Newsletter
DECEMBER 2005 “The extent of the damage is hard to imagine…children have been orphaned, two million children have been displaced. The window for extending a helping hand is closing,” stressed Her Majesty during her visit to a destroyed government girls’ high school in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. In this school, 84 girls and their headmistress died as a result of the earthquake that hit Pakistan in the morning, when most children were at school. According to the Pakistani Government, approximately 70,000 people have been injured as a result of the earthquake, which devastated the Country on 8 October, 2005. So far, estimates are that over 73,000 have died, the majority of whom were in Muzaffarabad. “We do not have sufficient resources; UNICEF needs $92.6 million, out of which 47 per cent has been funded to meet the immediate needs of the children of Pakistan,” stressed Ronald Van Dijk, UNICEF Senior Programme Officer, as he accompanied the Queen. Her Majesty spoke to the children and mothers in the UNICEF-supported school tents, asking about their needs and conditions. UNICEF’s long-term relief effort in the quake zone is focused on restoring schools and helping children and their families address lingering psychosocial impact. The Organisation supports teacher training in providing counselling for vulnerable children both in schools and in the community with an emphasis on disabled children. “UNICEF is trying to relieve the distress of these children by diverting their attention. We provide them with opportunities to learn and play in safe spaces,” said Van Dijk. The children of Pakistan are suffering from visible and invisible wounds. By going back to school, these little minds will hopefully be kept busy from re-living the nightmare they have suffered - these children have lost everything. The Children’s Organisation states that $3 can help educate a child whose education has been disrupted by the earthquake. The earthquake has shattered the lives of thousands of children, leaving them homeless, injured, and in many cases, orphaned. Her Majesty also toured Abbas Hospital in Muzaffarabad and spoke to women and children there. Children in Pakistan are now at risk of disease outbreak, with measles, polio and tetanus representing the most pressing threats. Over 500,000 children have been vaccinated. The Organisation is supporting Pakistan to immunize affected children and provide them with Vitamin A supplements. With the arrival of winter, the three million people who have been displaced (half of whom are children) are in urgent need of shelter, food and medicine. STUDENTS RAISE FUNDS FOR CHILDREN IN JORDAN The fourth annual Amman Model United Nations (AMMUN) Conference Secretariat raised approximately JD 600 for UNICEF Jordan through the sale of wristbands and donations in November. This year, the AMMUN 2005 Secretariat chose ‘Children’ to be its theme. According to AMMUN Secretary General, Farah Abuzeid, ‘The aim is to explore the political, social, economic and cultural dimensions of the general conditions of the world’s children.” She further added that ‘In this spirit, and in the AMMUN’s quest to make a difference, the AMMUN Children’s Fund was initiated and organised by school students.”The first AMMUN was held three years ago. In 2004, student participation increased and diversified and the conference became more international. Tired of being labelled as mere ‘talkers’, the Secretariat of AMMUN initiated the ‘Hands-On’ project for community service. The idea is to have conference participants visit an underprivileged area of Jordan and help renovate one of its local schools. Activities include fences to protect children from the streets, mural painting and repairing playgrounds. The participants also interact with the school children by engaging them in classroom and outdoor activities. RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
El -Hassan Youth Award graduated in November 145 participants in the ‘Awareness Raising in Childhood Issues Programme’ supported by UNICEF. This programme is part of follow-up action to the Global Movement for Children campaign ‘Say Yes for Children’ in which the 10 principles of the World Fit For Children document were introduced.At the graduation, youths spoke about their experience, achievements, and lessons learnt from this programme. They described their experience of translating these rights into related community work and emphasized that rights came with responsibilities. Participants in the Award’s different levels had to design and implement projects to raise awareness about these rights. The young team of leaders come from all governorates in the Kingdom. They provided peer education through their participation in this programme.The objective of this programme is to also promote voluntary community work among young people and to raise awareness about the 10 principles in local communities, schools, and workshops.
A DIGITAL SCREAM
Am I a child or a man? I am a child by age and a man at work,” explains Ali (17), who works to sustain his family of six. Ali also goes to school, but has some strong feelings about his work: “Young people pass in front of me while I fry falafel (chickpea balls) and look at me as though I am different from them. I want this film I helped create to show everybody that I have feelings and that I am not different because I work during school days and holidays.” The film Ali is referring to is a UNICEF initiative where children in refugee camps are given the opportunity to express themselves and to be heard through digital storytelling broadcast through the Internet. ‘The Story of Ali’ was chosen to be one of the digital highlights of UNICEF’s State of the World’s Report launched globally on 14 December, 2005. In Jordan, the Report was launched by Senator Leila Sharaf, a member of the Friends of Jordanian Children advocacy group, and six adolescents. Under the title of ‘Excluded and Invisible’, the State of the World’s Children 2006 Report is a sweeping assessment of the world’s most vulnerable children, whose rights to a safe and healthy childhood are exceptionally difficult to protect. This annual flagship Report highlights the four circumstances in which children are most likely to become invisible and forgotten: Children who are forced to take on adult roles, children without a formal identity, children without parental care, and children who are exploited. Anne Skatvedt, UNICEF Jordan Representative, said at the launch of the Report that “Children who are forced to take on adult roles and responsibilities too early in life miss crucial stages of childhood development.” An estimated 171 million children are working in hazardous conditions and with dangerous machinery, including in factories, mines and agriculture. Six adolescents involved in the production of ‘The Story Ali’ explained to selected members of the media invited to the Jordan launch of the Report how 26 young people, including five girls, were trained in film production this year. For 27 days, young people worked together at Souf Camp from four refugee camps in the northern parts of the Kingdom of Jordan: Souf, Jerash, Hoson, and Irbid. This was part of a joint UNICEF and UNRWA Women’s Programme cooperation project. Souf Camp is one of six emergency camps set up for Palestinian refugees coming from the West Bank as a result of the 1967 war. It falls under the umbrella of the Department of Palestinian Affairs. There are 17,000 inhabitants in this camp, 3,400 are young people aged between 15-18 years. Jordan hosts 1.7 million registered Palestinian refugees. Through its Palestinian Refugees in Jordan Programme, UNICEF focuses on the development and participation of adolescents – this digital filmmaking is such an example. The message in this year’s State of the World’s Children Report is about meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its Declaration to safeguard children over the next decade. Some of the root causes of exclusion as seen in the Report are poverty, HIV/AIDS, gender, and disability. The persistence of abuse and exploitation jeopardizes progress on all MDGs which the Report links to child protection. ‘This documentary about child labour is a personal scream, we wanted to reach out, make people living outside the camps know of our issues,’ announces Ali with a maturity brought about by his many years of having to take responsibility for his family. The young man, with jet black hair and large brown eyes, recalls how he once fell asleep after a 12-hour working day during the holidays and his hand accidentally went into the food grinder. Holding up his right hand , which was miraculously saved, Ali exclaims that «It’s tough, but what’s even tougher is having young people my age pass by and stare because I am not out doing the same things that they are doing.” The State of the World’s Children 2006 Report outlines concrete actions to prevent children falling between the cracks. These include matching national laws to international commitments to children, finance and capacity-building, programmes, research, monitoring and reporting. The Report recommends and puts the responsibility of lending visibility to near «invisible» children on civil society, the family, government, the private sector, donors and the media. Haneen (15) describes this project as having “strengthened my personality and self-confidence, it has helped us make new friends, express ourselves, and make people listen to us.” ADOLESCENTS SPEAK OUT AT ICDB The International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) concluded this year with tears: The children who had been working together for the past months on their television programme ‘Sar Waktna’ (Our Time Has Come) felt torn now that their mission was completed. They had formed new bonds and friendships with their colleagues from different parts of Jordan. “Don’t forget me, please call,” was the common phrase heard as the children concluded their day at the Jordan Radio and Television Corporation on 16 December. Four programmes, supported by UNICEF, came to life as a result of a request by enthusiastic young people, who were more than willing to spend several months (including their summer holidays) researching, planning and producing programmes focusing on matters that have a great impact on the young people of today: HIV/AIDS, violence against children, and sports. The 22 talented adolescents producing these shows came from Amman, Zarqa and its neighbouring villages. The young producers have benefited from UNICEF-supported-projects implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and the Higher Council for Youth. The children had started ICDB this year by arriving in the freezing, early hours of the morning at UNICEF House. They then set off to JRTV where they went on live on both English and Arabic Radio, and local television. During their live 45-minute television programme in the afternoon, the children received 54 telephone calls and thus the show had to be extended into one hour . The children also spoke to UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Mahmoud Kabil, about his work in HIV/AIDs and about his favourite sport.“I have gained so much from this experience. I am much more confident. I have developed discussion skills, especially when the topics are related to young people, “concluded Widad Al Ziud (13) who comes from the neighbouring villages of Zarka (North of the Capital city Amman). She adds that “I could not have done it without the support of my family and school.”To prepare for their show, the children conducted interviews with abused children, discussions about the results of their research, and chose guests they wanted to host for each episode.“We had great fun, and it was a great experience. We really had the chance to express ourselves, and we spoke a lot about the problems we are facing and seeing. We studied and researched cases related to abuse particularly sexual, physical and neglect. We hope that we helped through our shows, “ said Amal Emleh (16) from Zarqa. For Khaled Kteishat (13) from Marka (North) “I have learnt much more about matters that are relevant to you people such as child rights and HIV/AIDS.”The participants, however, did express their desire for the show to be live and on a weekly basis. They hoped that more new children could join in, and suggested that this could be done in cooperation with schools and community centres. YALLA SAWA
Yalla Sawa Download the complete second Yalla Sawa issue, a Four Country Newsletter amplifying the voices of Palestinian children and adolescents. Read more about Better Parenting Programme in Jordan. Download Previous Newsletters |
