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Children of the ‘Others’, Sons of Minor Gods

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ROME, Nov 22 2016 (IPS) – In December 1946, “faced with the reality of millions of children suffering daily deprivation in Europe after World War II,” the General Assembly of the United Nations created the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), to mount urgent relief programmes.

UNICEF campaign on Zika response © UNICEF/UNI183007/Quintos

In keeping with the ethos of the United Nations, UNICEF’s mandate was—and still is, to provide aid “without discrimination due to race, creed, nationality, status or political belief.”

It is so that the sole condition made by Maurice Pate upon his appointment as the organisation’s first Executive Director was “that it include all children” from both Allied and “ex-enemy countries.”

Seventy years later, as Europe copes with a refugee crisis not seen since it was founded, the organisation remains an ever-present advocate for children’s rights, UNICEF reminds.

“It is uniquely positioned among humanitarian and development agencies to respond not only to the needs of children displaced by disaster and armed conflict, but also to work for a better future for all children.”

And in spite of the growing shortages of funds to the United Nations system at large, this New York-based organisation strives to alleviate the huge suffering of hundreds of millions of children trapped in wars, violence, abuse, exploitation, smuggling, sexual violations, trade of vital organs and death.

UNICEF believes that there is hope for every child. “The conviction that every child is born with the same inalienable right to a healthy, safe childhood is a constant threat through the history of the organisation. Its continued viability depends on applying past lessons learned to the challenges ahead, and harnessing the power of innovation to solve tomorrow’s problems. “

As envisioned by current executive director Anthony Lake, this will require a “willingness to adapt and find new ways to realise the rights and brighten the futures of the most disadvantaged children around the world.” “UNICEF understands that the spiral of poverty, disease and hunger stifles global development and leads to violations of children’s human rights.”

So far, so good. But not enough. Recent facts show the increasingly dramatic situation children face worldwide. UNICEF’s Statistics and Monitoring report mentioned in July this year, some key findings:

16,000 children die every day, mostly from preventable or treatable causes.

• The births of nearly 230 million children under age 5 worldwide (about one in three) have never been officially recorded, depriving them of their right to a name and nationality.

2.4 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, including 946 million who are forced to resort to open defecation for lack of other options.

• Out of an estimated 35 million people living with HIV, over 2 million are 10 to 19 years old, and 56 per cent of them are girls.

• Globally, about one third of women aged 20 to 24 were child brides.

• Every 10 minutes, somewhere in the world, an adolescent girl dies as a result of violence.

Nearly half of all deaths in children under age 5 are attributable to undernutrition. This translates into the unnecessary loss of about 3 million young lives a year.

Marking this year’s UN Universal Children’s Day on 20 November, UNICEF Executive Director said “When we protect their rights, we are not only preventing their suffering. We are not only safeguarding their lives. We are protecting our common future.”

Established on 20 November 1954, UN Universal Children’s Day promotes international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare.

20 November also marked the day in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a human rights treaty that changed the way children are viewed and treated as human beings with a distinct set of rights instead of as passive objects of care and charity.

Lake called on the world to confront the “uncomfortable truth” that around the planet, the rights of millions of children are being violated every day.

“[Children’s rights are] being violated around the world, in every country, wherever children are the victims of violence, abuse and exploitation, violated wherever they are deprived of an education.”

“[Their rights are violated] wherever they are denied the chance to make the most of their potential simply because of their race, their religion, their gender, their ethnic group, or because they are living with a disability,” he added.

Lake cautioned on the long-term impact of these violations in how children may view the world when they grow up and how they will perceive others’ rights when their own rights are violated.

“These children are the future leaders of their societies […] the future parents and protectors of the next generation.”

UNICEF’s total resources for the period 2014–2017 amount to 26,700.7 million dollars. Please consider that the world spends 1,7 trillion dollars a year on weapons.

In either case, these amounts come out of citizens’ pockets. Should they not choose whether their money should be spent to saving children or producing death machines that kill children, women and men?

*Baher Kamal‘s article was published in IPS. Go to Original

*Author: Baher Kamal, Egyptian-born, Spanish-national secular journalist. He is founder and publisher of Human Wrongs WatchKamal is a pro-peace, non-violence, human rights, coexistence defender, with more than 45 years of professional experience.
 
With these issues in sight, he covered practically all professional posts, from correspondent to chief editor of dailies and international news agencies. 
 

Baher Kamal is also Senior Advisor to the Director General of international news agency IPS.

More articles by Baher Kamal in Human Wrongs Watch:

Battle of the Desert (II): A ‘Great Green Wall for Africa’

Battle of the Desert (I): To Fight or to Flee?

Trump – The Symptom

World to Cut Gas Emissions by 25 Percent More Than Paris Agreement

Toxic Air – The ‘Invisible Killer’ that Stifles 300 Million Children

Dying for Europe

Climate Doomsday – Another Step Closer

What Happens When a Small Farmer Migrates?

‘The Earth Is Not Flat; It Is Urban’

Take a Deep Breath?… But 9 in 10 People Live with Excessive Air Pollution!

Believe It or Not, Pulses Reduce Gas Emissions!

Ships Bring Your Coffee, Snack and TV Set, But Also Pests and Diseases

One Humanity? Millions of Children Tortured, Smuggled, Abused, Enslaved…

Arable Lands Lost at Unprecedented Rate: 33,000 Hectares… a Day!

War on Climate Terror (II): Fleeing Disasters, Escaping Drought, Migrating

War on Climate Terror (I): Deserts Bury Two Thirds of African Lands

African Farmers Can Feed the World, If Only…

Climate Victims – Every Second, One Person Is Displaced by Disaster

400 Million People Live with Hepatitis But They Do Not Know

Rights of Indigenous Peoples ‘Critical’ to Combat Climate Change

Forests: To Farm or Not to Farm? That’s the Question!

‘Monster’ El Niño Subsides, ‘Monster’ La Niña Hitting Soon

‘Modern World Is Chaotic, Confused; Human Security a Must’

Xenophobic Rhetoric, Now Socially and Politically ‘Acceptable’ ?

‘Hate Is Mainstreamed, Walls Are Back, Suspicion Kills’

What If Turkey Drops Its “Human Bomb” on Europe?

Humanitarian Aid – Business As Unusual?

World Oceans Day – A Death Sea Called Mediterranean

The Humanitarian Clock Is Ticking, The Powerful Feign Deafness

Humanitarian Summit, The Big Fiasco

Humanitarian Summit: Too Big to Fail?

Humanitarian Summit Aims to Mobilise Up to 30 Billion Dollars

Africa, Resolved to Address African Problems With African Solutions

‘We Cannot Keep Jumping from Crisis to Crisis’

‘Human Suffering Has Reached Staggering Levels’

Now 1 in 2 World’s Refugees Live in Urban Areas

Middle East – The Mother of All Humanitarian Crises

Mideast: 1 in 3 Pays Bribe to Access Basic Public Services

Any Way to Halt Extremism?

Climate: Africa’s Human Existence at Severe Risk

No Water in the Kingdom of the Two Seas – Nor Elsewhere

Will the Middle East Become ‘Uninhabitable’?

Can an Animal Heist Fable Help Solve the Middle East Crisis?

A “Colombian Triangle” for Daesh in Libya?

‘Worse Than World War I’

‘Take My Iraqis and Give Me Some Syrians’ – Europe to Turkey

New Nuclear Hysteria in the Middle East

Africa Launches Largest Trading Block with 620 Million Consumers

Big War Lords Playing Brinkmanship Game in Syria

Cameron at large: Want Not to Become a Terrorist? Speak Fluent English!

Women’s Rights First – African Summit

Africa, Only If It Bleeds It Leads?

Seven Top Challenges Facing African Women

Africa Focuses on Women Rights, Reaffirms Solidarity with Sahrawi People in Struggle for Self Determination

Once Auctioned, What to Do with the ‘Stock’ of Syrian Refugees?

… And All of a Sudden Syria!

Silence, Please! A New Middle East Is in the Making

The Over-Written, Under-Reported Middle East (II): 99.5 Years of (Imposed) Solitude

The Over-Written, Under-Reported Middle East (I): Of Arabs and Muslims

Syria – Minding the Minds

Egypt in the Rear Mirror (I): The Irresistible Temptation to Analyse What One Ignores

Egypt in the Rear Mirror (II): Who Are the Not-So-Invisible Powers Behind the Troglodytes?

Fed Up With Empty Promises, The Arabs May Abandon Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Anti-Nukes Move from Norway to Bahrain

Middle East Nuclear Free Bid Moves to Finland – Yet Another Lost Chance?

Annual Spending on Nuclear Weapons, Equivalent To UN Budget For 45 Years

Watch The Sky–It May Rain Atomic Bombs

Save The Planet? Just Eat Cars, Drink Fuel!

Who Is Afraid of 300 Or 400 Or 500 Million Miserables?

Violence And Death For Millions Of Life-Givers

Whither Egypt (I) – Did You Say Dictatorship?

Whither Egypt (II) – Economic Bankruptcy

Politicians Promote Fossil Fuels with Half a Trillion Dollars a Year

Who Dares to Challenge a 32 Billion Dollars Business – Human Trafficking?

Palestine: Yet Another One Hundred Years of Solitude

Does Anyone Know Anything About A New Country Called South Sudan?

South Sudan: Yet Another Kitchen-Garden?

Somalia? Which Somalia? Some Facts About Everybody’s — Nobody’s Land

Requiem For Palestine (I): A Conflict Born With A Solution

Requiem For Palestine (II): Can Gruyere Be A Solution?

2016 Human Wrongs Watch


Source: https://human-wrongs-watch.net/2016/11/23/children-of-the-others-sons-of-minor-gods/


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Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world. Anyone can join. Anyone can contribute. Anyone can become informed about their world. "United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.


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