New countries endorse the Paris Commitments to end the use of child combatants

New countries today endorsed the ‘Paris Commitments’ to end the use of child soldiers, joining a growing list of States that have pledged to protect children from recruitment and use by armed forces and groups.
Adopted in 2007, the Paris Commitments on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups are a voluntary promise by States to work together to halt child recruitment, support the release of children from armed groups and help reintegrate these children into civilian life.
At today’s high-level meeting in UN Headquarters, the third Ministerial follow-up Forum to the Paris Commitments, Cape Verde, Gabon, Georgia, Iceland, Latvia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Korea, Togo and Uruguay endorsed the Commitments, raising the number of supporting countries from 84 to 95.
To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

The United Nations outlines combined strategy to ensure the survival of millions of flood affected people in Pakistan

The emergency situation caused by the floods in Pakistan is far from being over and is worsening for the most vulnerable people. Three UN agencies today warned of the urgent need to quickly scale up the response in the most recently flooded areas in the south while not losing sight of working towards an early recovery in the centre and the north of the country.
In a coordinated effort, the directors of the Emergency divisions of UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) this week visited flood affected areas in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to survey the devastation.
“The sheer scale of this disaster is unprecedented and requires unprecedented measures,” said Dr. Eric Laroche, Assistant Director-General of Health Action in Crisis of the World Health Organization. “One of the many challenges we are facing is to provide assistance to people cramped in scattered spontaneous settlements, thus making it very difficult to address life threatening risks and to provide the health coverage they so desperately need,” he added.
To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

ADB, UNICEF join forces for children with major agreement

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UNICEF today signed a major agreement, joining forces across Asia and the Pacific region to fight disparities, reduce poverty, and ensure that equitable and sustainable development benefits all children.
The signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two agencies comes at a critical time with only five years remaining until the 2015 deadline for the world to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
“The outcome from this agreement will be an improved partnership which will enhance the capacities of both ADB and UNICEF to deliver on their long-term objectives of poverty reduction, inclusive growth and child welfare,” said ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda.
To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

World leaders and experts meet to raise the profile of education on the development agenda

A brainstorming session to examine ways to make the case for education by showing its powerful impact on all Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be held on 22 September, as world leaders gather in New York to review progress on the MDGs.

A special focus on education is critical, according to the organizers of the session, Save the Children, Qatar, UNESCO and UNICEF. Education is the key to sustained global progress towards all the millennium targets, but about 69 million children – among them the most marginalized – are currently unable to go to school every year.

"Education plays a central role in the achievement of all MDGs and needs to be given top priority across all regions, including those affected by natural disasters and conflicts. There can be no peace and prosperity without education,” said Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. “Conflicts are a major threat to human security and to hard-won Millennium Development Goals."

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

Unique education in emergencies fund reaches out to the most vulnerable

Representatives of the Government of the Netherlands, the European Commission and UNICEF met in New York this week to review progress achieved under an innovative programme to improve Education in Emergencies and Post-Crisis Transition.


Since 2007, the collaboration has worked to ensure that education is a key part of the humanitarian response in emergencies and to restore education systems in post-conflict situations. As part of this initiative, UNICEF – together with partners and donors – has joined to push education to the forefront of the development agenda.

“Through the support of the Government of the Netherlands and other critical partners, UNICEF and the education cluster were able not only to respond to the cholera outbreak through schools but were also able to begin the revitalization of the entire sector,” said UNICEF Representative in Zimbabwe Dr. Peter Salama.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

Child mortality rate drops by a third since 1990

The latest United Nations under-five mortality estimates were released today by UNICEF and they show continued progress in reducing the number of children who don’t live to see their fifth birthdays.

According to these estimates, the total number of under-five deaths decreased globally from 1990 to 2009 from 12.4 million per year to 8.1 million. The global under-five mortality rate has dropped by a third over that period, from 89 deaths per 1,000 live births to 60 in 2009.

The good news is that these estimates suggest 12,000 fewer children are dying each day around the world compared to 1990.
To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

Maternal deaths worldwide drop by third

The number of women dying due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth has decreased by 34 per cent from an estimated 546 000 in 1990 to 358 000 in 2008, according to a new report, "Trends in maternal mortality", released by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Bank.

The progress is notable, but the annual rate of decline is less than half of what is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of reducing the maternal mortality ratio by 75 per cent between 1990 and 2015. This will require an annual decline of 5.5 per cent. The 34 per cent decline since 1990 translates into an average annual decline of just 2.3 per cent.

"The global reduction in maternal death rates is encouraging news," says Dr Margaret Chan, the Director-General of WHO. "Countries where women are facing a high risk of death during pregnancy or childbirth are taking measures that are proving effective; they are training more midwives, and strengthening hospitals and health centres to assist pregnant women. No woman should die due to inadequate access to family planning and to pregnancy and delivery care."
To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

Haiti's youth ready to act in post-earthquake era

Fifty young participants at UNICEF’s ‘Children and Youth Participation Movement for a Transformative Agenda for Children,’ an event held recently in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, were able to voice opinions as never before. They addressed issues including social, environmental and economic concerns, as well as the role of young people in Haiti’s future.
The Participation Movement will take the shape of a series of debates, forums and conferences to allow Haitian young people a chance to express their hopes – and demands – in the weeks ahead of its November presidential election.
Across Haiti, many young people are ready to take up the call to action. “If they give us our chance, we’ll turn Haiti back into the ‘Pearl of the Antilles,’” said Hanly.
To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

UNICEF and partners help Lao PDR Government address ‘alarming’ malnutrition levels

UNICEF and partners have joined forces with the Ministry of Health in Lao PDR to address worrying levels of malnutrition among children living in remote areas of the country.


An assessment conducted in May and June by the National Institute of Public Health, in collaboration with the Department of Statistics and UNICEF, reported a poor-to-critical state of acute malnutrition among children living in nine provinces affected by floods in 2008 and by Typhoon Ketsana last year.
“We found extremely high levels of malnutrition among children” said Dr. Dalaphone Sithideth, the survey team’s physician. In Attapeu, one of three southern provinces covered by the survey, 18.9 per cent of children aged 6 to 59 months were found to suffer from acute malnutrition. This figure is almost 4 per cent above the international definition for an emergency situation.
To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

Refocusing HIV efforts in sub-Saharan Africa

In the push to reverse the spread of HIV and AIDS by 2015, as called for by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals – a set of internationally recognized targets for reducing poverty worldwide – success may depend on forging connections with young African women, so that they are able to protect themselves and their partners against the epidemic.

The report shows that about four million young people aged 15 to 24 were living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa in 2008. The region also has the largest number of new HIV infections. If the epidemic is to be reversed in time to meet the deadline, change must happen there – and it must happen now.

"What we know is that HIV infection rises dramatically in young women between the ages of about 15 and 25,” Dr. Whiteside said. “So if we could address this, then I think we could go a long way towards stopping the epidemic.”

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

UNICEF supports emergency education for children displaced by floods in Pakistan

Over the past several weeks, monsoon floods in Pakistan have displaced millions and destroyed or damaged some 1.8 million homes and over 9,000 schools. The latest UN estimates place the total number of people affected at 20.5 million – including, of course, millions of vulnerable children and women.


Describing the crisis as a "children’s emergency," UNICEF and its partners have taken steps to provide these children with a safe and supportive environment. To that end, temporary learning and recreational centres are being set up in each camp for people displaced by the floods.
There are now more than 200 such centres across the country, with a total enrolment exceeding 20,000. In addition, 153 static and 22 mobile child-friendly spaces have been established, providing more than 34,000 children with educational and recreational support in flood-affected areas.
To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

Unicef has pledged to support special Constitutional Parliamentary Committee outreach programmes for youths and children to be held later this month

Copac co-chairperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora last week confirmed Unicef would fund the two-day special outreach programmes nationwide. They are likely to be held on September 23 and 24.

He could not disclose how much money was involved. "We secured commitment from Unicef to fund the special outreach meetings for youths and children. We are still discussing the modalities of the meetings," he said.

Mr Mwonzora said Copac did not want the meetings to be held long after the main outreach had been completed so that youths’ views could be properly captured. There have been concerns over the low turnout of youths, children and other disadvantaged groups in the ongoing outreach. Youths account for just 12 percent of the more than 500 000 people who have attended outreach meetings to date.
To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

Unicef says every child needs to be included in development goals

UNICEF says research into how aid funding is spent shows the Millenium Development Goals can be better reached by focussing on the most disadvantaged children and families. The Millenium Development goals are eight international development goals that all 192 United Nations member states have agreed to achieve by 2015.
The Chief Executive of UNICEF New Zealand, Dennis McKinlay says with help from the World Bank a study has found that making the extra effort to reach one hundred per cent of children is economically viable.
“In terms of trying to achieve the MDGs and the targets which are set in 2015, unless we do take this equity approach of including every child and being inclusive, we will not achieve the MDGs. So this is a policy, or a strategy if you like, that will help countries achieve the MDGs more easily than if they didn’t take this approach.”
Dennis McKinlay says in the past agencies like UNICEF have tried to keep to set budgets by targetting the most easily accessible children but often those who miss out on aid are the five to ten per cent of children who need it most.
To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

Executive Board extends UNICEF partnership with Rotary International to eradicate polio

Meeting at UN headquarters yesterday, the UNICEF Executive Board approved the extension of a global partnership with Rotary International that has helped the world move dramatically closer to eradicating the scourge of polio.



“I do believe this is the easiest of the decisions the Board will be making,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, who lauded Rotary for its enduring commitment to the fight against the paralysing and sometimes fatal childhood disease.

Mr. Lake pointed out that over a million Rotarians have volunteered their time to raise more than $900 million for polio eradication during the past quarter century.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

UNICEF Peru helps communities counter gang violence

Young people in a pilot violence prevention programme launched by UNICEF Peru are speaking out on violence, education and health in their communities.

The pilot project, launched in a northern Peruvian district called Ventanilla, aims to give youth a voice in helping to come up with solutions to minimize the violence in their communities and help foster an environment that is more nurturing for children.

Ventanilla is a rapidly growing area, now home to more than 275,000 residents, of which more than 100,000 – or about 38 per cent – are under 18 years old. UNICEF Peru hopes to expand the violence prevention programmes to other impoverished regions of Peru within the next two years.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

In Pakistan's makeshift camps, mobile health clinics save lives

Seemingly oblivious to the constant stream of trucks, gasoline fumes and dust being kicked up by the traffic roaring past this tiny makeshift camp on the outskirts of Sukkar, Dr. Nasreen Khaskheli listened intently to her patients’ descriptions of their ailments.

She nodded empathically and, after a thorough consultation, dispensed the required medications.

This mobile team of three health workers – supported by UNICEF – visits up to four makeshift camps each day and has been known to treat over 300 patients daily, all presenting a variety of ailments.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

UNICEF and partners fight deadly, but preventable, cholera outbreak in Cameroon

Cameroon is currently experiencing one of its most severe outbreaks of cholera in decades. The epidemic began in May 2010, following the country’s rainy season, and is most prevalent in the country’s Extreme North province. To date, there are some 5,560 reported cases of cholera and 385 deaths, according to the Government of Cameroon.

Cholera is caused by consuming contaminated water and food and often spreads as a result of poor sanitation and hygiene. According to UNICEF Cameroon, only 5 per cent of people in the Extreme North have access to latrines and less than 30 per cent have access to safe drinking water.

It is this combination of factors, along with flooding and high population density, that have led to the current outbreak.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

'Progress for Children' report sheds new light on achieving Millennium Development Goals

Addressing the needs of the poorest of the poor is the key to meeting ambitious development goals and reducing global injustice, according to a UNICEF’s latest ‘Progress for Children’ report. The report was released today, during the first day of a UNICEF Executive Board session at United Nations headquarters in New York.




In 2000, world leaders adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to make the world a more equitable place and setting out a series of time-bound targets that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs. Every year, UNICEF’s flagship ‘Progress for Children’ report monitors progress towards these targets.

This year, ‘Progress for Children: Achieving the MDGs with Equity’ reveals that, in the push to meet the development goals by their 2015 target date, the very poor are falling further and further behind.
To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

New UNICEF study shows MDGs for children can be reached faster with focus on most disadvantaged

The global community can save millions of lives by investing first in the most disadvantaged children and communities, according to a new UNICEF study released today. Such an approach would also address the widening disparities that are accompanying progress toward the MDGs.

The new findings are presented in two publications: Narrowing the Gaps to Meet the Goals and Progress for Children: Achieving the MDGs with Equity, UNICEF’s signature data compendium.

While great progress is being made in international efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals, much more needs to be done over the next five years. By comparing the effectiveness of different strategies for delivering critical health interventions to those in greatest need, the study found that targeting to the poorest and most disadvantaged children could save more lives per US $1 million spent than the current path.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

New UNICEF report calls for reducing disparities among children in Viet Nam

According to key findings presented in a UNICEF report entitled ‘An Analysis of the Situation of Children in Viet Nam 2010,’ Viet Nam has made tremendous progress for its children in a remarkably short period of time, with unprecedented reduction in under-five mortality rates and poverty.

Yet there remains an unfinished agenda for children in the country, in particular in terms of hygiene, sanitation, child poverty, nutrition, child protection and education quality and management.

Participating in the event were 100-150 participants from the Viet Nam Government, donors and embassies, UN agencies, international non-governmental organizations, civil society, research institutes and the media.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

Life skills courses brighten the future for Syrian Arab Republic's refugees

UNICEF is working with several key partners to ensure that quality education reaches those who need it. Vocational courses – hosted by the non-governmental European Institute of Cooperation and Development and funded by the Danish Embassy – target older students, while remedial classes in schools are supported by the European Union.


The courses are also part of an effort to help Iraq and Syria meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals target related to education.

The MDGs, a set of internationally recognized targets for reducing poverty worldwide, call for ensuring universal primary education by the year 2015.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

UNICEF and World Food Programme chiefs visit Pakistan's flood-stricken Punjab province

In a show of support for the victims of flooding in Pakistan, UNICEF and World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Directors Anthony Lake and Josette Sheeran visited the agencies’ humanitarian operations in the Muzzafargarh district of Punjab, one of the worst-affected
provinces of the country.



In the village of Gujrat, the two agency heads visited a girls’ high school that had been transformed into an emergency relief centre for hundreds of families – mainly women and children – who had fled the rising water with little but the clothes they were wearing.

Despite the searing heat, the incessant swarming of flies and severe crowding at the school, families arriving there could finally rest. They received much-needed health and nutrition assistance and gathered their strength after days trudging along roads or wading through dangerous floodwaters.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

On International Youth Day in Madagascar, film screening gives young people a forum

A film set in Madagascar’s arid south is helping young people develop life skills by sparking a debate on what it means to succeed in life.

In Madagascar today, out of a total population of 19 million – almost 70 per cent of whom live in poverty – there are 5.7 million children and young people between 10 and 24 years of age, and their number is expected to double by 2025. Despite efforts to meet their needs, Malagasy children and youth continue to face huge challenges.



‘Dzaomalaza and the Blue Sapphire’ – produced by UNICEF with its partner, Digital Development Communications – will now be shown across Madagascar in schools, youth clubs and other venues targeting young people, with screenings followed by audience debates.

“This film is a great way of reaching young people, because it truly shows the society in which we live as young Malagasies,” said peer educator Ravo Randriantsoavina. “Often, young people cannot talk to their parents. It is difficult for us to change our culture and to find ways to advocate. But if enough people are convinced, we can take action.”

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

International Year of Youth launches in Syria with colourful events

At a ceremony in Syria to launch the International Year of Youth, the importance of fostering dialogue and mutual understanding among the country’s youth inspired an enthusiastic response.

Live music performances, dance and theatre followed opening words from United Nations Resident Coordinator in Syria Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who stressed the importance of young people to the development of the country.

As youth come into focus as the core of national agendas worldwide, one thing is already clear: young people represent the present as much as they do the future, and they have a truly boundless potential to change the world for the better.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

In Singapore, inaugural Youth Olympic Games provide competition and inspiration

As the first-ever Youth Olympic Games comes to a close, a young female athlete quietly traces the outline of her hand on a piece of paper and writes, “I have a right to be educated and to play any sports I like.”

Organized under the direction of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Youth Olympic Games are an international high-level sporting event for adolescents held every two years, alternating between the summer and winter seasons.

In addition to providing opportunities for young athletes to compete in 26 olympic sports, the games also aim to provide young people with the knowledge and skills to become role models for their peers and to play an active role in their communities.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake, to visit flood affected areas of Pakistan

UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake, arrived in Pakistan on Monday 30 August to tour flood-hit areas and see UNICEF operations to assist the millions of flood-affected people, especially the most vulnerable, the children and women.

Mr. Lake had travelled to Charsadda district, one of the worst affected districts in the Khyber Pukhtoonkhaw province. He also visited schools being used as shelters by thousands of families where UNICEF is providing safe drinking water, family health and hygiene kits and repairing sanitation systems.

Mr. Lake and the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Ms. Josette Sheeran, visited flood-affected areas in Multan Division, Punjab province.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.

Nearly 100 million children to be vaccinated against measles in China

Nearly 100 million children across China will be vaccinated against measles from 11-20 September in one of the world's biggest such public health undertakings to date. The nationwide campaign will protect millions of children against the disease and bring China closer to reaching the measles elimination goal by 2012 in line with the target set by the World Health Organization's Western Pacific region.

"China is a priority country in the global fight against measles and we commend the government for its leadership in this life-saving work," said Dr Michael O'Leary, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in China.

In 2009, more than 52,000 people in China were reported to have contracted measles, accounting for about 86 per cent of the measles cases in WHO's Western Pacific region.

To get regular beauty and fashion tips, check Fashion and Beauty Fete.