News on Children's Issues

Mammoth measles campaign nears completion in Pakistan

A one-year effort to immunise 64 million children in Pakistan against measles, the largest public health campaign of its kind in the world, is one step closer to completion. “This is the world’s largest mass measles campaign ever undertaken,” Melissa Corkum, a spokeswoman for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), told IRIN in Islamabad. The fifth and final phase of the campaign targeting 34 million children between nine months and under 13 years of age in Pakistan’s populous Punjab Province and Islamabad began on 17 March and will conclude on 3 April. Over 19,000 skilled and 45,000 semi-skilled persons are engaged in the mammoth campaign overseen by 3,700 supervisors. Unlike the house-to-house strategy employed in the country’s ongoing polio eradication drive, the children are immunised in schools, health facilities, hospitals and outreach centres. “Unlike polio campaigns, if every child receives this injection, there is no need to continue these mass campaigns,” Corkum said. Since March 2007, 30 million children have been immunised in 99 districts throughout the country, including Balochistan, Sindh, North West Frontier Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistani-administered Kashmir and the country’s Federally Administered Northern Areas. (IRIN, March 18)

New child rights laws signed in Egypt

Amendments to Child Law 12/1996 seeking to extend the legal protection offered to children were signed by President Hosni Mubarak on 4 March and will soon be presented to the People's Assembly for approval. The proposals are part of a package drawn up by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), chaired by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak. "The real significance of the amendments is that they adopt a rights-based approach," says NCCM Secretary-General Mushira Khattab. "Some Egyptian children are victims, deprived of their rights to education, health and social care, and especially the right to family care. The modifications are based on changing the way in which society views such children." Article 7 of the law, for example, has been amended to increase the minimum age of marriage for girls to 18 instead of 16, making it illegal to register marriage contracts for anyone below the minimum age. The amendments also include the addition of a new clause to Article 7 which seeks to end the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). (CRIN, March 17)

HIV major factor in rising child deaths in South Africa

Mothers and children in South Africa are dying in alarming numbers. Far from being on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing child mortality by two-thirds, the country is among only a dozen worldwide where child deaths are rising. In 2000, South Africa committed to eight MDGs set by the UN, which included reducing child and maternal mortality and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. And yet, every year 20,000 babies are stillborn and another 22,000 die within the first month of their lives. In total, at least 75,000 children die before their fifth birthday, while 1,600 mothers die due to pregnancy or childbirth complications, according to a report on infant, child and maternal mortality, released at a conference on perinatal care in Johannesburg this week. The report, Every Death Counts, produced jointly by the Department of Health, the Medical Research Council and the University of Pretoria, asserts that HIV/AIDS is one of the main reasons South Africa has failed to reduce its child mortality rates, while other countries with similar gross national incomes, such as Brazil and Mexico, are on track to meet the MDG. The authors estimate that more than a third of maternal and child deaths in South Africa are AIDS related. Other factors are poor quality of care during childbirth, failure to prevent and treat childhood infections such as diarrhea and pneumonia, and poor nutrition and living conditions associated with poverty. (IRIN, March 8)

NGO briefing on child trafficking in Asia

An NGO briefing session on child trafficking in Asia threw the spotlight on efforts to combat the scourge. The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Juan Miguel Petit, was once again present, arguing that “States are slow to respond to the problem, and even slower to create policies to combat it.” While cautioning that “it is a matter easily exaggerated”, Mr Petit called on civil society to plug the gaps by pressing States to enact policies and legislation, and guarantee their implementation. Laurence Gray, of World Vision, reminded advocates that children are especially vulnerable since they are unable to resist exploitation and abuse. The victims of trafficking in Asia, he said, are almost always from poor communities where there are scant employment opportunities, and where they may be forced by their domestic circumstances to accept exploitative treatment. He also emphasised the centrality of child participation in working towards effective programmes. (CRIN, March 12)

Birth certificates introduced in Malawi

Malawi is to introduce compulsory birth certificates in an attempt to combat a growing child trafficking problem. Malawian citizens have not been required to have birth or death certificates before. The government now plans to issue the documents not only to new born children, but also to all of the country's 12 million citizens. Officials say the move will also reduce confusion in adoption cases - such as Madonna's adoption of a Malawian boy. Madonna adopted a one-year-old Malawian boy from an orphanage but it was later discovered that his father was still alive. Labour Minister David Katsonga will kick off the process by issuing certificates to children in the southern district of Mwanza this week. Malawi lacks comprehensive child protection laws, and the International Labour Organisation says there is a lot of child trafficking for sex and labour in Malawi. There have been cases of children - especially girls - being taken to Europe to work in the sex trade. Authorities hope the new birth certificates will offer children some degree of protection, and make them less vulnerable to exploitation as child labourers. (BBC, March 11)