South Africa, 23 February 2011 - South Africa's world-class government-led programmes are failing to reach poor children on the margins, according to child experts.Speaking yesterday (WED) at the release of the"Government-funded programmes and services for vulnerable children in South Africa" report, South African Human Rights Commissioner Lindiwe Mokate said it was doubtful as to whether government had a human rights approach when it came to the country's vulnerable children.She said it was time the country did more to ensure the meaningful participation of children in decisions that affected them."We must not just bus them in to sing and clap at events," Mokate said.Professor Linda Richer ...

The 11th World Social Forum (WSF) took place in Dakar, Senegal from 6th to 11th February 2011 at the Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD). Thousands of participants from different countries came together under the slogan "Another world is possible". A key player in the fight to defend and promote children's rights in general and those of working children and youth in particular, the AMWCY took a major part in this big meeting of the anti globalization movement.  1.800 participants signed the "golden book" of the AMWCY and thousands of publications produced by the WCY were distributed during the Forum.  Below are brief summaries of AMWCY's main actions within the Forum.Opening manifes...

Nigeria, 3rd February 2010 - Education starts from the cradle. Experts say catching children young with quality education remains a veritable tool to lifelong development. Chika Mefor reports that a one day stakeholder's meeting held recently in Abuja was aimed at emphasising early childhood education.The future of a nation's socio-economic and political wellbeing lies with the quality of children's education because they are the future leaders. If they have a shaky foundation when it comes to education, it will surely affect their lives when they are adults and in turn affect the nation. Many children in Nigeria and Africa have no opportunity to experience the much needed early childhood ed...

NAIROBI, 12 January 2011 (IRIN) - Sometimes the teachers make it to school but the children do not - when the fighting is too intense for them to venture outdoors. Sometimes teachers make it to school only to find it has been moved - to enable displaced children to continue learning. This is the nature of teaching in war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, considered one of the world's most dangerous cities."I was on the way to school one day when intense fighting erupted and I had to seek shelter; by the time I got to school there were no students, they could not come because of the fighting," Abdulkadir Abdullahi, a primary-school teacher in Mogadishu, told IRIN.Abdullahi said even though t...