Blog Archive

The African Union (AU) met this week in Lusaka, Zambia to talk about girls who have met an unfortunate fate where they have been in child marriages. Country representatives will discuss child marriage and efforts to get rid of it. Human Rights Watch interviewed a girl who was involved in a child marriage. This is what she said, “I feel very sad when I see small girls getting married. They don’t know the hard life that awaits them,” said Danira, who was married at age 14. “I wish I had gone to school.

In an interview posted by the French news broadcast, Le Petit Journal, on Monday, a reporter asks a young French boy if he understands why terrorists attacked Paris on Friday, killing at least 129 people and injuring 350. As the interview continues, the boy mentions how he thinks that the attackers are just really mean and how he is afraid of the "mean" people since they cannot protect themselves. But as the interview progresses and the young boy talks to both the reporter and his father, he says with confidence, "They have guns, but we have flowers.".

As Russia, Iran and Iraq join other countries in Vienna today to discuss the Syria crisis, all parties should agree to add one item to the agenda: ending the use of child soldiers. Of course, it is generally known that Islamic State (ISIS) engages in the practice, but they are not the only ones: Iraqi Shia militias fighting ISIS alongside Iraqi government forces are also using kids. Children are fighting every day in the battle field and dying as well. They should not be allowed to be exposed to such horrific things that happen out in battlefields.

The Philippine government should immediately release the hundreds of mostly indigent and homeless Manila residents, including more than 140 children, detained before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. This is a part of so-called “clearing operations” aimed to beautify the city ahead of the summit, which will bring world leaders to Manila this month. Since November 9, local authorities have rounded up several hundred adults and children from streets and informal settlements in Manila and surrounding municipalities of Metro Manila. They have detained them without charges.