The boy who saw too much
This is Ibrahim Sa'ad Al-Jabouri. At just five, a Shiite boy cannot be expected to comprehend what the past three years have been about in Iraq. But it is not surprising he has retreated into his own very small and empty world. Ibrahim became an orphan when Sunni insurgents forced him to watch as they executed his father, a brother and two uncles. He had already lost his mother to illness. SMH, 18th March 2006

Afghan child addicts bring the heroin problem home
Soaman is like any other four-year-old - except that she used to be a heroin addict. The child's 27-year-old mother, Najia, said from behind her stained blue burka: "My husband used to smoke in the house when she played and she breathed it in. One day he couldn't afford his drugs and she was sick and crying - we realised she was addicted too." The Times, 20th March 2006

Zimbabwe : Child labour on farms must be stopped, say unions
As standards of living in Zimbabwe continue to deteriorate the use of child labour on farms has risen sharply, with over 10,000 children estimated to be working in the agricultural sector. Reuters, 10th March 2006

Two brothers reclaim their childhood at Alpha
Jermaine is just 14 years old, but four years ago he was not attending school or engaged in the typical activities of other boys his age. He had a full-time job begging on the streets of Kingston to feed his family. The Jamaica Gleaner, 19th March 2006

Right group says use of child soldiers by Nepalese rebels has increased
Nepal 's communist rebels abducted thousands of children during a four-month truce that ended early this year and have used them in recent attacks on government targets, a human rights group said Friday. "Thousands of children were abducted during the cease-fire and many of them were forced to stay" with the rebels, Anna Neistat of the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in Kathmandu. Pravda, 17th March 2006

Fears of a lost generation of Afghan pupils as Taliban targets schools
Class is out at Sarkh Doz, a sleepy village near the sweeping Helmand river. A ghostly silence fills the school playground, the gate is bolted shut and the proud yellow classrooms have been reduced to a blackened shell of cinders. Taliban arsonists set the blaze, locals say. One night a car full of militants roared up, doused the building in petrol and struck a match. Then they continued to the next village, Mangalzai, and torched that school too. The Guardian, 16th March 2006

The war against Iraq's children
"Iraq's children have suffered more than just successive wars and economic sanctions. The loss of parents and family resources has boosted child labour, homelessness, and inclinations towards violence and rebellion. They often now live in homes where 25 people live in a space of 40 square metres. Even intact families may comprise parents and five children in a single six-metre room... Simply put, children in Iraq have been reduced from human beings worthy of care to tools of production and instruments of violence. We are quite literally breeding a new generation of disorder." Amal Kashf Al Ghitta The Jordan Times, 17th March 2006

United Nations Children's Fund
Established in 1946, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realised. This website contains a wealth of stories, facts, photos, and resources (text and multi-media) which focus on the needs of children worldwide. Read The 2006 Report on the State of the World's Children www.unicef.org/sowc06/index.php and check out how UNICEF and FIFA (The Federation Internationale De Football Association) are working collaboratively, through football, to help more children achieve their basic right to play www.unicef.org/football/

Children of Conflict: A Human Rights Issue
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in 1989. It is an international treaty that recognises the human rights of children, defined as persons up to the age of 18 years. Has the Convention had any real impact on the lives of children across the globe? BBC World Service reporters visited war zones on several continents to investigate what is happening to children. There are sections on child soldiers, lost children, wounded children, child-headed households and child workers. You can hear the children tell their own stories and read the BBC's analysis of the difficulties they face. BBC World Service

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/
childrensrights/childrenofconflict/

Tales from a Suitcase - Henry Sue
Born in Southern China in 1946, Henry's family fled China when it became Communist. When the family escaped to Hong Kong, they where so poor they even contemplated selling Henry. At age 10, Henry and his older brother travelled to Australia, where Henry's father brought a snack bar in Woolloongabba, Brisbane. Forced to protect themselves from hoodlums and bullies, Henry and his brother studied Kung Fu. Later Henry was encouraged to teach Kung Fu and now has opened Kung Fu schools in most Australian states.

"The solution of adult problems tomorrow depends in large measure upon the way our children grow up today. There is no greater insight into the future than recognising that, when we save children, we save ourselves." - Margaret Mead