News on Children's Issues

Former slave gets cabinet position in Paraguay
A Paraguayan tribal woman who says she was captured in the jungle and sold into forced labour as a child has become a member of the country's cabinet, vowing to improve the lives of South America's indigenous population. Margarita Mbywangi, a 46-year-old Ache tribal chief, has been made minister of indigenous affairs, becoming the first indigenous person to oversee ethnic Indian affairs in Paraguay. She was sold between several families as a child. “When I was a girl, four years old, the whites kidnapped me in the jungle and I was sold several times to families of hacienda owners. They sent me to school, so I can read and write,” she told Channel 2 television. She said her masters told her she was an Indian and began to seek her origins “until I found my people in the community of Chupapou.” (The Guardian, August 19)

UNICEF responds to immediate needs of displaced children and women in Georgia
UNICEF and its partners have distributed hygiene kits and bottled water to 3,600 displaced women and children in and around the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. UNICEF, and other international humanitarian agencies, are currently conducting rapid assessments to identify the scale of problems and the most pressing needs of affected people, including children. Most of the displaced persons in Georgia have been accommodated in 170 temporary facilities such as kindergartens, schools, public and governmental buildings. However, most of the facilities lack basic conditions such as toilets, potable water and electricity. So far, the estimated total number of persons displaced throughout the region as a result of the conflict totals nearly 100,000 people, according to UNHCR. This figure includes 60,000 children and women. (Medical News Today, August 18)

Early childhood development in focus in Zambia
More than 100 researchers, practitioners, and experts on Early Childhood Development (ECD) will gather in Livingstone this week to participate in a symposium on the ECD experience in Eastern and Southern Africa. The Ministry of Education, UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and other partners will host the ECD symposium from 20-22 August at the New Fairmount Hotel. This “up stream” policy event will address a variety of ECD fields, including child care, development, and education. “For nearly half the world’s children – especially girls and those from marginalized populations – early childhood education is not guaranteed. This is despite the fact that early childhood is the most significant period of development in our lives, establishing the cognitive, emotional, and social foundation upon which we build our futures,” said UNICEF Zambia Representative Lotta Sylwander. “By getting children ready for school, we arm them with the tools necessary to build fulfilling lives, become productive citizens, and take their place in the global community.” (UNICEF Press Centre, August 18)

Outsourcing refugee education in Israel
The children of the Sudanese refugees living in Eilat were astonished to learn last week that this year, too, they will be studying outside the city, in separate classes for Sudanese children only. Their classrooms were built last year in the Ayalot vacation village near Eilat, located within the jurisdiction of the Ayalot regional council. When the parents, most of whom work in Eilat hotels, complained, they were told that this was a temporary arrangement, for one year only, which would allow the children to study Hebrew ahead of enrolling in the Israeli school system. Whereas those children who live in Ayalot will be studying in the regional school, the refugee kids from Eilat will continue to study in classes for Sudanese only. (CRIN, August 18)

Emergency grants to help people most affected by global food crisis
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced a $17.6 million package of grants to help people most affected by the global food crisis and support small-scale farmers in developing countries. The largest grant – $10 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) –  will continue the organization's efforts to feed young children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in Niger, Cote D'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso, where malnutrition rates are staggering. Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps, and Oxfam America will receive a total of $7.6 million. These grants include providing food for those most in need; helping families earn money for food through employment opportunities or cash-for-work programs; and helping farmers continue and improve their production in times of crisis. While these grants address some of the most urgent consequences of the global food crisis, the foundation is also deeply committed to funding nutritional programs that promote lasting health and supporting long-term, sustainable efforts to help hundreds of millions of small farmers boost their productivity so they can feed their families and overcome poverty. (PNN Online, August 15)