Stolen Childhood

UNICEF, in its latest report, says that though encouraging progress has been made to improve the lot of children the world over, much remains to be done. The world body has given its assessment with regard to the 2015 Millennium Development Goals decided by all the nations under the aegis of the United Nations in the year 2000.

In its sixth [the latest] Progress for Children report, UNICEF says the top child killers are aids, pneumonia and pregnancy deaths and adds that these areas will have to be the focus in the future.

Witchcraft is not uncommon in this age of computer and economic revolution across the globe but the manner in which it is prevailing in Nigeria defies all human values. In various parts of the west African country, Evangelical pastors have made it a lucrative business for themselves to brand young children, sometimes infants, as witches who are spreading evil in the villages.

The most unfortunate part of the story is that parents pay the pastors large sums of money to get rid of their own children. This is another tragic fact that I am having to discuss involving the plight of unfortunate young children which is the direct result of senseless superstitions.

Basim Majhar, 45, is a guard at central Baghdad’s Al-Dahana school and he has to support his family of six with the meagre salary that he receives. One might argue that such is indeed the plight of many in this nation. However, Majhar’s case is special.

Life has burdened Majhar with four physically challenged children-three of them paralyzed and one with acute cardiac problems. His eldest son Haider(21) had his hip shattered in 1991 ( when the city of Kirkuk was attacked by Saddam Hussein to put down a rebellion) and has been paralyzed from the waist down since then; Majhar’s daughter Zainab (7) and son Abbas (11) accidentally fell from a rooftop and both have been paralyzed; the other son of Majhar’s was born with dextrocardia (i.e., with his heart on the right side of the chest).

The average Somali is struggling hard to receive a human treatment in the African Horn. Life in this part of the world has not been easy over the last decade. War, internal rebellion and economic breakdowns have left many thousands displaced. Children and women have come to bear the maximum brunt of these unsolicited evils. Malnutrition, disablement and fatal diseases are all too, very common. With the current war scene showing no signs of ending early, there are serious doubts raised over the sustenance of human life here.

[Undernourished children everywhere in Somalia]

Meanwhile, the UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) has announced plans to immunize about 100,000 internally displaced people, comprising women and children.

That rainy morning, I was waiting at the bus stop to board a bus. Continuous showers had made roads rather muddy and untidy. Passing cars drove through the stagnant waters, splashing them on the people standing near by. Just when my bus was about to arrive, something soft held my legs. It was a kid, probably 7 or 8-years-old. His legs were severely bent and he could not stand. I realized that he was disabled.

Every society in the world has disabled members. While treatment meted out to these souls has traditionally been harsh, the world has now risen to understand their sorry state and accept them as an integral part of popular life. Considering that some part of the body does not function normally, it is a real challenge to live without it. Disabled children will need good support to start a life, satisfied and confident without worrying about their problem.

Based on the recent statistics of Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) report from 2001 to 2006, more than 200,000 Filipino children suffered from various exploitation acts and human rights injustices.

Myanmar, formerly Burma, is popularly known as ‘The land of Golden Pagodas‘, a credit for the beautiful Buddhist temples in the country. Situated strategically between South and Southeast Asia, it serves as a vital trade link between two such regions of Asian continent, which are culturally, economically, socially and politically diverse.

Burma was in fact an integral part of the Indian mainland before the British made it a separate colony through the Government of India Act, 1935. It was also an important battlefield during the World WarII.

Every day there is news about children being exploited in some part of the world. Articles speak of kids being abused physically, verbally and even sexually. In particular, the developing countries of the southern hemisphere have been the major exploiters of children. While awareness against using children in hazardous work is being built, in parallel, silent exploitation continues without caring for laws. The economical condition of families in these poor nations also helps promote child labor.

A recent report by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has revealed the presence of underpaid child workers in cotton production in countries like India, China, Brazil, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Turkey. The reports details the abuses children suffer including the conditions under which they are forced to work. Many children in these nations sacrifice schooling to take up jobs that provide some revenue to the family. They even work in farms that are sprayed with chemicals, without any preventive measures in place. It is imperative that manufacturers make a through review of their supply chains and negate any use of children for making their products. It is also important that they certify non-usage of child labor.

The ‘Third World’ refers to that group of nations, which became independent after World War II. These countries suffer from basic issues like food and shelter shortage, poverty, illiteracy, high birth and death rates, social crimes and many more.

Often women and children become automatic victims of these problems. Children in particular are the most vulnerable, being linked to banners like bonded labor, begging, sexual harassment and illegal traffic. Many of these children are ‘orphans‘, some deliberately abandoned while others accidentally.

The violent and unstable political situation across the Palestinian territories is driving the children(particularly of the Gaza Strip)towards a hostile and irreparable future. Israeli restrictions and the Hamas-Fatah rivalry have made life unbearable for Palestinian civilians. 70% of people in the Gaza Strip live below the poverty line leading children to give up their schools and studies and look for laborious jobs from a very young age to support their struggling families.