinese owned Zhong Ji mining company’s office here to protest against gold mining works, which they claimed were killing their cattle. Thus, another mining scandal has erupted in Kyrgyzstan, where most people make a living on raising livestock.

Locals claim the mining company is contaminating their soil on which the cattle and sheep graze. “We have lost about a hundred sheep last month, we are pretty sure that the meat is contaminated and cannot be used as sheep are just dying out and it’s suspicious,” a local activist and a shepherd Osmonov K told IDN.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Central Asia; 19 August 2019

Photo: World’s first drone-delivered vaccine in Vanuatu. The vaccine delivery covered almost 40 kilometres of rugged mountainous terrain from Dillon’s Bay on the west side of the island to the east landing in remote Cook’s Bay. UNICEF/Pacific

One Short Drone Flight Is A 'Big Leap' For Global Health

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK | PORT VILA (IDN) – One month old Joy Nowai has become the world’s first child to be given a vaccine delivered commercially by drone in a remote island in the South Pacific country of Vanuatu, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on December 18.

The vaccine delivery through the state-of-the-art craft covered almost 40 kilometres of rugged mountainous terrain from Dillon’s Bay on the west side of the island to the east landing in remote Cook’s Bay, where 13 children and five pregnant women were vaccinated by Miriam Nampil, a registered nurse.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 19 December 2018

Photo: Graça Machel at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2010. CC BY-SA 2.0

Africa – Realising The Promise of the Demographic Dividend

Viewpoint by Graça Machel

The author, who writes this piece following the recent publication of the Africa Report on Child Wellbeing and the African Child-Friendliness Index, is the widow of Nelson Mandela and former First Lady of both South Africa and Mozambique. She is Chair of the International Board of Trustees of the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF).

ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – Nelson Mandela famously said “History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.”

Africa’s rapidly increasing child and youth population is predicted to reach 750 million by 2030 and one billion by 2050, providing a unique window to overcome the challenges that plague Africa or leave us in complete disarray – a choice between a demographic dividend or a burden.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 14 December 2018

Photos courtesy of Frank Darko and Education in Ghana. Source: YaleGlobal Online.

Ghanaian Inventor Eases Children's Access to Schools Across Rivers

By Devendra Kamarajan

ACCRA (IDN) – A young inventor, Frank Darko, has designed a water cycle to help Ghanaian children living in villages throughout the Volta region reach schools. Currently, they must swim or wade through at least one river every day to get to the nearest school. This is particularly dangerous during the rainy season, three months a year.

Frank Darko, a 27-year-old Ghanaian man, was moved to action in 2017, after seeing a documentary and news reports about the children’s plight, reports Raluca Besliu in YaleGlobal. He invented a water bicycle to help children and others living in river regions to cross bodies of water.