http://www.ungei.org/ News from UNGEI en-us Copyright 2007, UNGEI http://www.ungei.org/rss/ http://www.unicef.org/images/hp_ungei_banner_thn.gif http://www.ungei.org/ http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/mozambique_1797.html MAGANJA DA COSTA DISTRICT, Mozambique, 2 May 2008 – For almost a year, many families in Mozambique have awakened at daybreak to the pleasant voice of the young announcers at Erive Community Radio, the Maganja da Costa District's new UNICEF-supported radio station. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/afghanistan_1795.html JALALABAD, 8 April 2008 - Over 2,200 children are forced to work long hours in dozens of brick-making factories in Nangarhar Province, eastern Afghanistan, to pay off their families' debts, a survey by the Child Action Protection Network (CAPN), an Afghan body, has found. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/afghanistan_1796.html KABUL, Afghanistan, 28 April 2008 – Faiz Mohammad Fayyaz, now in his early twenties, lost his father when he was seven years old. His mother cannot read and write, because her father did not allow her to go to school, and married her off at the age of 14. Despite all this, Faiz's mother made sure that he and his three sisters got an education. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/botswana_1793.html GABORONE, Botswana, 15 April 2008 – Around the world, 158 million children aged 5 to 14 are engaged in some form of child labour – that's one child in every six. In sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion is even higher, at one in three. However, many countries are only just becoming aware of the extent of this problem. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/247_1790.html Washington, April 17, 2008 – The Education for All Fast Track Initiative is a global international partnership with the objective of ensuring accelerated progress towards the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/247_1786.html NEW YORK, 22 April 2008 – This year, Global Action Week focuses on the theme 'Quality Education to End Exclusion'. This theme recognizes the need for quality education for children everywhere, in school and out. Ensuring a quality education includes identifying the social, economic and environmental needs of the child in order to provide a space for better learning and care. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/nigeria_1765.html ABUJA, Nigeria, 21 April, 2008 – Last month, the First Lady of Nigeria, Turai Yar'Adua, launched the Girl's Education Initiative in the state of Bauchi, where she made a full commitment to supporting girls' education. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/laopdr_1775.html BAN DONGE, Lao PDR, 8 April 2008 – The residents of Ban Donge in Xieng Khuang Province are accustomed to the foreign tourists who drop by to have a look around their village. However, the most recent group of visiting foreigners was welcomed with a grand spectacle that included local students performing Lao and Japanese dances, a gymnastics demonstration and even a recital by a famous Japanese violinist. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/kenya_1772.html LAMU, Kenya, 27 March 2008 – Not so long ago Mkomani Primary School in Lamu, an island off Kenya's coast, lacked books, desks, floors and ceilings. Today 17 brand new computers acquired with UNESCO's support adorn its premises. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/kenya_1767.html KIBERA, Kenya, 4 April 2008 – Kibera is Kenya's largest slum, right in the heart of the capital city, Nairobi. The slum's million-plus inhabitants struggle with extraordinary poverty and high crime rates. As is true throughout Kenya, the vast majority of Kibera's residents are under the age of 30, and less than half of the district's youths ever begin secondary school. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/mozambique_1757.html NEW YORK, USA, 17 March 2008 – The 52nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which concluded recently in New York, could have been just another annual gathering at the United Nations where ambitious commitments are made but soon forgotten – until the next meeting, when they are made yet again. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/malawi_1756.html LILONGWE, Malawi, 11 March 2008 – Zile Shumba is the Executive Director of CKK Building and Civil Contractors, a company hired by UNICEF Malawi to build new classrooms as part of the Schools for Africa initiative. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/egypt_1747.html CAIRO, 5 March 2008 (IRIN) - Sahar Zeidan Abdel Wareth, who helps her father on the land, could not attend school until she was 12 when a "girl-friendly" school was built near her home in Assiut Province, some 375km from Cairo. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/ghana_1724.html TAKORADI, Ghana, 23 January 2008 - As part of UNICEF's campaign on Quality Education for all Children I went to my school, Chapel Hill, in Takoradi, as a youth journalist and led a discussion on the importance of education. First we organized for the kids to have some fun before we dealt with the big issues. Since the Africa Cup of Nations is being held in Sekondi-Takoradi, we played football to use the power of sport to promote education. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/ghana_1717.html ACCRA, Ghana, 1 February 2008 – Edith Asamani, 17 and Stephen Iseh, 14, are two of the youth reporters based in Accra who have joined UNICEF to raise awareness of the 'Quality Education for All Children' campaign during the MTN Africa Cup of Nations, GHANA 2008. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/haiti_1716.html About 600 miles off coast Florida and only a two hour plane ride from Miami, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere where an estimated 300,000 children work as child labourers. Last month, the Brazilian government announced a programme to fight child labour in Haiti to be coordinated by the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO-IPEC). The programme is part of a major new initiative to promote South-South cooperation in the fight against child labour worldwide. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/kenya_1711.html NAIROBI, Kenya, 24 January 2008 – The violence that erupted in the aftermath of last year's disputed presidential elections has made life chaotic for many in Kenya. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/kenya_1712.html Nairobi / Geneva, 25 January 2008 - The hopes of hundreds of thousands of Kenyan children and their families hang in the balance as the two leaders in the disputed election, President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, finally begin to talk, face to face. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/247_1644.html NEW YORK, USA, 19 December 2007 – Providing education to children in regions and societies affected by conflict – or emerging from it – is a major challenge. Yet communities in conflict-affected areas consistently rank education as a high priority. And they demonstrate astounding resourcefulness and resilience in seeking out and providing schooling for their children. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/ghana_1613.html NEW YORK, USA, 23 November 2007 – Bernice Akuamoah, 21, lives in Accra, Ghana, where she has just started her third year at university. She was the first person to create a Digital Diary with UNICEF Radio and Voices of Youth (UNICEF's online community for young people), using recording equipment to tell her story of teenage life in Accra in a six-part series. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/247_1607.html NEW YORK, USA, 16 November 2007 – Providing education to children in regions and societies affected by conflict – or emerging from it – is a major challenge. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/247_1599.html The War's Over, Now Where's Your Homework? Listen to a discussion about child soldiers and education in the context of humanitarian aid delivery to conflict and post-crisis countries. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/247_1598.html When Crises Strike Children – Education as a Human Right and Long-Term Development Tool. Listen to a discussion of the immediate and long-term needs and rights of children living in crisis zones. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/kenya_1591.html NEW YORK, USA, 24 October 2007 – Fatuma Roba, 20, lives in Kibera, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Deeply concerned about the rights of girls and women, she is a founding member of the Binti Pamoja group – a girls' centre in her community. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/guinea_1590.html CONAKRY, Guinea, 29 October 2007 – The people of Moribaya, 50 km from Conakry, have banded together to build a school for their children – one of the so-called 'warehouse schools' that provide elementary education to Guinean girls and boys, and are supported by UNICEF and the state government. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/liberia_1589.html CALDWELL, Liberia, 26 October 2007 – Odell Williams is a student in the Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) at the Elizabeth Tubman Public school outside Liberia's capital, Monrovia. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/guinea_1586.html CONAKRY, Guinea, 11 October 2007—On this afternoon, about thirteen girls aged from 10 to 24 years old join in the Nafa centre. They carefully listen to their teacher's description on how to set up a personal project, whether it be a workshop or a cooperative. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/opt_1573.html HEBRON, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 5 October 2007 – Ongoing conflict poses threats to the education of Palestinian children. Not only is safe access to school often jeopardized, but it is hard for them to thrive once they get into the classroom. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/ghana_1568.html TAMALE CITY, Ghana, 26 September 2007 – Accomplished football player and Goodwill Ambassador Marcel Desailly recently visited the Northern Region of Ghana with UNICEF to encourage children, especially young girls, to play football and go to school. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/mongolia_1563.html NARANBULAG, Mongolia, 11 September 2007 – On a windy, treeless plain in Mongolia, 10-year-old Bayarkhuu and his classmate Tsengel are herding goats in search of better grazing grounds. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/1555_1560.html GENEVA (ILO Online) – The story of a girl named Hadiza is not atypical, but the outcome is better than others. At the age of seven, she and her parents arrived in Komabangou, Niger, and together with her older brothers and sisters, she was put to work wet and dry panning for gold and removing rubble and ore from the pits. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/benin_1551.html SÔ-AVA, Benin, 13 September 2007 – World renowned singer and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo is in her home country of Benin this week to raise awareness about child rights. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/china_1549.html SHANGHAI, China, 13 September, 2007 – Eriko Arakawa, 27, fell in love with football at a very early age. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/guineabissau_1548.html CANCHUNGO, Guinea-Bissau, 7 September 2007 – Isabel introduces herself very shyly: "My name is Isabel Luís Gomes. I am 15 years old and I always studied in the Cunha Gomes School. I am a sixth-grade student. I should be almost finishing school, but unfortunately I was enrolled late." http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/usa_1542.html NEW YORK, USA, 7 September 2007 – In the run-up to the FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007, which takes place from 10 through 30 September, UNICEF has launched a new set of dynamic public service announcements. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/brazil_1536.html OLINDA, Brazil, 31 August 2007 – For 15 years, UNICEF Brazil has supported the Environment and Citizenship Project here in the city of Olinda. Developed by the municipal government, the project offers sport- and music-related activities to girls and boys who have been involved in child labour or are in danger of being exploited. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/guatemala_1535.html GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala 22 August 2007 – Dora Alonzo, 15, was wearing a beautiful, hand-woven dress in yellow, pink and blue. "We're girls – we like to play, we like to laugh, we like to sing, we like to enjoy life," she said last week before a gathering of people, many of them young girls like her, at the Children's Museum in Guatemala City. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/guatemala_1526.html GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala 22 August 2007 – Dora Alonzo, 15, was wearing a beautiful, hand-woven dress in yellow, pink and blue. "We're girls – we like to play, we like to laugh, we like to sing, we like to enjoy life," she said last week before a gathering of people, many of them young girls like her, at the Children's Museum in Guatemala City. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/sudan_1520.html JUBA, Southern Sudan, 15 August 2007 – Every Tuesday morning, while her younger brother and sisters are still climbing into their school uniforms, Suku Jane Simon, 16, climbs onto a chair at Southern Sudan Radio, adjusts a pair of headphones and coolly announces the start of her own broadcast. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/solomonislands_1506.html BOUGAINVILLE, Solomon Islands (ILO Online) – It is Genevieve Doni's second day in school. She looks unsure of herself, probably because despite being 17 years old, she is only in primary school. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/rwanda_1500.html KIGALI, Rwanda, 8 August 2007 – Nathalie Kaligirwa, 17, received the First Lady's Award for Achievement during a ceremony launching the Rwandan Government's new five-year campaign to promote gender parity, retention and achievement of girls in school. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/bolivia_1497.html EL ALTO, Bolivia, 6 August 2007 – Mariela Mamani lives in Villa Tunari, one of the most populous areas in El Alto, Bolivia. In the vast neighbourhoods that seem pressed into the soil of the high plain, it is easy to get lost. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/sudan_1494.html RUMBEK, Southern Sudan - The first sign of rain clouds for students at Tiboro School in Yeri in South Sudan means that classes are abandoned. http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/malawi_1487.html NEW YORK, USA, 31 July 2007 – Jane Kachitenji is passionate about girls' rights – to education, safety and the same opportunities as boys. She's an active participant in the Kaufulu Girls Foundation, a girls' club in her home community of Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi.