UNICEF 發表了2005 年世界兒童人權報告，很長，資料多，貼不完，請看這裏：

http://www.unicef.org/sowc05/english/

底下是一些相關報導。

像這些資料，以 UNICEF 的能力，翻譯成中文絕不是問題。當這些資料無法被使用中文及其他語文的人口廣泛閱讀時，影響力就大打折扣。中文世界十幾二十億人，對這些問題卻幾乎隔絕，一無所知。也許這也是為什麼諸如反戰運動或人權觀念難以普及到中文世界的原因。

UNICEF 指出兒童的三大殺手：戰亂、貧窮和愛滋病。但我覺得還有一項就是大人對兒童的「漠不關心」。因為許多問題並不是財力或客觀條件上無法克服，而是政治腐敗，根本不想做。

比方說UNICEF也提到，巴基斯坦百分之六十的兒童死亡可以避免，因為他們是死於像腹瀉或肺炎以及一些新生兒時期的感染。要顯著改善這些問題，只是要做或不做的問題，而不是能力上做不到；少買一顆飛彈，錢就夠了。台灣不就是這樣嗎？

而所謂貧窮，與其說是貧窮，不如說是貧富差距太大、太不合理。在國外免不了會看到一些來自印尼、印、巴或中國大陸的人，看他們有錢到那樣一副德性，常覺得挺不可思議。他們國家的人民，許多人只因為幾十塊錢就無法上小學，而這些公子哥兒或千金小姐卻是要什麼有什麼，整天購物購個不停，根本不需要或不是那麼需要的東西，不必多考慮就能買下來，簡直是「為了購物而購物」。難道他們家裏在印鈔票？或是爹娘都是什麼酋長或高幹或董事長？要不然怎麼會生存境遇差這麼多？

董事長文化氣質高，生活不算太奢靡，唯一缺點是喜歡買書，但也總得考慮半天，而且以二手居多或是用朋友的影印機偷印。若不是很必要的書或超喜歡的 CD，能不買就不買。但某些新一代人類之生活享受，卻似乎不是這樣，似乎只要想買就買，沒有用的也買，一點都不猶豫。

人類社會真是很不公平。甘地說，「如果平等和自由只能二選一，我會選擇平等。」因為沒有平等，哪來自由？你買得起，我買不起，那我就根本沒有買東西的這種「自由」。自由必須以平等做基礎；而所謂左右之分，分野也在此。許多人歌頌自由卻不在乎平等，那只是自欺欺人。哪有這種自由？！

陳真 2004. 12. 10. 世界人權日
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http://www.unicef.ca/news/displayNewsItem.php?id=106&PHPSESSID=c435f07d29b0aee20e1d3a7cbbf341b3

UNICEF releases The State of the World's Children 2005
Thursday, Dec 09, 2004

December 9, 2004 --More than half of all children in the world are suffering extreme deprivations from poverty, armed conflict and AIDS, according to UNICEF's The State of the World's Children report, an annual barometer measuring the situation facing children around the world.

"For every child enjoying what we consider to be a normal childhood, there is a child going to bed hungry, watching a parent die from AIDS, or living in a refugee camp after being forced to flee from home by war and violence," says David Agnew, president and CEO, UNICEF Canada. "Despite some progress over the last decade, we are continuing to deny one billion girls and boys the opportunity to grow up healthy and safe."

Childhood is an irreplaceable period of time for children to grow and develop, and the quality of those years is essential to ensuring their health and safety. Failure to protect children's well being causes permanent damage - to children, their families, their communities and ultimately society's ability to secure human rights and promote economic advancement.

This year's The State of the World's Children report, themed Childhood Under Threat, argues that children experience poverty differently from adults and its impact cannot be measured by traditional income or consumption assessments. The essentials being denied to one billion children, with 700 million children lacking two or more of them, include adequate shelter, sanitation, safe water, information, health-care services, education and adequate food.

Since the 1989 adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – the world's most widely adopted human rights treaty – there have been significant advances through providing food, water, health care, education and other essentials to child survival. There has also been growing worldwide awareness of the need to put formal measures in place to protect children from exploitation, abuse and violence. However, many of the gains achieved are in serious danger of being undermined by the three most devastating threats to children today: poverty, HIV/AIDS, and armed conflict.

In 2003 alone, 10.6 million children died before they reached their fifth birthday – equivalent to one and a half times the entire population of children in Canada. The majority of these deaths could have been prevented with adequate food, clean water, immunization and basic medical care. When conflict strikes, the effect is even more catastrophic, as 13 per cent more children under five years of age die in a typical five-year war. Children account for nearly half of the 3.6 million people killed in conflicts since 1990. In addition to the devastation on children's physical health, hundreds of thousands of children suffer the trauma of being recruited or abducted as child soldiers, injured by landmines, raped as a weapon of war and witnessing violence to their families that often leaves them orphaned.

Now the single largest killer of people aged 15-49 worldwide, AIDS is also waging war on children. Its devastation is most clear among the 15 million children who have been orphaned by this disease. The death of a parent pervades every aspect of a child's life, from emotional well being to physical security, mental development and overall health. But the report also finds that the effects of HIV/AIDS begin harming children long before they become orphaned. Because of the parent's inability to work, many children, especially girls, are forced to drop out of school to work or care for their families, and are in particular danger of being exploited through hazardous labour.

HIV/AIDS is not only killing parents, but many of the other protective adults in children's lives, including teachers and health workers. Because of the time lag between HIV infection and death from AIDS, the crisis will worsen for at least the next decade, even if new infections are stabilized or begin to fall. The State of the World's Children report details the actions the international community must take to prevent the spread of AIDS, keep adults living with HIV alive, and provide support and care for children who become orphaned. Currently, 93 per cent of people in developing countries who need antiretroviral therapy to treat HIV simply do not have access to the kind of drugs that are readily available in Canada – a problem that must be addressed to save millions of lives, and prevent mother-to-child transmission of the disease.

"The State of the World's Children report forces us, as Canadians and as part of the international community, to face head-on the harsh realities children are living," says Agnew. "But the good news is that it is possible to change this reality, no matter how daunting it may seem. In Canada, we have the capacity to make an enormous impact by ensuring our policies and actions always keep children at the centre. The Canadian government has made significant contributions to development and humanitarian initiatives, but we must do more. We can, and must, take on a larger leadership role as a nation, as individuals and businesses, to alleviate the suffering that half the world's children are experiencing."

View State of the World's Children 2005

UNICEF is the world's leader for children, working in 158 countries and territories to save, protect and enhance the lives of children and their families. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing nations, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, promotes quality basic education for all boys and girls, and protects children from violence, exploitation and AIDS. With almost 60 years of experience, UNICEF is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from individuals, businesses foundations and governments. Through fundraising and education, UNICEF Canada is dedicated to improving the lives of children around the world.

David Agnew has travelled extensively to developing nations and met many children behind the statistics, including children orphaned by AIDS in Zimbabwe, children who have fled to camps in Sudan and children struggling to survive in Cambodia.

B-roll is available digitally at www.thenewsmarket.com (keyword UNICEF) or on beta by request.

To arrange an interview or for more information, please contact:

Nicole Ireland, National Communications

UNICEF Canada

Telephone: (416) 482-4444, ext. 831

Cellular: (416) 992-7349

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http://www.unicef.ca/press/SOWC/

The State of the World’s Children 2005:
Childhood Under Threat

The State of the World’s Children 2005 focuses on how poverty, conflict and HIV/AIDS threaten the idea of childhood as a period of time for children to grow and develop to their full potential.

UNICEF/HQ91-0914/Roger LeMoyne

Childhood is a special time in each individual’s life – a time when they should be encouraged to learn and play by their family and an extended community of caring adults – and an essential element in the development of healthy and productive future generations. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, offers a new definition of childhood based on human rights. It heralded significant advances in the fulfilment of children’s rights to survival, health and education through the provision of essential goods and services, and a growing recognition of the need to create a protective environment to shield children from exploitation, abuse and violence.

However, in several regions and countries, some of these gains are in danger of reversal as a result of poverty, conflict and HIV/AIDS. The rights of over 1 billion children are violated because they are denied of one or more of the basic services required to survive, grow and develop. Millions of children are growing up in families and communities torn apart by armed conflict. In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS has led to increasing child mortality rates, dramatic reductions in life expectancy and millions of orphans.

These are not the only factors that undermine childhood, but they are certainly among the most significant, with profoundly damaging effects on a child’s chances of survival and development. The harm they cause lingers well beyond the years of childhood, increasing the likelihood that the next generation will be affected by the same threats and endangering the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

“Only as we move closer to realizing the rights of all children will countries move closer to their goals of development and peace.” ---Kofi A. Annan

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4073313.stm

UN warns of triple child scourges
By Paul Anderson

BBC News, Islamabad


Children are on the frontline of the Aids scourge

Children are the first to suffer from the scourge of Aids, war and poverty, the head of Unicef has said.

Carol Bellamy said progress had been made on their welfare and human rights but there was still more to be done.

She was speaking in Pakistan three days ahead of the publication in London of a major report by the UN agency, entitled "Childhood under Threat".

She cited Pakistan and Iraq as examples where children's health and education was suffering.

'Total mess'

Ms Bellamy said education in Iraq was a good example, where the country's schools were in her words 'a total mess' - much of it the result of the recent war.

And the UN's children's fund head said countries like Pakistan could do more to address children's health and education interests.

The country has a bloated expenditure on the military and small spending on education so that it lags even behind impoverished neighbours like Bangladesh in many spheres.

Ms Bellamy said 60% of child deaths in Pakistan could be avoided by focusing on a limited number of treatable diseases like diarrhoea, pneumonia and neonatal infections.

In the last budget, Pakistan increased spending in the social development sector.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has repeatedly promised to work towards alleviating poverty, but millions of people have yet to feel the results.

Ms Bellamy said Aids and conflict were having an enormous impact on the lives of children and preventing the world from meeting its development goals.

Although advances had been made in children's welfare and human rights, she said more challenges lay ahead.