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AFGHANISTAN: Drought, poverty lead children to abandon school

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:36:33 GMT

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

CHEMTAL Tuesday, December 02, 2008 (IRIN) - Eight-year-old Ahmad Shafi and his younger brother spend many hours a day fetching drinking water for their family in the drought-stricken Chemtal District of Balkh Province, northern Afghanistan. They have been unable to attend school as a result. "We start around eight in the morning and finish by midday," Ahmad told IRIN, adding that their job was "difficult" and "long". Ahmad's uncle, Abdul Samad - with whom his family has been living since his...

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=81769

BANGLADESH: Some 22 million children immunised against polio

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:49:50 GMT

Monday, December 01, 2008

DHAKA Monday, December 01, 2008 (IRIN) - Health experts in Bangladesh have successfully immunised 22 million under-five children against polio, a debilitating disease that mainly strikes children. “We hope we will be able to make Bangladesh polio-free by 2011,” Salma Begum, a local field worker told IRIN in a suburb of Dhaka, adding that there had not been a single case of polio in the country since November 2006. Field workers from the government’s health and family planning department,...

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=81754

Three generations together

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:50:00 GMT

Friday, November 28, 2008

DENISE Measures and her husband John have raised two children and until four years ago were looking forward to their own retirement. But today the couple, formerly of Nahoon, have moved in with their daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren in Cambridge, creating an extended family that new research shows is becoming more common among white families. To have one household is cheaper than having two households. It makes life easier when we combine and share resources, said Measures. Measures said...

Source: http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=275328

SOMALIA: Children from minority communities miss out on school

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:15:35 GMT

Friday, November 28, 2008

HARGEISA Friday, November 28, 2008 (IRIN) - Children in parts of Somalia's self-declared republic of Somaliland have never gone to school because their communities prefer they remain at home and learn petty trades, a local NGO said. The communities include the Gaboye, Midgan, Tumal and Yibro - most of whom lead reclusive lives and do not interact or inter-marry with other communities. They are mostly cobblers, blacksmiths and barbers. Abdillahi Hassan Digale, chairman of the Ubah Social Welfare...

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=81710

Court asked to think of victim in child rapist’s sentence

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:10:00 GMT

Thursday, November 27, 2008

By ADRIENNE CARLISLE SOCIETY suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of young men who routinely chose young children as victims of their thoughtless, cruel and self-serving violence, the Grahamstown High Court heard yesterday State advocate Nickie Turner yesterday called for a sentence of 20 years imprisonment for 18- year-old Vuyo Kotso, who pleaded guilty to raping a tiny six-year-old girl in Nompumelelo informal settlement in Beacon Bay last year. The little girl and her friends had been...

Source: http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=274896

AFGHANISTAN: Food insecurity may cause deaths this winter - government

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:44:57 GMT

Thursday, November 27, 2008

KABUL Thursday, November 27, 2008 (IRIN) - More than 1.6 million under-five children and hundreds of thousands of vulnerable women are exposed to acute malnutrition and some could die this winter due to food insecurity and lack of medical care, the government has warned. "Around 1.6 million children under five and 625,000 child-bearing-age women are at risk of dying this winter due to malnutrition," the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said in a statement (in English) on 25 November....

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=81692

Protest delays teenagers’ bail bid

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:20:00 GMT

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

THREE Port Alfred teenagers accused of abducting and murdering a five-year-old boy last week appeared briefly in the local magistrates court yesterday. Outside, a large crowd of women and children protested . A planned bail application by attorneys representing the 14, 15 and 16-year-old Station Hill youths who were friends of victim Rayno Ruiters was postponed to today. The youths, watched by their families, appeared briefly before magistrate Walter le Grange. Standing outside the court...

Source: http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=274526

Abandoned little angels

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:51:16 GMT

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The number of infants, mostly boys, abandoned at Kenyatta National Hospital is a major concern. The Children Act, 2001, outlaws adoption of boys by single women, the number of abandoned boys is higher than girls.

Source: http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144000254&cid=4&

Priscilla Presley on serving humanities

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Priscilla Presley is all about bringing “humanities” together. If she had not been an actress, she would have been involved in human rights in some way. She would have extended her services to “children care, animal rights, older people.”Presley was given an enthusiastic introduction. “Not just a talented actress,” said the moderator at a Cairo conference this week, Ms Presley is “also an important businesswoman with her signature perfume line, and also has a heart of gold.”“I have a lot to...

Source: http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=18070

UGANDA: Children quit school as aid dries up

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:03:28 GMT

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

GULU Tuesday, November 25, 2008 (IRIN) - Poor learning conditions and lack of food in primary schools have forced thousands of children out of class in northern Uganda over the past three months, local officials said. "The problem has been made worse as displaced primary schools relocate back to their original sites in villages when UN food aid support to primary schools has stopped," Robinson Obot, Gulu District education officer said. Some 11,123 children below 15 years of age, he said, had...

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=81643