Don't skip my blog just because I am a child

Michael Morpurgo gave the Richard Dimbleby lecture last night on children's rights. It was an inspiring lecture that really touched me. He referred to the UN Convention on Children's Rights. Some of the things mentioned in there are so basic that you wouldn't even think that there are children in the world to whom these do not apply i.e right to a name and a right to play.

I take these things for granted. What Michael Morpurgo said reminded me of  a scene from the movie called 'Kite Runner' where the children in an orphanage in Afghanistan had to hide when the Taliban came because children get shot down if they get in the way. Children should not have to run to safety everyday. The orphanage was so over crowded and dirty and the children were ill as a result. These are 'Rights of Survival' mentioned in the UN Convention and they should be given without question to children all around the world.

Michael Morpurgo spoke about his experience in Gaza, he said "I heard shots, then the screaming, saw the kids running to help their wounded freinds. Now i really was outside the comfort zone of fiction. There was blood, his trousers were soaked in it, the bullets were real. I saw the boy close to, saw his agony as the cart rushed by me. many like him, the doctor told me, ended up maimed for life".

Scenes like this usually only happen in LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Countries) and countries which are at war. Children are always the innocent victims in decisions taken by Governments. When Governments create policies they need to prioritise children more highly.

http://layneafghantrip.blogspot.com/

190 TAKEN A DAY IN CHINA

In China 190 children are snatched every day to be trafficked. These children are being sold for as much as £6,600 pounds. Imagine the devastation a parent faces when they find out that their child has been kidnapped. Many of these children are used as beggars to make money for their 'adopted' families. I almost wanted to cry when I read about how some of these children are then maimed so their chances of making money is increased because people will feel sorry for them.

Finally, yesterday, a son was reunited with his father after being missing for 3 years in Shenzhen City. A breakthrough was possible because of a blog set up by Yu Jianrong, a professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who asked people to post photos of children they see begging in the street and of other children they think might have been kidnapped. Parents can also post the photos of their missing child on the micro blogs in the hope that family members will see them.

I gave a speech last year at the Autum conference on Gendercide and how China is the worst country for this. I stated that Gendercide has far reaching consequences and child abduction is one result. Most of the children stolen are boys because of the one child policy. Most families prefer boys. China needs to respect the rights of the children and start to take action over children's wellbeing.

So far China hasn't done anything to solve child abudctions. Recently, a boy was taken in broad daylight in China. He was screaming and crying but passers by ignored him. What is it that makes people there ignore such a crime?  I can't imagine the same happening here. China may be a rising superpower but internally the country doesn't seem to be using any powers to make the life of citizens better in terms of human rights.

http://t.sina.com.cn/1932619445