Relevant & Timely News

Killing of infants on the rise in Pakistan, CNN, July 20, 2011. In a phenomenon that has been called "Pakistan's worst unfolding tragedy," more than 1,200 newborns were "killed and dumped" last year. This number marks an estimated increase of 200 from the year before. Usually only days old, babies have been found hanged, stabbed, and burned. Many of these infants were born outside of marriage, which is condemned by Pakistan's culture. Additionally, statistics show that approximately nine out of ten murdered babies are girls, potentially because families consider them too costly to raise in a nation where women are often prohibited from working. The full article is available here.

China calls on international community to create safe environment for children, XINHUANEWS, July 13, 2011. At a UN Security Council open debate on children and armed conflict, Wang Min, deputy permanent representative of the Chinese Mission to the UN, called on the international community to create a safer environment for children. Min affirmed China's dedication to the protection of children in armed conflict as well as the nation's rejection of the recruitment and use of child soldiers. To these ends, he stressed the importance of establishing protective measures tailored to particular situations of armed conflict and encouraged the international community to adopt comprehensive measures to reintegrate affected children into society. China's recent efforts with respect to children are laudable. Since the Chinese government's launch of a national anti-trafficking campaign in April 2009, a reported 9,388 abducted children have been rescued. Additionally, the nation has seen widespread revisions of local regulations in support of the Law on the Protection of Minors, and various courts have concluded 7,395 criminal trials concerning the organization of minors to beg, the abducting and trafficking of women and children, and other violations of children's rights. The full article is available here.

UN adopts measures protecting schools, hospitals in conflict zone, Monsters & Critics, July 13, 2011. The UN Security Council recently adopted a new resolution that condemns "all violations" of international law banning the recruitment of, killing of, rape of, and sexual violence against children. Additionally, the resolution condemns the use of child soldiers in armed conflict, as well as attacks on schools and hospitals. The resolution emphasizes that schools and hospitals are zones of peace, stipulates that perpetrators will be listed in an annex to the annual report on children in armed conflict, and advises that violations should be reported to the Security Council by governments. CRI hopes that the UN will hold its own organizations to the same standards and, among other measures, conduct a review of UNRWA schools, which have employed teachers who were members of Hamas (a designated foreign terrorist organization) and have taught from textbooks that espouse hatred and violence. The full article is available here.

AUDIO: Outlook, BBC World Service, July 12, 2011. This broadcast features an interview with Sara Morales, who was kidnapped by left-wing Farc militants at age 11 and forced to fight in Colombia's insurgency. By age 12, she had become a trained killer. The broadcast is available here.

Taliban's army of child soldiers, The Sun, July 1, 2011. British soldiers report that the Taliban has adopted a new practice of using children not only as suicide bombers but also to plant IEDs ("improvised explosive devices," or homemade bombs). Intelligence sources opine that this is a response to the development of British technology capable of picking up and destroying Taliban IED-planting teams and the Taliban's awareness that British troops are reluctant to fire on children. Surveillance cameras recorded two children younger than ten hiding IEDs. The full article is available here.

UN: Demobilized child soldiers in Chad will need help with reintegration, Channel 6 News Online, June 22, 2011. Chad is making strides to remove the nation from the UN Secretary-General's "list of shame," which includes nations whose governments use child soldiers. More than 1,000 children have been released from Chadian military units since January. Still, the UN has stated that Chad will need assistance with the reintegration, which will include UN-offered educational programs, particularly vocational schools. The full article is available here.