The new U.N. report ranks the leading causes of child death as pneumonia, premature birth, diarrhea, childbirth complications and malaria. The report also shows that as deaths to all children under age five have dropped, those occurring in the first month of life have declined more slowly. As a result, newborn deaths now account for 43 percent of child deaths — up from 36 percent in 1990. Overall, the vast majority of child deaths — 83 percent — now occur in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia.

Save the Children said it is a critical time for Americans to help maintain momentum following a “Child Survival Call to Action,” convened in June by the U.S. government together with UNICEF and the governments of India and Ethiopia. Healthier children are the foundation for more productive, prosperous and stable communities, which benefit everyone, the agency said.

“We know where the children are that still need basic care to survive birth complications and childhood disease, and we know how health workers can save them,” Miles said. “It’s an issue everyone can get behind because every beat matters.”

AUTHOR: Cassandra Clifford
URL: www.bridgetofreedomfoundation.org and http://children.foreignpolicyblogs.com
E-MAIL: Cassandra [at] btff.org

Summary of the Past Year

2011 has surely been a year of trial and tribulations for children across the globe struggling for freedom and their basic human rights. I wish I could write and say that 2011 was the year that we abolished child trafficking, child marriage, prevented children dying from preventable childhood diseases and illness, found an end to child labor and saw education implemented for all children, that we ended gender discrimination. However, I cannot. The rights of children in 2011 were far from upheld on a global scale; we continued to see an extreme numbers of cases across the globe where the of basic needs of children where not met.

There are some 2.2 billion children in the world, and 600 million are victims of extreme poverty. Malnutrition is a related cause in at least half of the 10.9 million child deaths each year. Malnutrition magnifies the effect of every disease, including measles and malaria. Malnutrition can also be caused by diseases, such as the diseases that cause diarrhea, by reducing the body’s ability to convert food into usable nutrients, which often causes stunting. Under-nutrition among pregnant women in developing countries leads to 1 in 6 underweight births, which often causes learning disabilities, mental retardation, poor health, blindness, and premature death.

86% of the world’s children live in the developing world; many lack access to primary education, and forced labor, sexual abuse, and gender inequality run rampant. A third of all children in the developing world have some level of malnutrition by the age of five, have little or no access to adequate healthcare. In 2011, millions upon millions of children continue to live in dire conditions and lack access to adequate health care, are forced into child labor, fight as child soldiers, and serve as sex slaves. 215 million children work as child laborers, 115 million in hazardous conditions (ILO). While many progresses where made, especially in regards to awareness on such issues as child trafficking, the majority of issues have continued to remain stagnate in the world of international politics.

When looking back on all the events and stories that have unfolded over the last year relating to children and children’s rights, it was indeed a busy year. I brought you a variety of stories on the issues facing children across the globe but it was only a small dent compared to the issues and stories of our children. The world is still far from successfully ensuring the well being of our children across the globe. However, the year did bring us stories of success, hope and countless efforts have been made to bring many issues out in the open and to justice; though billions of children around the world still continue to suffer needlessly. The complexity of trying to bring to light the lives of children around the world is that there is no drought of information and news, therefore one finds themselves struggling to write about what seems more important, when in truth all of the stories deserve equal attention.

Most Unexpected Event

When looking back at 2011 one is inundated with events that had severe and lasting consequences on children. It was truly a year full of crucial international events, all of which, even the smallest ones, heavily impacted the lives of children. So which event was more critical, where did more kids suffer as a result? After pondering this question over and over for days, I cannot come to a conclusive answer, as the truth is how do you decide which children suffer more from, war, poverty, violence, rape, or disease? Regardless of my qualifications, I feel that I cannot pinpoint one event over another. However, the most unexpected developments in 2011 have to be the group of natural disasters that killed, injured, and displaced millions of children. The earthquakes in Argentina, Peru, China, and most notably, the earthquake in Japan. Flooding, drought (especially in the horn of Africa), fires, disease outbreaks, such as Yellow Fever in Uganda, are all part of the long list of natural disasters in 2011, which some say is the costliest year ever. The devastating effects of natural disasters are always felt hardest by the children, who are the first to suffer from malnutrition and disease, in addition to the displacement that increases children’s risk of human trafficking, abuse, and inadequate healthcare and education.

Most Important Issue

Similarly, writing about the most important issue facing children in 2011 will most likely cause debate. I also feel that there is no true most important issue, while yes some surely make the top of the list over others, one does not want the power of declaring what type of suffering is worse than others. Additionally as a person with a core focus on the issue of slavery and human trafficking, I could appear to be a bit biased, so I am not giving you one, but a few that come to mind with little haste. What has resonated in our minds all year has been the ongoing crisis in Darfur, which continues to effect the lives of all the region’s children. After violence children continue to suffer needlessly as security is continually threatened, food, medicine and appropriate support have constantly remained insufficient. The issues of modern slavery continually plagued our headlines, as children across the world faced forced child labor, were held as sex slaves, and were violently enrolled in child armies.

However, this year I did notice a substantial shift in the headlines bringing more focus to the issue of child marriage across the globe, as well as the issue of domestic minor sex trafficking in the United States, both of which greatly needed, and still need, more focus. In addition, the issues of global poverty, especially in the Horn of Africa, received significant coverage, though the battle to see that aid reached victims is one that will continue to be fought well into 2012 and one can only pray the global community has not made one of their greatest failures to the children of Africa. Nonetheless, while some issues did make the headlines, many seemed to slip quietly from the radar, such as child soldiers, the genocide in Sudan, and child labor trafficking. Some health issues such as maternal health and preventable diseases such as diarrhea and guinea worm had little coverage over the previous year. Malaria and polio seemed to make a great shift into the spotlight, receiving large headlines in mainstream media after new developments in vaccinations this year. While drives for polio continued all year, the understanding of the scale of the problem is still weak. The biggest failure in my mind is undoubtedly the fight against HIV/AIDS. The numbers continue to climb, as 2.5 million children under the age of 15 are living with HIV and the total number of children aged 0–17 years who have lost their parents due to HIV increased to 16.6 million.

Book of the Year

Again, when it comes to making a choice in this category it is a difficult one, as the topics that cover children’s rights and protection are far and wide. However, the book that I personally was asked to review that stood out the most, and would have a substantial impact on anyone who cares about the sexual exploitation of children across the globe, is Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Heals Herself. As a person working in the anti-trafficking field or who one who works to keep children safe from sexual exploitation this book will not only resonate with you, but both motivate and inspire you while it touches your heart and prompts you to action.

The book, written by Rachel Lloyd, a survivor of the commercial sex industry, has devoted her career to activism and helping other young girls escape “the life”. At thirteen, Rachel Lloyd found herself caught up in a world of pain and abuse, struggling to survive as a child with no responsible adults to support her. Vulnerable yet tough, she eventually ended up a victim of commercial sexual exploitation. It took time and incredible resilience, thankfully with the help of a local church community, Lloyd was able to break free from her pimp. Three years later, Lloyd moved to the US to start a new life and work with adult women in the sex industry, which soon led her to found her own nonprofit—GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services). Lloyd established GEMS to meet the needs young girls who have been trafficked into a life of commercial sexual exploitation. In her book, Girls Like Us, Lloyd reveals the dark world of the commercial sex industry and how it preys on innocent young girls. While exposing the dark reality of sex trafficking and exploitation Lloyd also shares her story, as well as that of the girls she has worked so tirelessly to help, with humility and and openness, that touches anyone who picks up this book.

Forecast for 2012

As we enter a new year, we are left somewhat dumbfounded by the previous year’s events and the toll they have taken on children across the globe; however, with each new year comes renewed hope. Will 2012 end the suffering of children in war-torn and drought-ridden countries? Will the number of AIDS orphans begin to decline?

Will 2012 truly be the year of the child? I wish I could sit here and write a wish list for children in 2012 and it would come true, but the power of the pen is not that mighty. However, the issues that children are facing are far more complicated, and will take more than one year to establish sustainable solutions, and ensure that they are truly protected on every level. Do not take this as pure cynicism, but a sad reality that we have much cleaning up to do across the world, and we can make 2012 a great year as we begin to dig in and fight the core issues that plague children, such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, war, gender equality, and sexual violence.

While great progress has been made over the past few years, across the globe children continue to stuffer and their rights are too often violated. The prevailing obstacle is the eradication of global poverty. Poverty compounds the level and degree of violations against children’s rights, and complicates the ability to effectively and sustainably meet the needs of children and ensure the protection and promotion of their rights. Additionally, the number of children dying before their fifth birthday continues to remain at unacceptable levels. The fight against child mortality is a continual battle against malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, and numerable preventable diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis, and cholera. The lack of adequate education and access to education is a considerable obstacle to the development of a child’s well being, as education is a key tool in combating poverty, health, and abuse. The number of children who are subject to violence, exploitation, abuse, gender inequity and discrimination remain at appalling levels.

With the rise in HIV/AIDS, success in increasing awareness and prevention is increasingly effective, thus it is hopeful that 2012 will be the year we begin to see a decline in the number of cases. We must increase our efforts in both raising awareness and initiating prevention programs (including family planning), combined with antiviral and other drug treatments.

The biggest fight in 2012 will be for gender equality, which will help establish a base for the elimination of numerous other human rights violations against children. This is the year to act, with awareness of such issues as human trafficking, modern slavery, sex tourism, female genital mutilation (FGM), and child marriages. Many of these issues are decreasing too slowly, or are on the rise. Thankfully with the establishment of UN Women this year awareness and action amongst the international community has begun to gain a stronger ground. Therefore, 2012 truly is the year is the year to make substantial and sustainable dents in the gender gap.

What needs to be done in 2012? We need to work as a global community to sustainably prevent the transmission of HIV, and break the cycle of poverty and gender inequality. As a global community, focus is necessary to achieve all of the international development goals set for 2015, especially the Millennium Development Goals, where we are falling behind. The global community must work to ensure that an environment that benefits and encourages the welfare of all children is established and ensure the recognition of all children’s rights.

AUTHOR: Cassandra Clifford
URL: www.bridgetofreedomfoundation.org and http://children.foreignpolicyblogs.com
E-MAIL: Cassandra [at] btff.org

Apart from night blindness, vitamin A deficiency increases the risk of diseases like measles and diarrhea, both contributing to more than a third of child deaths in Bangladesh.

An estimated vitamin A doses annually save the lives of more than 30,000 children in Bangladesh, said Prof. Fatima Parveen Chowdhury, director of the Institute of Public Health Nutrition.

Quoting a national nutrition survey, the health official argues that night blindness among children has significantly declined from 3.7 percent two decades ago to 0.04 percent.

AUTHOR: Saleem Samad
URL: http://bangladeshwatchdog.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: saleemsamad [at] hotmail.com