TRAFFICKING AND LABOUR REPORTS HIGHLIGHT THREATS TO CHILDREN’S FUTURES By J ill Moss Last week the American State Department released its 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report. This rates efforts by 140 countries to fight slavery. Information comes from American Embassies, human right groups and non-governmental organizations. The report divides the countries into three groups. The first two are countries believed to be working hard against trafficking or trying to improve. But the third group is nations believed to be making little or no effort. They could lose some American assistance or face other restrictions. Ten nations are in this group. Burma, North Korea, Cuba and Sudan were also listed last year. This year the State Department added Bangladesh, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone. It also added Venezuela, Guyana and Ecuador. Forty-two nations are on a special “watch list” of countries at risk of being given the lowest rating. One of them is Japan. The report says Japan could do much more to protect thousands of victims of sexual slavery linked to organized crime groups. Japan says it will do more. Children taken from traffickers intercepted by police are housed at the Terre Des Hommes shelter in Cotonou, Benin. Worldwide, the report estimates that each year as many as eight hundred thousand people are taken across national borders for trafficking. It also notes that some groups place the number far higher. Most victims are women and girls forced into sexual slavery. Men are often forced into labour. Boys generally become child soldiers. Secretary of State Colin Powell says some countries have improved over the past year, including Turkey. It moved up from the lowest group to the watch list. Mister Powell said president Bush has promised fifty-million dollars more to fight international trafficking. This is above the seventy-million dollars budgeted for the past year. On June twelfth the International Labour Organization released a report for World Day Against Child Labour. The United Nations agency says at least ten-million children are being forced to work as house cleaners. In most cases, they earn little or no money. They are trapped. The report says that often the children are beaten or forced to have sex. Most of the victims are girls, some as young as ten. EFFORTS TO FIGHT POVERTY By Jill Moss The World Bank estimates that more than one thousand million people live in less than one dollar a day. These are the poorest of the poor, about one-sixth of the world population. Martin Ravallion works for the Development Research group at the World Bank. He says about fifty percent of the people in several African nations are among the world’s poorest. These nations include Ethiopia, Sierra Leon, Tanzania and Zambia. But even though these areas remain extremely poor, Mr. Ravallion says world poverty has been cut in half over the last twenty years. He says the number of poor people dropped by almost four hundred million between 1981 and 2001. To reduce poverty, the World Bank says developing nations should expand the possibilities for business and investment. The bank’s newest World Development report notes that private industry creates more than 90% of jobs in developing countries. The report for 2005 is based on questions asked of more than thirty thousand businesses in 53 developing countries. World Bank researchers found that companies are most concerned about how governments decide to enforce laws. About 90% of those in Guatemala reported policy conflicts with their government. This was true of more than 70% of businesses in Belarus and Zambia. Many companies also express concerns about problems like dishonesty and undependable electricity supplies. Last week , about fifty heads of state discussed ways to reduce poverty during a one-day conference in New York. The leaders and top officials met before the opening of the United Nations General Assembly meeting. French President Jacques Chirac and Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva called for a world tax to help finance an anti-poverty campaign. Diplomats say international finances, airplane tickets and sales of heavy weapons are just some of the things that could be taxed. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and another official represented the United States at the conference. She said taxes on world trade would be undemocratic and impossible to put in place. The UN has a goal to reduce by half the remaining number of poor people in the world by two thousand fifteen. Experts Say Babies Should Be Fed Only Breast Milk for the First Six Months By Jill Moss Health experts commonly advise mothers to feed babies only breast milk for the first six months. They say no other food is more valuable to the development of a child. The World Health Organization says children can be breastfed as part of their diet for up to two years or longer. Yet it says only one out of three babies is fed only breast milk for even just four months. Breast milk helps protect children from infections and disease. It can even prevent common sickness, such as diarrhea and pneumonia. And it can help babies recover more quickly if they do get sick. Studies show that mothers who breastfeed reduce their risk of cancer in the reproductive organs. Breastfeeding also saves money, compared to milk substitutes. The first week in August is World Breastfeeding Week. The campaign this year involved the idea of exclusive breastfeeding. The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action say babies can be fed drops or syrups with extra vitamins and minerals. But exclusive means no other foods or drinks for six months. The World Health Organization and UNICEF offer some steps for mothers. First, they say breastfeeding should start within the first hour after a baby’s birth. Second, the baby should not receive any food or drink, including water. Third, babies should be breastfed whenever they are hungry day or night. And, lastly, the agencies say there should be no use of bottles, pacifiers or other equipment. International health experts say traditional ways to measure child growth do not recognize things like the importance of breastfeeding. So the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is giving more than six million dollars to the WHO for a six-year project. The money will be used to develop new tools to measure the health and the well-being of young people. Current growth standards describe how children grow at different times. The new standards will also be linked to motor development. Experts say the message here is that physical growth is not the only part of normal development. Doctor Mercedes de Onis heads the WHO project. She says the current growth standards used by 99 countries do not support international health goals. She notes that one of these goals is to increase breastfeeding. Report: Aid, Economic Growth Fail to Cut Poverty in Poorest Nations Brianna Blake A new report says an increase in development aid has improved health and education levels in some of the world's poorest countries. But the United Nations report says poverty rates in these countries are not improving overall. Development aid has increased since two thousand two. Still, the report says severe poverty continues to worsen, in part because of H.I.V./AIDS. Environmental conditions also add to poverty. The report says climate change already affects many low-lying and island nations, and more problems are likely in the years to come. The report does show some areas of progress, however, which it credits to direct aid. For example, there are signs of improvement in many countries in elementary education and adult-reading levels. Other social measures including equality between males and females are also improving, but remain the lowest in the world. Many of the fifty countries rated as least developed have had strong economic growth in recent years. More than half recorded average yearly growth rates of four percent or more between two thousand and two thousand four. The report notes the effects of economic reforms, and the gains that oil producing countries have made from high oil prices. But in eighteen of the least developed countries, the economies shrank between nineteen ninety and two thousand four. And seven of these nations also saw a drop in their life expectancy, often because of AIDS. For example, the life expectancy of people in Lesotho dropped sharply between nineteen ninety and two thousand five. It fell from fifty-eight years to thirty-six. The report says that in many of the poorest countries, high birth rates are reducing the effects of economic improvements. So is a lack of equality when it comes to who gets resources. The report is for a meeting this September of the U.N. General Assembly. Delegates will discuss progress halfway through a ten-year Program of Action for the Least Developed Countries. Of the fifty, thirty-four are in Africa south of the Sahara. Fifteen are in Asia and the Pacific. And one is in the Caribbean: Haiti. Anwarul Chowdhury, the U.N. High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, called on the world to continue to help them. Free H.I.V. tests are given in Lesotho to mark World AIDS Day 2005 Non-Governmental Organizations Influence Policy Around the World The sixteenth international AIDS conference opened on Sunday in Toronto, Canada. More than twenty-four thousand delegates from one hundred thirty-two countries are attending the six-day conference. They include scientists, health care providers, activists, political and business leaders and people living with the disease. Many people attending the AIDS conference represent private non-governmental organizations, or NGOs. Political scientists often describe NGOs as “pressure groups” because of their effect on world issues. They have little official power over international decision-making. However, NGOs often influence international policy. A broad definition of NGO is any non-profit group that is independent of government. Most of these private organizations have one or more goals. For example, some support community development, provide social services and help poor people. Others support human rights and social justice. Still others work to protect the environment. NGOs support many issues and operate around the world. Some of the most well-known include Oxfam, Amnesty International and Greenpeace. James Paul heads the Global Policy Forum. It is an NGO in New York City that studies policy-making at the United Nations. He says that some NGOs represent industries or Maria Corina Machado leads Sumate, a Venezuelan NGO businesses, the interests of governments, or even criminal groups. He says it would be a mistake to believe that all NGOs are neutral. The World Bank has divided NGOs into three main groups. The first is community-based organizations that serve populations in a small geographical area. The second is national NGOs, which operate in individual developing countries. International NGOs are the third kind. These organizations usually have their headquarters in industrialized countries. They carry out operations in more than one developing nation. Information about the total number of non-governmental organizations is incomplete. However, experts estimate that tens of thousands of NGOs are active around the world. Large international NGOs may have operating budgets of tens of millions of dollars. However, most NGOs are much smaller. [...]... poorly nourished children are more likely to drop out of school and earn less money as adults The report is called “Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development.” It notes that too little food is not the only cause of poor nutrition Many children who live in homes with plenty of food suffer for other reasons For example, the study says that mothers often fail to give their newly born babies their... It is full of nutrients that improve a baby’s ability to fight infections and disease The study also links malnutrition to economic growth in poor countries A lack of nutrition in early childhood can cost developing nations up to three percent of their yearly earnings Many of these same countries have economies that are growing at a rate of two to three percent yearly The study suggests that poor countries... change their policies to deal with malnutrition Instead of directly providing food, the study suggests educational programs in health and nutrition for mothers with young babies It also recommends cleaner living conditions and improvements in health care World Bank nutrition specialist Meera Shekar was the lead writer for the report She said the period of life between pregnancy and two years is extremely... nutrition Africa and South Asia are affected the most by poor nutrition The study says about half of all children in India do not get enough good food The World Bank study also notes that rates of malnutrition in South Asia are almost double those in central and southern Africa Other parts of the world are also severely affected, including Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Guatemala and Peru The study... specialist Meera Shekar was the lead writer for the report She said the period of life between pregnancy and two years is extremely important Governments with limited resources should take direct action to improve nutrition for children during this period