Human Rights

A little over one year ago a 37-year old immigrant from Ecuador, Marcelo Lucero, was stabbed to death in Patchatogue, NY, a town on Long Island. The community recently held a vigil and called for increased understanding. One can only hope that the memorial service helps to spread open-mindedness and serve as a counterweight to […]

 Last week the United Nations marked the 20th anniversary of the date when the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) opened for signature. Since then, the CRC has become the most ratified human rights treaty in the world. Out of the 194 member states of the UN, only two – Somalia and the […]

I recently posted the story, Trafficking? Not in my town…Yes, in every town, which featured the story of 5 year-old, Shaniya Davis, from Fayetteville, North Carolina.  Shaniya was reportedly kidnapped and her body was later found on the side of a rural highway in North Carolina.  Her mother was later charged with human trafficking for […]

Anna Politkovsakaya’s son, Ilya, remained silent after the projection of the documentary on his mother.  He was there, sitting with Sergei Sokolov, the deputy editor in chief of Novaya Gazeta.  The gathered asked questions. The curious stared at this young man.  A security camera had caught the moment of her death.  The gunman, wearing a […]

The State of the World’s Children report, published by UNICEF, has just this week issued a  special edition of the report in commemoration of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.  Released  on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Convention’s adoption by the UN General Assembly, “The Convention on the Rights of […]

According to a recently released UNICEF report, Tracking Progress on Child and Maternal Development, some 200 million children in the developing world currently suffer from stunted growth, due to chronic undernutrition.  Chronic undernutrition, is a factor in over a third of all deaths in children under five years-old. This often unnoticed and often silent killer, […]

Since its founding in 1998 and its official kick-off in 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has had to build its strength and influence without any help-and indeed with strong opposition-from the U.S. “[E]stablished to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community,” including genocide, crimes […]

The Foreign Policy Association’s Children’s Blogger, Cassandra Clifford, has a chapter in the newly released ‘At Issue: Slavery Today’, designed for middle and high school students. Cassandra, who is also the Executive Director and Founder of Bridge to Freedom Foundation, which assists survivors of modern slavery, including victims of sexual and other coerced labor trafficking such as […]

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gave an emotional apology on Sunday to the victims of a largely forgotten chapter of Western history. Addressing a crowd of about 1000 former child migrants, Rudd issued a national apology for the mistreatment they received from the government when they had been promised a new chance and a new […]

Many of you may have heard on the news about a missing five-year-old Shaniya Davis from Fayetteville, North Carolina, which first broke news this week as news of her disappearance led authorities into a desperate search for her safe return.  The young girl was reportedly taken from the mobile-home of her mother while on a […]

Kai Eide, the Special Representative of the United Nations to Afghanistan, did not mix words.  Addressing the Committee of Development at the European Parliament in Brussels this evening, Mr. Eide began to vent some frustration against NGOs and INGOs. He was  vague and did not single out any organisation in particular. Instead he said that […]

A series of natural disasters has his Asia in recent months leading to increased concern for child malnutrition, as food security rises.  There is no question that optimal infant and young child feeding is essential for optimal growth and development.   Optimal feeding includes; breastfeeding exclusively for six months, and providing appropriate complementary foods with […]