10 July 2011 - The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today warned that two million children are malnourished as a result of the drought in the Horn of Africa, and half a million could soon die or suffer long-lasting mental or physical damage. The agency appealed for nearly $32 million to assist millions of children and women in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti, which are all facing a crisis that is being called the worst in 50 years. "UNICEF estimates that over two million young children are malnourished and in need of urgent life-saving actions, if they are to survive conditions in drought-affected countries in the Horn of Africa," the agency said in a press state...

Gambia 17 June 2011, - The National Coordination of the WCYA celebrated African Child Day on the theme: “All together for urgent actions in favour of street children». The ceremony started with a march to which 160 WCY and 45 guests participated. It ended with a meeting held at Birkama Youth Centre. The Farafenni WCY gave a dramatic performance on the dangers incurred by mobile children. It was followed by a Serere cultural event animated by the WCY of Barra. The drama and cultural group from Brikama organised a sketch on the theme: «ignorance is not an excuse for violating children’s rights». In the evening, the National Coordination organised a contest on the histor...

Kinshasa, 3rd July 2011 — Two years after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) promulgated the Law on Child Protection, an estimated 3,000 children remain in prisons across the country. The law, which came into effect in January 2009, replaced a 1950 colonial law on juvenile delinquency that set the age of criminal responsibility at 16, leading to a number of severe penalties against children, including life imprisonment and the death sentence. The current law has provisions for judicial, penal and social protection of children under 18 and states that a judge can send child law-breakers to "a public or private institution of a social character, but only as a measure of l...

DURBAN, 27 June 2011 (IRIN) - At Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital (PMMH) in Umlazi, the largest township outside the South African port city of Durban, using midwives to provide maternity services has positively impacted maternal care in the area, but a national shortage of these specialist health personnel has made it difficult to replicate the model elsewhere. “Midwives are integral to ensuring that we take quality care of our mothers and babies,” Rachel Gumbi, the hospital’s CEO, told IRIN. “The success story of this hospital is because of the teamwork between doctors and midwives.” The maternity ward at PMMH is one of the busiest in the country, with more than 1,2...