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UAE Child Rights Law Contains Controversial Breastfeeding Clause

In January, the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates drafted a law to protect children’s rights. Controversy has arisen over recent months because of a clause that mandates women breastfeed their children,...
by Amanda Lubit
 

 
 

Japan’s Institutions Fail the Country’s Most Vulnerable Children

Human Rights Watch released the report Without Dreams: Children in Alternative Care in Japan assessing the impact these care facilities have upon children who live there. As of 2013, more than 39 thousand children lived in inst...
by Amanda Lubit
 

 
 

Senegalese Laws Endanger Lives of Young Girls

Senegal’s abortion laws regularly deny young rape victims permission for abortions. These laws revictimize these girls by forcing them to either carry unwanted and risky pregnancies to term, or seek illegal and unsafe abo...
by Amanda Lubit
 

 

 

More Than 100 Schoolgirls Abducted in Nigeria

More than 100 female students have been abducted from a school in the state of Borno in northeastern Nigeria. Militant Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram is suspected to have caused the attack. Gunmen reportedly entered...
by Carla Drumhiller
 

 
 

Exhaustion and Hunger Afflict Central African Refugees Arriving in Cameroon

The conflict in the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) has displaced nearly 1 million of the country’s 4.6 million people. Of these, 300 thousand have fled the country while 650 thousand have been displaced within the coun...
by Amanda Lubit
 

 
 

FIFA Ruling Increases Inclusion of Girls and Women in Football

In March 2013, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) announced its long-awaited decision allowing both male and female players to wear religious head coverings in international football competitions. This d...
by Amanda Lubit
 

 

 

Creative Programs Keep Myanmar’s Children in School

Myanmar is currently pursuing an aggressive course of education reform and restructuring, including reopening universities and investing in higher education. But one of the country’s greatest challenges as it moves forward wi...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

Senegal’s Major Problem With Forced Child Begging

While Senegal has attempted to address some of its huge number of impoverished families with healthcare funding, many of its children are still suffering in school. Human Rights Watch reported on March 19 that many children in ...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

ICC Fails to Convict Congolese Warlord on Sexual Violence and the Use of Child Soldiers

On March 7, 2014 Germain Katanga’s trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) came to an end. In response to crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2003, Katanga was found guilty of war crimes in...
by Amanda Lubit
 

 

 

Bilingual Educational System in Morocco Frustrates, Disadvantages Students

Morocco has recently undertaken a concerted program of education reform—taking loans from the World Bank for development, founding an education and training center for women, and creating a plan to promote women’s rights, a...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

Egypt Continues Crackdown on Young Protestors

Since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi last year, Egypt’s interim government has adopted a policy of harsh crackdowns on supporters of the former president, the assets of the Muslim Brotherhood, journalists, protestors, and others...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

Yemen Talks Coordination on Higher Education with other Arab Nations

Yemeni Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Hisham Sharaf met in Riyadh on Friday, March 14 with his Moroccan counterpart, Soumia Bankhaldoun to discuss cooperation on higher education between the two countries....
by Alex Leedom
 

 

 

“All Children Reading” Grant Competition to Fund Literacy Programs

In developing countries, one child out of every four remains illiterate. To facilitate literacy efforts, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) partnered with the Australian government and World Vision to announc...
by Amanda Lubit
 

 
 

Teachers Strike Delays Start of School Year in Argentina

In response to recent inflation, teachers unions in Argentina demanded a pay increase of approximately 35% for their members. Without an agreement between unions and the government, teachers went on strike on March 5th, postpon...
by Amanda Lubit
 

 
 

Indian Children Toil in Dangerous Coal Mines

Thousands of young children work in the coal mines of Meghalaya state in northeast India. Deprived of a childhood and education, they work in dangerous, unstable and uncomfortable conditions with the constant threat of injury o...
by Amanda Lubit
 

 

 

Myanmar’s Government Excludes Influential Education Group from Reform Talks

Myanmar is in the midst of a massive upheaval. Following the 2011 dissolution of the military junta that had controlled the country since 1962, the country has begun a process of democratization and reform. But now, just after ...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

Accusations of Millions Embezzled through Nepalese School Construction Projects

Nepal has become a leader in innovate education technologies in South Asia, allocating billions to provide its state-run secondary schools with computers and internet access. However, Nepal is also one of the most corrupt state...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

Liberian Teachers Demand Pack Pay from Education Ministry

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, public school teachers gathered at the Ministry of Education in the Liberian city of Sinkor to demand back pay from the government. The teachers allege that they have not been paid since their appointment ...
by Alex Leedom
 

 

 

Human Traffickers Exploit Syrian Children

In February 2013, Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) broke up a ring of child traffickers exploiting refugee children from Syria in Ras Beirut. These arrests called attention to the vulnerability of Syrian children ...
by Amanda Lubit
 

 
 

Indian Compulsory Education Law Designed Actually Shuts Down Schools

Hundreds of low-cost private schools in India, which have become increasingly popular, are now being forced to shut down as a result of a new compulsory education law, titled Right To Education. The law, as part of India’s pr...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

New Report Details Extent of Attacks on Education Worldwide

A new report issued by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, Education Under Attack 2014, details the extent of attacks on educators, students, and schools worldwide between 2009 and 2013. The report singles ou...
by Alex Leedom
 

 

 

Education Reform Falling Short in Pakistan

Pakistan is in the process of enacting education reform, introducing new programs and legislating increased access to schools. A recent law, the Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, adopted last March, ...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

Afghan Ministry Says University Enrollments Grow

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Higher Education is reporting that more than 60,000 students will attend public universities as the academic year begins. This represents an increase of some 50 per cent over the 40,000 students who ...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

Kenyan School Pilots Mobile Technology in the Classroom

The newly developed Power of M-Learning Project aims to improve academic performance in Kenyan primary schools by using 3G enabled tablets to deliver the newly digitized Kenyan curriculum. The project is currently being piloted...
by Shannon Schmidt
 

 

 

Foreign Aid To Education in Sub-Saharan Africa Slows

The recent UNESCO report, the Education for All Global Monitoring Report, released late last month, finds a disturbing drop in foreign aid made to education, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the report, “In sub-...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

New Yemeni Budget Focuses on Education and Health

Almost a quarter of the 2014 Yemeni budget is allocated to the education and health sectors. Education was allocated 512.3 billion riyals (about $2.4 billion) and health 169.6 billion riyals ($790 million), increases of 17.5 an...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

Deworming Campaign to Benefit 700,000 Schoolchildren in Haiti

This month the Haitian government will launch a national deworming campaign for schoolchildren, in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), the Ministry of National Education, and the Foundation for Development and the...
by Shannon Schmidt
 

 

 

Egypt Further Delays Start of Academic Year Due to Swine Flu, Security Concerns

Egypt’s schools, currently on a mid-year break initially scheduled to end on Feb. 22, have delayed the resumption of classes twice in the last week. The ongoing swine flu outbreak, which has killed 63 and infected at least 53...
by Alex Leedom
 

 
 

Women Petition to Gain Rights in Saudi Arabia

On International Women’s Day, March 8th, women’s rights activists petitioned the Shura Council of Saudi Arabia to demand an end to the restrictions placed upon women. This development comes just months after the Cou...
by Amanda Lubit
 

 
 

Uterine Prolapse Epidemic among Nepalese Women

Without access to necessary reproductive and maternal health services, approximately 1.4 million women in Nepal suffer from uterine prolapse. These women not only suffer physically from this painful and debilitating condition, ...
by Amanda Lubit