UN envoy welcomes beginning of child soldier discharges in Nepal

www.chinaview.cn 2010-01-09 08:29:21

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UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- A UN special representative welcomes the start of the discharge of nearly 3,000 child soldiers serving in the Maoist army in Nepal's decade-long civil war, a UN press release said here on Friday. The first group of young people discharged were verified as children in 2007, which subsequently disqualify them from the Maoist army, said the press release by the office for Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon's special representative for children and armed conflict. The discharge from seven Maoist cantonments is to be completed within 40 days where the young people will be briefed by the UN on how to start their new lives and given the necessary support to return to school or to gain new skills -- all part of a rehabilitation process by the government and backed by the UN. In December 2008, the special representative had gone to Nepal to help plant the Action Plan which has led to the discharge agreement signed by the Nepalese government, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal--Maoist (UCPN-M) and the UN. "Today, the minors who have spent the last three years in Maoist army cantonments with their lives on hold will finally be able to take the next step towards a more positive future," Coomaraswamy said in the press release issued by her office.

Caste system traps Nepali 'hereditary prostitutes'

Caste system traps Nepali 'hereditary prostitutes'

By Claire Cozens (AFP) – 10 hours ago

BANKHET — Durpati Nepali hides her face in shame as she recalls how she was forced to return to work as a prostitute after her husband was killed during Nepal's 10-year civil war.

The 35-year-old mother of five says she resorted to prostitution -- an occupation she first took up aged just 14 -- in desperation after the food stall she set up failed because customers were abusive and refused to pay.

Nepali was victimised because she is a Badi, a caste of so-called "untouchables" living mainly in western Nepal whose women have traditionally earned their living as sex workers.

Once high-class courtesans and musicians, the Badi are now among the poorest and most downtrodden groups in Nepal, where discrimination on caste grounds remains rife despite being outlawed more than four decades ago.

Many are disadvantaged from birth because they carry the surname Nepali, often used on the birth certificates of children where paternity is unclear, making them vulnerable to persecution.

"When my husband died, I had no option but to go back into prostitution to feed my family," said Nepali, whose husband died eight years ago, a victim of the civil conflict that ended in 2006.

"Even when I wasn't working as a prostitute, people treated me like one. But it has brought many problems," she told AFP in her tiny mud hut in the village of Bankhet in mid-western Nepal.

"Last month, more than 20 villagers came and threatened to burn down our home if we did not leave the village."

Activists say that a lack of education and continuing caste-based prejudices in majority-Hindu Nepal often make it difficult for Badi women to earn their living any other way, trapping them in a cycle of poverty and social rejection.

Nepali's mother was a sex worker, and now her two youngest daughters -- one aged 14, one 16 -- have followed her into prostitution.

"I had high hopes for my daughters, I wanted them to marry into good families. But they say they want to look after me like I looked after them when their father died," she said.

"I'm not happy that they have become prostitutes. But if they had not, there would be no food on the table."

Mahesh Nepali, director of the advocacy group Social Awareness for Education (SAFE) Nepal and himself a Badi, said the community faced discrimination even from other "untouchable" castes, and were viewed as the "lowest of the low."

"Even among the untouchables, Badis are seen as the most untouchable," he said.

"As a result they have no sense of self worth. On top of that, they are very weak economically, so it is almost impossible for them to change their destiny without outside help."

In 2007, hundreds of Badi women travelled to the capital Kathmandu where they held a series of rowdy protests to demand government help, some stripping off outside the parliament building.

Some help is now available in the form of government funding for the rehabilitation and rehousing of vulnerable Badi women, although the implementation of such programmes has been hampered by political instability.

The Badi -- estimated to number around 40,000 across the Himalayan country -- have also benefited from a recent change in the law that for the first time permitted fatherless children to obtain citizenship.

But Sapana Pradhan Malla, a renowned women's rights lawyer who last year became a member of Nepal's parliament, said the government needed to do much more to help the Badi people.

"Because of the social stigma they have not been a political priority," she told AFP.

"I urge the government to ensure justice for these people. After all, they are our sisters and mothers. How can we treat them differently?"

A handful of women have managed to change their destiny, among them Kalpana Nepali, 23, who grew up in a hostel for the children of Badi sex workers.

"My father died when I was two and a half, forcing my mother to go into the sex trade," said Kalpana, who now runs a small cooperative bank for her community.

"One day my mother and some other women sold all their jewellery to fund a hostel for the children because they did not want them to grow up in that environment.

"As a result, most of us managed to finish high school. But if it had not been for the hostel, I'm sure we would also be doing sex work."

But there are many more who have received no such help, such as Durpati's 14-year-old daughter Binita, who left school aged just 12 and went into the sex trade.

"I miss school. Sometimes I wonder why I left," she told AFP.

"I dreamt of becoming a doctor or doing some other honest job. But what can you do? We have no money so I cannot fulfil those dreams."

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Struggling with India gender bias

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7570192.stm

Congo blasts child soldier claim

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7641498.stm
Civilians have repeatedly been displaced by violence in DR Congo
A Democratic Republic of Congo minister has challenged a report claiming a rise in the recruitment of child soldiers and rape in the east of the country.
Defence Minister Chikez Diemu said authorities were tackling the problems, arresting suspects and trying them in military courts.
The report by Amnesty International said that for every two child soldiers released, five were being recruited.
The report cited victims of conflict in North Kivu province.
DR Congo's army has been battling fighters loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda in the east of the country, causing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.
'Torture'
The report said that some child soldiers who had been demobilised were being re-recruited by armed groups.
It also said government security forces had "unlawfully detained and in some cases tortured and ill-treated captured children, and continue to rape and sexually abuse women and girls".
Mr Diemu told the BBC's Network Africa programme he knew of no reports that the armed forces were recruiting children.

"I wouldn't see for which reason [the army] would be recruiting kids," he said.
With renewed fighting in eastern DR Congo, the report said child soldiers who attempt to escape are killed or tortured, sometimes in front of other children.
Women and girls continue to be raped, often in public and in front of family members, it said.
But Mr Diemu said that reports on the situation in North Kivu should also say that "something is being done".
"A great deal has been achieved," he said, adding: "We still have to run to end this phenomenon, which is tragic."
"We are a post-conflict country. We have organised and just achieved democratic elections."
Gen Nkunda signed a peace deal in January following fierce fighting last year.
But he has always refused to disarm while Rwandan Hutu rebels still operate in the area, as he accuses them of attacking his Tutsi community.

Liberia cassava farm

what these woman are doing:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/08/africa_liberia_cassava_farm/html/3.stm

Economic storms threaten development

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7634525.stm
By Stephanie Holmes BBC News
The Millennium Development Goals were hailed as a new framework for development - tangible targets that would propel and direct change in the spheres of hunger, health and human rights, equality and education.
But, as politicians, advocates and experts gather in New York, the economic storm clouds of soaring commodity prices and a global slowdown threaten to overshadow the future.

India's success in meeting goals on education is not matched in health
"We are very worried about the financial crisis," says Thoraya Obaid, the head of the United Nations Population Fund, whose agency focuses on maternal and reproductive health.
She admits that there is a risk that international aid priorities - and funding - will slip off the political agenda as governments and individuals grapple with their own domestic crises.
"Next year is supposed to be the year of reconciliation - of solidarity among nations - but the global crisis will affect everyone, not only at the national or government level, but also at the individual level."
The UN concedes that eight years on from member states pledging to halve the proportion of people who live on $1 (0.68 euros; £0.53) a day and reducing by 50% the hundreds of millions who go hungry each night, the results are mixed.
Towards the targets
The overarching goal of reducing absolute poverty by half is within reach for the world as whole, the UN says, but not in sub-Saharan Africa.
Some 80% of children in developing countries are now vaccinated against measles, yet one in four is still undernourished and underweight.

The [Indian] government talks about doubling and trebling expenditure, but they aren't increasing spending on a par with economic growth
Lysa John, Keep the Promise
Though the goals risk painting even progress as failure, Ms Obaid defends them as a tool.
"Without goals… we cannot monitor what we are doing and demonstrate results. It is a way for governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations to hold each other accountable and people to hold their governments accountable."
Yet the targets have not been unquestioningly welcomed by campaigners who warn that some fundamental issues have not been directly addressed.
"Many women's groups in India feel that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) do not speak of social exclusion. They look at the sum of all things but not at socially excluded groups - like women, minorities, children or young people," explains Lysa John, of Keep the Promise, an Indian NGO which campaigns to ensure the government meets its MDG pledges.
MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality
Reduce child mortality
Improve maternal health
Combat HIV/Aids
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop a global development partnership
Perhaps as a result, though India's economic success has fuelled progress on many goals - in particular access to education - the targets around maternal health are far from being met.
"The health indicators are where India has fallen off track," Ms John says. "We have the highest number of maternal deaths in the world."
The UN estimates that India has the highest number of women dying during childbirth anywhere in the world - one woman dying every three to six minutes from preventable causes, according to campaigners - yet the country spends less than 0.9% of its Gross Domestic Product on public healthcare."Women and children don't have a strong political voice," Ms John says. "Even beyond marginalised communities, the issue of maternal death is completely invisible - it is seen as God's hand, as your fate."
In reverse
Ms Obaid agrees: "It would cost the world $6bn (4bn euros; £3.24bn) to stop women dying during childbirth, less than the amount spent in a day and a half on the military, so you can see how a little investment could help to transform women's lives".

Households headed by women have been affected by rising food pricesEconomic success in countries across Asia is pushing down overall poverty levels but many of the poorest families within countries have been the hardest hit by the rise in staple foods like rice, wheat, corn and oil.
"It is the poorest of the poor - those who spend a large proportion of their income on food - who have been most affected by the increasing prices," explains Kostas Stamoulis, of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's Agricultural and Economics Development division. "It's the female-headed household, the landless people, the urban poor."
Until prices spiked, he explains, many countries were roughly on track to meet the first MDG - that of halving hunger.
"But if this trend does not get reversed then it will be very difficult to do it," he adds.
The FAO says an additional 75 million people joined the ranks of the hungry last year, pushed over the edge by increasing food costs.
"We believe we can still achieve it. But if food prices fall - even substantially - it will not necessarily cancel out these effects. Many households in distress have already sold assets that are difficult to build up, leaving them more vulnerable."
Political priorities
Long-term under-investment in the agricultural sector, Mr Stamoulis says, is only part of the reason why this particular MDG is proving so difficult to address, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where conflict combines with poor infrastructure.
"We also have to look at the political process in developing countries. We have to be even-handed, it's not just about the donors but also the recipients. Looking at the facts, agriculture was never a sexy sector to develop. It's about having the political will to focus on it."
India, Ms John points out, should channel a greater proportion of the growing funds available into meeting the health-related MDGs.
"The government talks about doubling and trebling expenditure, but they aren't increasing spending on a par with economic growth, the economy is growing far faster," she says.
There is also some anger, within the UN building, that the US government is considering a massive financial rescue package to bail out Wall Street, not so many blocks away across town.
"Why is it possible to find $700bn (477bn euros; £378bn) to help save the private sector on Wall Street and not find the money that is needed - in this case $6bn - to save women from dying?" asks Ms Obaid. "The issue becomes about where the priorities are."

Improving health in fragile states

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7632361.stm

With the spotlight once more on the UN Millennium Development Goals, Michael Jay - the UK's chief negotiator at the 2005 Gleneagles Summit and chair of medical aid agency Merlin - argues that we must address the conflicts that prevent targets on poverty, health and human rights being met.

In countries ravaged by conflict, progress towards the Millennium Development Goals is not only stalling, it is going backwards.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, maternal mortality doubled during the recent conflict, leaving its residents with no hope of hitting the target to reduce deaths in childbirth by a third by 2015.
The same is true elsewhere - in Zimbabwe, Niger and Sudan. This week's UN summit, attended by world leaders, is an opportunity to reverse this trend.
AFRICA HAVE YOUR SAY
The MDGs will always be a mirage to Africa and Africans as long as we have the type of attitude the leaders have
Bolu Aladeniyi, Ibadan
Send us your comments
During some of the world's bloodiest conflicts - in Sudan, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo - many more people were killed by disease and malnutrition than weapons of war.
Long conflicts, often lasting decades, can destroy health systems and set each nation on a path of chronic neglect of its people.
As health workers flee fighting and medical centres close, people succumb to malnutrition and preventable disease.
Weak governments
Mothers remain at home rather than risk taking their children to a health clinic. Progress falters and healthcare stops. It is within these conflict-affected countries that the Millennium Development Goals are most off-track.

Health services can be casualties of conflict. Pic: Kate EshelbyI saw first-hand the enduring effects of conflict last week, when I travelled to southern Sudan.
Twenty-one years of civil war killed just under two million people and forced four million from their homes here, leaving them exposed to disease and malnutrition.
The bulk of these deaths could have been prevented by trained health workers. But most had fled with their families or were sick themselves. The health system had collapsed.
Three years on from a peace agreement and the lasting damage is evident.
At a hospital in Torit, in Eastern Equatoria, we are trying to train health workers. Staff try to recruit from the local community, but people who have spent years moving between camps have missed out on education. No wonder Sudan is off-track to meet its development targets.
World leaders... must acknowledge that conflict is directly responsible for a lack of progress
Sudan is, alas, not alone but one of 50 fragile states - countries where the government is unable or unwilling to support the needs of its people.
Whether emerging from civil war or recovering from famine or disease, these countries have limited resources to deal with healthcare demands.
The impact is clear: nearly half the women who die in childbirth each year live in fragile states, over half of the children who die before their fifth birthday live in a fragile state.
Ensuring a functioning health system and a trained work-force in this context is difficult, but essential.
Change possible
Many dedicated health workers, both national and international, are working on the frontline, delivering vital health care in Darfur, Afghanistan, Congo, Iraq, despite constant security concerns. They provide a key role in peace-building, helping to build up a tattered social fabric, minimising the effects of war and promoting a peaceful agenda.
And progress is possible. In Afghanistan, 40,000 young children are saved each year, the result of a growing number of skilled birth attendants working despite the insecurity.
In Liberia, a period of stability under President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has allowed health workers to deliver more vaccinations, paving the way for a fall in infant mortality.
As world leaders meet to discuss the progress of the Millennium Development Goals, they must acknowledge that conflict is directly responsible for a lack of progress.
If we as a global community are to stand a chance of reaching the targets, we must ensure that those countries most off-track receive particular attention.
Ensuring access to health during conflict and helping to rebuild health systems in the longer term must be a key priority. So must strengthening international systems for preventing conflict in the future, or the gains will be lost.
We need to work now to support countries recovering from conflict and to prevent future conflicts if we are to help millions of the world's most vulnerable people and stand any chance of reaching the 2015 target. World leaders must rise to the challenge.