Citizens for Justice and Peace
Nearly half a million students left school in Yemen since 2015: UNICEF
29-Mar-2018
According to the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, almost half a million children in Yemen have left school since 2015. That year, Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in Yemen’s civil war. The total number of children in Yemen who lack access to education is two million. Meritxell Relano, UNICEF’s representative in Yemen said, “The journey to…
Twinkle-twinkle little star, why do nursery kids need Aadhaar? Intervention Application in Aadhaar case in SC challenges schools' demand for Aadhaar during admission
27-Mar-2018
In a bizarre attempt to appear more loyal than the king, several schools across the country are demanding that all students compulsorily fill in their Aadhaar data during enrolment. In fact, even the admission process for Nursery for the academic year 2017-18 at these schools requires Aadhaar information of both the parents and the child! Now…
Child Sexual Abuse: 95 pc cases still Pending Maharashtra, UP and MP worst offenders in implementation of POCSO guidelines
26-Mar-2018
Child Sexual Abuse cases have been on a rise in the country and a three judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra has ordered data from the High Courts on the number of pending child sexual abuse cases booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The 2016 data from…
US school children bite the bullet as government dithers on Gun Control Students take to the streets in the March for Our Lives
24-Mar-2018
Students across the United States are participating in the March for Our Lives demanding Common Sense Gun Control Laws. However, given the financial might and political influence of the gun lobby, it remains to be seen if the government would actually enact any laws that would reduce people’s access to firearms. Occurring a little over…
Will the ‘March for Our Lives’ help us in saying ‘No’ to Guns Yet another school shootout and still no significant 'gun control' measures in the US
21-Mar-2018
A 17-year-old male student shot two other students at Great Mills High School in Maryland on the morning of Tuesday March 20. The school shooting was over in seconds. But it could have dragged on longer and proven deadlier were it not for the rapid response of a school resource officer. But given how this comes close at the…
25 million child marriages averted in the past decade: UNICEF
12-Mar-2018
UNICEF recently stated that child marriage has declined worldwide in recent years, with the past decade seeing the proportion of women who were married as children being reduced from 1 in every 4 to 1 in every 5. Most notable is the progress made in South Asia in the last ten years, with a girl’s risk of…
Bangladesh’s newborn death rate dramatically reduced since 1990
28-Feb-2018
UNICEF recently released a report documenting the “alarmingly high” rate of newborn deaths around the world. However, Bangladesh features as one of the positive stories. Bangladesh has managed to reduce its newborn mortality rate from 64.2 deaths for every 1,000 live births in 1990, to 20.1 for every 1,000 live births currently. In 1990, 241,000…
हमारे देश के बच्चों पर सरकार ध्यान क्यों नहीं दे रही है? आंगनवाड़ी कर्मचारियों का प्रदर्शन
26-Feb-2018
अपनी मांगें पूरी न होने पर महाराष्ट्र आंगनवाड़ी कर्मचारियों ने किया सरकार के खिलाफ़ प्रदर्शन. सब ने मिल कर वेतन बढ़ाने की और सही समय पर वेतन पाने की मांग की. इसके अलावा वे चाहते हैं कि उन्हें भी सरकारी कर्मचारियों की तरह पी.एफ़. और पेंशन दिया जाए. उन्होने घटते बाल विकास बजेट और बेकार…
UN releases blank statement on atrocities in Syria
21-Feb-2018
The United Nations’ children’s agency, UNICEF, issued a blank statement in response to widespread casualties among Syrian children in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta and capital Damascus, Reuters reported. The statement was from Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and Africa. It said, “No words will do justice to the children killed, their mothers, their fathers and their…
UN: Child soldier recruitment still increasing in South Sudan
14-Feb-2018
Al Jazeera reported that South Sudan’s civil war, which is currently in its fifth year, has seen almost all armed groups drafting children to be soldiers, according to rights organisations. According to UNICEF, the number of child soldiers in the country has been swelling since the beginning of the war, in 2013, in spite of all parties…
Child marriage persists in the United States
08-Feb-2018
Most states in the United States the minimum age required for marriage is 18; however, there are potential exceptions this law in every state, according to the Guardian, which interviewed former child brides who turned activists pushing to eliminate child marriage. Between 2000 and 2010, nearly 250,000 were married in the US. According to Fraidy Reiss,…
More than 300 child soldiers freed in South Sudan
08-Feb-2018
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said that armed groups have officially freed more than 300 child soldiers in South Sudan; they will now start “reintegrating into their communities and learning new skills to support themselves,” according to the UNMISS statement. UNMISS said that overall, 700 children had been “screened and registered for release,” 563…
UNICEF initiates record fundraising appeal for $3.6 billion
01-Feb-2018
The Guardian reported that the United Nations children fund (UNICEF) has initiated its largest ever “emergency appeal for funding, warning that conflict is creating unprecedented levels of need.” According to UNICEF, which is seeking $3.6 billion to supply emergency aid this year, nearly one in four children reside in a country that is impacted by conflict or…
Rohingya children confronted with potential “massive mental health crisis”
04-Jan-2018
The New York Times, in a report that featured first-person accounts and photographs from Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, painted a picture of the dismal future of Rohingya children. The Times reported that of the more than 655,000 Rohingya who have escaped to Bangladesh from Myanmar, 380,000, or nearly 60%, are minors, according to Save the Children.…
Young Rohingya refugees are heading families
28-Dec-2017
The United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, in a story titled ‘Orphaned Rohingya children forced to grow up too fast’, has featured teenager Rohingya children who have been compelled to take on the responsibility of their siblings, having lost their parents. UNHCR said “some 650,000” Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh, and that it believes children…