Dear Supporter,

June 2005

Vulnerable children in institutions
Children in residential institutions, from children’s homes to detention centres, across Europe and Central Asia are desperately vulnerable to abuse and violence. This is according to research gathered by UNICEF in the run-up to a major conference on violence against children. The Consultation on Violence Against Children in Europe and Central Asia takes place in Slovenia in early July and will feed into the Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children, due out in 2006.
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Southern Africa
Three United Nations leaders from UNICEF, UNAIDS and WFP are calling for the world to refocus its attention on the chronic problems and humanitarian needs of millions of people in southern Africa, especially children. The “triple threat” – HIV/AIDS, food insecurity and the loss of human resources from the most productive sectors of society – is still stalking the region and more investment is needed if gains made over the last three years are to be sustained.The three UN leaders emphasised the complexity of the triple threat: without food, anti-retrovirals are less effective; without anti-retrovirals, children become orphans; and without a healthy and educated next generation, southern Africa will have great difficulty breaking the cycle of poverty.
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Hope for Amazonian children
The Finnish government will be boosting the living standards of some of the world’s poorest and most excluded children of the Amazonian basin of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia with a contribution totalling US$11.7 million.
This is the single largest grant ever given to UNICEF in the region and will benefit an estimated 100,000 children. The donations will provide intercultural and bilingual education – with an emphasis on girls’ education – immunisation and child protection.
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Aminata Palmer, 11, is one of the children taking part in the C8 Children’s Forum in Scotland at the beginning of July. In her native Sierra Leone, she raises awareness of issues such as girls’ education, HIV/AIDS, child exploitation and poverty through a programme she presents on the “Voices of the Children” radio station.
Credit: UNICEF Sierra Leone

C8 – the Children’s Forum
Children aged 11 to 17 from 8 of the world’s poorest countries will be meeting in Scotland on 3-5 July to tell the G8 leaders what they think they should be doing to make “a world fit for children”.Traditionally seen and not heard, children have few meaningful opportunities to influence those international processes that have such enduring effects on their lives. Young people from developing countries, with the additional burden of poverty, have even fewer opportunities to be heard. At C8, children will speak up. Will the G8 leaders listen?
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Child sex tourism in Europe
UNICEF and ECPAT have demanded that Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany intensify their crackdown on child sex tourism. For many under-aged people in the border areas, prostitution remains a part of everyday life. A recent survey of 1,585 children aged 7 to 15 revealed that roughly one in seven respondents had been approached by an adult offering money in exchange for sexual favours.
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For further information,
please contact  Paula Plaza

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