News and Press

Syrian Refugees Face Rising Humanitarian Crisis

More than 4.5 million Syrians are internally displaced within their own country, and about 1.5 million have sought refuge in neighboring countries. A recent report by Amnesty International accused the international community of a "spectacular failure" in Syria. The report was a broader commentary on refugees around the world, whom Salil Shetty, Amnesty's Secretary General, said face rising threats. He added that "The failure to address conflict situations effectively is creating a global underclass...The rights of those fleeing conflict are unprotected." Many Syrians live in increasingly dire conditions in refugee camps on the Jordanian, Lebanese, and Turkish borders. Furthermore, intensified clashing and shelling in southern Syria has prevented thousands of Syrian refugees from crossing into Jordan by cutting off access routes. While visiting a makeshift refugee camp in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, the Australian Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, said "The world's facing a catastrophe here, and I think we're coming close to the point where we think anything is better than the humanitarian crisis, especially if the fighting intensifies further." More than 1 million Syrians now live in Lebanon, comprising about 20% of the population. In particular, the large influx of children has greatly strained Lebanon's public education system. According to a UNICEF official, the number of school-aged Syrian children in Lebanon is expected to surpass the number of Lebanese school-aged children currently enrolled in public schools by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department is persuading Gulf states to funnel humanitarian aid directly to the United Nations and other foreign aid agencies instead of funding their own handpicked programs, which can lead to duplicated aid or gaps in aid.  

Headlines

• Clashes in Tripoli have continued between Sunnis and Alawites who back rival factions in Syria's civil war, bringing the death toll to 24 since Sunday; meanwhile, Lebanon's Sunni leaders have asked security agencies to create a plan to end the fighting.
• At least seven soldiers in central Iraq died on Thursday in two separate incidents, one at a checkpoint in Taji, and another during an exchange of fire with militants near Karma.
• Turkey's parliament has passed a law that restricts the sale of alcohol and prohibits all advertising of alcohol.
• Fighters allied with Al-Qaeda have taken control of villages near the Yemini port city of Mukalla, in an effort to claim the southeastern province of Hadramawt.

Arguments and Analysis

Syria: the imperative of de-escalation (Julien Barnes-Dacey and Daniel Levy, The European Council on Foreign Relations)

"After more than two years of devastating destruction, a rare moment of opportunity has  emerged in Syria following the US-Russian agreement to launch Geneva II. Europe must now get fully behind the peace initiative and reject the false choice between the supposed "military-lite" or "diplomacy-lite" options - that the military balance can be tipped without a weighty intervention, or that diplomacy can advance without having to deal with Assad or Iran. Instead, by promoting de-escalation and diplomacy, the West should prioritise ratcheting down violence and the threat of regional spill over. 

A serious Geneva II effort requires three key elements: a set of guiding principles distilled from Geneva I; the support of a wide enough coalition; and a diplomatic strategy to get it off the ground. Effective diplomacy will demand unpalatable compromises aimed at securing sufficient international accord to nudge the warring parties towards the negotiating table. This will have to be inclusive in terms of both Syrian and regional participation - including engaging with Iran beyond the nuclear file. Western arming of rebels is ill-advised given its likely limited impact on the ground, encouragement of escalation and maximalism, and the inability to guarantee in whose hands weapons will end up. At the same time contingency planning for chemical weapons use or proliferation is necessary but is not a substitute for, or short-cut to, a solution for the crisis."

What the United States Can Do for Egypt Right Now (Steven A. Cook, Blog, Council on Foreign Relations)

""How can the United States help Egypt?" is a common question heard around the Beltway these days.  There are lots of good ideas, but too often they do not address the country's immediate and most pressing needs.  It should be clear  that Washington is not going to fix Egypt's political problems no matter how many times people say, "we need to get Egypt right."  That complex and difficult task is up to the Egyptians-though there are a few discrete policies that Washington can pursue that might be helpful.  All that said, here are four initiatives the United States can undertake that can make a difference in Egypt over the next 3 to 6 to 12 months:

The United States, European Union, and Asian allies should pool resources and provide loan guarantees for Egypt;

Food aid to Egypt ended in 1992; it should be started again;

The United States should continue to backstop Egypt's public health system through additional investment in NAMRU (Navy Medical Research Unit) 3, which is based in Cairo, though it is responsible for the entire Middle East, Africa, and Southwest Asia;

Everyone-Americans, Egyptians, Israelis-recognize that the Sinai is a major problem.  Although it is not just a security problem, in the short run the United States can do some good in the Sinai through the expansion of the Multinational Force Observers that have been stationed in there since 1982 and working with both the Israelis and Egyptians on expanding their communication and intelligence cooperation."

--By Jennifer T. Parker

Read the original article on the Foreign Policy.com

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The religion of children

Kul Gautam is Chair of the Council of the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children (DPAC). He was formerly Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. In Coimbatore with DPAC’s council to participate in Shanti Ashram’s Interfaith Round Table 2013, Kul shares his thoughts on the role religion can play to help children.

What is the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children and why does it work for children by networking with worldwide religious organisations in particular? what inspired its model?

November 20 is Universal Children’s Day and everybody celebrates it differently — doctors through health initiative and teachers through schools — but many religious organisations wanted to know how exactly they could contribute. Since all religions prioritise prayer, we suggested that they spend the day in prayer for children and take those prayers forward through action. That’s how, in 2009 after a meeting in Hiroshima, November 20 also became the DPAC.

Religious organisations can initiate much change because they influence society’s behaviour.

For instance, in the 90s, Latin America, despite being a middle-income region, had lower child immunisation rates than many poor nations. While the Ministries of Health acknowledged the problem, they said they didn’t have medical personnel to cover every place. That’s when the UNICEF suggested immunising children through churches because Catholicism was powerful in Latin America. Every single village, however far-flung, had a church whose pastor the village respected. Immunisation could be done by them with just basic training. We soon saw rates rise very fast. So partnering with religious organisations does work.

In India, where conflict between religious communities has often been an undeniable part of our history, how do you see this approach panning out?

This model is especially appropriate for multi-religious, multi-cultural societies like India because it encourages interfaith cooperation to overcome misunderstanding and unjustified hatred.

While religious communities may argue on issues of politics and theology, they can come together for the cause of children, because at its core every religion wants the best for its children. There are superficial and misinterpreted teachings from religious texts which are used to exploit children by keeping them from schools, marrying them young, etc. But it takes a diamond to cut another diamond. So for every one of these misinterpretations, progressive religious leaders can show the positive, enlightened path that highlights the well-being of children.

What are DPAC’s key focus areas in India and how does partnering work on the ground?

In India, we realised that while education and health for children were being addressed, movements against violence towards children needed working on. Reports of girls being sexually molested and exploited, child abuse at home and in schools, child marriages and child labour were common. On the ground, DPAC has a triumvirate partnership between religious organisations, secular bodies such as UNICEF and Save the children Fund, and sometimes local governments too because while they pass good laws, implementation can be helped by others. In India, we’ve partnered with the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University in West Bengal and Shanti Ashram in Tamil Nadu to work for emphasis on positive parenting. Discipline can be implemented without violence, and through love. We also focus on making children aware that India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and that therefore they can demand their rights. But those come with responsibilities which they must fulfil too.

Nepal is your country of birth and upbringing, and you’ve spearheaded the Rollback Violence Campaign (RVC) there. What are the similarities you find between India and Nepal in the challenges that face children?

Nepal and India have similar traditions, history, culture and religion. Even in politics, you have had a Maoist/Naxalite Movement, as have we. And while its goals were to achieve justice for people, violence was an accepted means. That’s where the RVC stepped in and upheld Gandhi’s principle of non-violent means towards justice. Just as in India, DPAC in Nepal works against child marriage by partnering with religious organisations. Traditions such as these have been ingrained for centuries and justified by religion. Priests conduct these marriages! So we need to work against it from within the religious framework.

How have your years with the UN influenced the vision that DPAC has?

Parallel to the 2002 UN General Assembly Special Session for Children, there was a meeting of the world’s top religious leaders who pledged to support the summit’s commitment to ‘A World Fit for Children’. So DPAC’s vision was sown then. I was also instrumental in drafting many of the summit’s goals towards child survival which we continue to strive for today. Having worked with UNICEF for 35 years, I’m a child of the UN and my philosophy of life is influenced by the UN, so I know its many positives. But as an insider, I also know its shortcomings which we now try to overcome.

Malala Yousafzai to give her first public speech at the United Nations on her 16th birthday

Some 4,000 young people from across the globe are likely to attend the launch of a youth campaign to secure education.

London: Malala Yousafzai, who emerged as a global icon for women's rights after being shot at by Taliban for advocating girl's education in Pakistan, will give her first public speech in New York on her 16th birthday on July 12, a day that would now be marked as 'Malala Day'. UN Special Envoy and former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on Friday that Malala is determined to continue campaigning for girls' education and will speak to a specially convened meeting of young people from around the world at the United Nations.

Read more: Malala Yousafzai to give her first public speech at the United Nations on her 16th birthday

Let girls be girls

Krishna, married at 11 and now 14, speaks to a relative holding her 4-month-old baby Alok at her house in a village in India's Rajasthan state, January 21, 2013. Picture REUTERS/Danish SiddiquiOn Wednesday, 17 April, my attention was drawn to a very tragic story in the Times of India, under the headline, “Early motherhood forcing young brides to bury aspirations.” It is about an 18-year-old girl who killed her two-day-old son in India as she feared that motherhood might end her dreams of pursuing education. The story filled me with even stronger resolve to speak up on this issue.

It also reminded me of another story, in Kabul, where 15-year-old Freshta escaped marriage to a man more than twice her age. "I am educated, that is why I could refuse my parents' decision. But my sister is only 13 years old, and they will marry her to an old man," said Freshta with tears in her eyes, worrying about the fate of her sister. Freshta is living at a secret shelter for women in Kabul; a place she was referred to by the police after being beaten by her family and expelled from home for rebelling against her family's wishes.

Read more: Let girls be girls

Desmond Tutu Wins 2013 Templeton Prize

Templeton Prize / Michael Culme-Seymour Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

The Templeton Prize has been awarded to Desmond Tutu, the former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa. The award recognizes his lifelong work in advancing spiritual and liberating principles such as love and forgiveness around the world.

Tutu became a globally recognized figure as a result of his longstanding and principled opposition to South Africa's apartheid regime. Then, after the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994 as president in the country's first multi-ethnic elections, Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Employing a revolutionary and relentless policy of confession, forgiveness, and resolution, the commission helped move the nation from institutionalized racial repression toward egalitarian democracy.

Read more: Desmond Tutu Wins 2013 Templeton Prize

Progress shows that stunting in children can be defeated – UNICEF

Photo: UNICEF

Press release

Progress shows that stunting in children can be defeated – UNICEF

DUBLIN, 15 April 2013 – A new UNICEF report issued today offers evidence that real progress is being made in the fight against stunted growth – the hidden face of poverty for 165 million children under the age of five. The report shows that accelerated progress is both possible and necessary.

Improving Child Nutrition: The achievable imperative for global progress confirms that a key to success against stunting is focusing attention on pregnancy and the first two years of a child’s life. Stunting in a child is not only about being too short for his or her age. It can also mean suffering from stunted development of the brain and cognitive capacity.

Read more: Progress shows that stunting in children can be defeated – UNICEF

Most rape victims in conflict zones are children: report

(Reuters) - Most victims of sexual violence in conflict zones are children who are suffering rape and abuse at an appalling rate, said campaigners who described the attacks as the "hidden horrors of war".

In the worst-affected countries, such as Liberia and Sierra Leone, children made up more than 70 percent of victims, said a report by charity Save the Children published on Wednesday.

The study contained harrowing stories of children being killed after being raped and of others who were abducted and abused by armed forces and groups. It also said children as young as two were being attacked by opportunistic predators including teachers, religious leaders and peacekeepers.

Read more: Most rape victims in conflict zones are children: report

Child well-being - progress in danger?