A new report from the agency says the landmine and explosive legacy in Myanmar (formerly Burma) killed or maimed at least 210 children last year.

Those children represent over 20 percent of last year's 1,052 civilian casualties in the conflict-torn Southeast Asian nation.

UNICEF's 3 April report says the number of people injured in landmines and explosive ordnances in Myanmar tripled last year, compared with the 390 people who died from their use in 2022.

The report - released on the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance - says in 599 explosions last year 188 people were killed. A further 864 were maimed.

Children most vulnerable

UNICEF says children are particularly vulnerable to landmines. That's because they are less likely to recognise them and may be unaware of their dangers.

The use of explosive weapons is widespread in the country, which means children can encounter landmines practically anywhere. They have been placed near their homes, schools, playgrounds and farming areas UNICEF says.

"The use of landmines is not only reprehensible but can constitute a violation of international humanitarian law," UNICEF's Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific says.

"It is imperative that all parties to the conflict prioritise the safety and well-being of civilians, particularly children, and take immediate steps to halt the use of these indiscriminate weapons."

Mines everywhere

UNICEFs report says apart from Myanmar's capital city Naypyitaw, most of the country's states and regions are ridden with landmines.

UNICEF says landmine and explosive use has increased as the conflict has expanded in recent months.

Myanmar is among 32 countries that have not signed the 1999 UN convention banning anti-personnel mines.

Civil war

The Myanmar civil war - aka the Burmese Spring Revolution, the Burmese civil war or the people's defensive war - is fierce and ongoing.

It followed the country's long-running insurgencies. These escalated significantly after a military coup d'état in 2021 and the military junta's subsequent violent crackdown on anti-coup protests.

Key players in the civil war are the military and ethnic armed groups and the newly emerged People's Defence Forces.

Catholic help

The Catholic Church has been supporting victims of landmines in Shan state, a Catholic social worker says.

"We have a programme on cash support to the victims of landmines when cases are referred to us by the NGOs and civil society groups."

He says the people they helped support last year were both adults and children.

War crimes

In July 2022, Amnesty International accused the Myanmar military of committing war crimes.

The military has been manufacturing and laying landmines on a massive scale in and around villages and near churches.

These include the M-14, which typically blows off the victim's foot at the ankle.

There's also the more powerful MM-2, which often blows off the victim's leg at the knee and causes injuries to other parts of the body.

There is a severe risk of death due to blood loss from the injuries caused by the MM-2, Amnesty says.

Source

• UCA News

South Asian countries account for 290 million or 45 percent of the total of 640 million child brides globally, according to the report released on May 1.

South Asia is followed by sub-Saharan Africa with 20 percent child brides, East Asia and the Pacific at 15 percent, and Latin America and the Caribbean at 9 percent, the report said.

The report used data collected from women aged 20 to 24 who were married before 18.

UNICEF, in its report, stated that the current rate of decline in the practice of child marriage was insufficient to achieve the target of eliminating it by 2030.

Read More

In the face of miserable outcomes in relation to child poverty, obesity, suicide and basic education, the Prime Minister remains upbeat about her government's efforts to date.

"You would be hard pressed to find a government that has done more to focus on child poverty in the last several decades than everything we've been working on," Jacinda Ardern says.

The government has increased benefits and tax credits and other changes to the welfare system, she says.

Yet despite Ardern's child poverty focus, life for New Zealand children compares poorly with that of children from almost every OECD country, the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has found.

Describing New Zealand children's education, obesity and suicide trends as 'deeply embedded and terrifying', UNICEF NZ is calling for significant investment and policy change.

Out of 41 EU and OECD countries, UNICEF ranked New Zealand 35th in child wellbeing outcomes. New Zealand children have the second highest obesity rate in the OECD. Over a third are obese or overweight. Only 64.6 percent of 15 year-olds in New Zealand have basic proficiency in reading and maths.

"The Report Card gives New Zealand an F for failure when it comes to wellbeing outcomes for children," UNICEF says.

UNICEF New Zealand says these poor grades show New Zealand is failing its children.

"This is a woeful result for a country that prides itself on the great outdoors, academic achievement and the international success of our sports teams. It is time to be alarmed and activated about the inequality of opportunity, health and wellbeing in NZ."

New Zealand's Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has also just released research showing child poverty in New Zealand is soaring.

CPAG found that in the year to March since the nationwide lockdown, many more whanau have been doing it tough, with Maori and Pacific people the hardest hit.

Its modelling shows 18,000 more children have likely ended up in poverty in the 12 months to March 2021, even without taking into account the rising cost of housing.

Of these, tamariki Maori and Pacific children were up to three times more likely than Pakeha children to be tipped into poverty.

CPAG says the government did not give children and their families the prioritisation they needed as it developed policy responses to the pandemic.

"It is thanks to the collective efforts of iwi, hapu, community organisations, schools, whanau and families - and low-income children themselves - that the crisis of poverty was not even worse.

"Income loss due to job loss was probably inevitable due to Covid-19, but income loss to the point of inadequacy is due to our inadequate welfare system."

In Ardern's view, however, the government acted on its awareness as soon as Covid hit that vulnerable families would be among the worst hit economically. She says this is why support was rolled out in benefit increases.

Source

• RNZ
• RNZ
• UNICEF
• Image: Stuff

Ardern insists progress is being made - and she points out that some of the data used in the damning Unicef report is out of date - but organisations on the front lines say progress has been slow and in some cases, things are actually getting worse.

Of the 41 OECD and European countries surveyed, New Zealand ranked 35th for overall child wellbeing.

On mental wellbeing alone, New Zealand sits at 38th - with the youth suicide rate among the worst in the developed world.

Jazz Thornton is one of the co-founders of Voices of Hope, a not-for-profit trying to break the stigma around mental health.

"We are seeing young people across the country struggling and struggling to speak up and struggling to access the help that they need," she said.

The Unicef report put the suicide rate for 15- to 19-year-olds at 14.9 per 100,000 adolescents, averaging data from the three years to 2015.

Figures released last month by the chief coroner put the 2019 rate for that age group at 18.7 per 100,000 adolescents.

Thornton said more action as needed.

"I think that there has been a lot of talk, a lot of promises, a lot of funding that has been allocated to services within mental health, but we're yet to see a lot of that actioned and spent.

"Talking about it is fantastic and talking about it is one step, but in order to see actual tangible change, that sees our statistics decrease, we have to action what we're saying." Continue reading

A UNICEF report says migrant children and young people, with low levels of education, "run an ever greater risk of exploitation."

Of the minors who move on the route that connects the Mediterranean with Central Europe, the report found 90% of adolescents without education say they suffered exploitation, compared with 77% of children with primary education and 75% with secondary education. Read more

Responding to the release of the UNICEF Innocenti report into Child well-being in rich countries, Archbishop John Dew, speaking on behalf of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, said it was a matter of concern that New Zealand does not collect enough relevant data to be included in the ranking tables.

New Zealand was excluded from key comparison tables of the study because data was available for fewer than 75 percent of the indicators used.

"Children require our special attention because they are among our most vulnerable citizens. The Expert Advisory Group of the Commissioner for Children advised last December that the first step required in responding to child poverty was to measure and set goals to reduce child poverty," says Archbishop Dew.

"The importance of this advice becomes apparent when this report shows that New Zealand is behind countries like Estonia, Slovakia, Portugal, Greece, Lithuania and Romania in collecting data about child well-being."

Archbishop Dew says that data that was included in the study show New Zealand does deserve some self-congratulations, while at the same time highlighting matters that require our serious and urgent attention.

"It is pleasing to see that New Zealand child immunisation rates have increased, and that we compare well with similar countries for educational achievement by age 15.

"However, we should be very concerned that we rank so poorly for young people under 19 not in education, employment or training. And it is shocking that New Zealand rates for infant mortality would place us in the lower third of countries measured in the report."

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops say that New Zealand is a country blessed in resources, and whether New Zealand children experience wellbeing or poverty is matter of distributive choices and of political will.

"We have the opportunity and the ability to make this country what many believe and wish for - a great place to bring up children."

The comparative data for New Zealand that was available shows New Zealand is:

• Ranked 32 out of 34 countries for young people who are not in any form of education, training or employment (NEETS)
• Ranked 21 out of 35 countries for levels of child poverty, above Italy and Canada but below the UK and Australia.
• Ranked 25 out of 34 countries for young people (aged 15-19 years) who are participating in higher education, ahead of Australia and the UK but below Spain and Greece.
• Ranked 24 out of 35 countries for general homicide (deaths per 100,000) which has an impact on children's safety and development. Australia, the UK and most European countries have fewer homicides per 100,000 than New Zealand.
• Ranked 25 out of 35 countries for child health and safety (includes infant mortality and low birth weight, national immunization levels and death rate of children and young people).

Source

• NZCBC
• Scoop
• Image: NewstalkZB

We have been gifted this beautiful world to use and enjoy. Not to plunder and pollute. Governments seem paralysed by inertia or denial of the disastrous effects of climate change, already evident in the Pacific.

But there are significant signs of hope, in this season of Spring. Not mainly from the older and supposedly wiser generation, but from young people, some still students, who can read the signs of the times. They are determined to make a difference - researching the subject, evaluating which sources are reliable, coming together in groups of thousands around the world to make their voices heard. We ignore them to our detriment.

I want to highlight three groups, originating elsewhere, but now working in our country - 350.org and Generation Z, who are organising Powershift - see below - and A Rocha - mostly young people giving their time and energy and enthusiasm to fighting against the blindness and inaction of governments and big business with regard to climate change.

A Rocha, the rock [of Christ], was founded 30 years ago in Portugal, as - literally - a grassroots movement, to care for creation. They build community by restoring ecosystems, with volunteers working at the local level, with schools and local councils. The Karioi Maunga in the Waikato is one such project. Some of their story was told at the recent conference in Wellington, ‘Christianity and the ecological crisis', with the themes of lament, hope, action. The conference was jointly organised by A Rocha and Caritas, two organisations with complementary and overlapping aims - a perfect fit. More on this conference later.

Powershift, born from the failure of Rio + 20, gives me hope. Australia held a Powershift in 2011, now it is our turn, including Pacifica young people. UNICEF is a supporter, as it did the nation-wide meetings of young people aged 13-25 before Rio + 20. Now these same young people, from 350.org and Generation Z, disgusted by the failure of their elders, will hold a hui in Auckland in December. 1000 young people will gather to share their vision of a better world. They want to make a difference. Watch this space! Or Google it. They have a very informative and creative web site, including a video of the Australian event.

Is this an opportunity for the rest of us to support them? Young people from the Pacific may find the expense too great. Our parish justice group is considering sponsoring one or more, as well as encouraging a young person from the parish to attend. Reporting back will involve us in the work required to move from vision to action. The registration is $90, bed and breakfast at a new university hostel $150 for 3 nights - less than a weekend sampling wine in the Wairarapa for those of us in employment.

The Lord helps those who help themselves. Prayer with action is the way forward. Tricia Kane.

• Tricia Kane is a grandmother and a retired librarian.

Saturday's DomPost Your Weekend section ran an article "$2.25 Buys a big Lesson" where Ruth Nichol recalls her family being part of last year's "Live Below the Line" challenge. When she shopped for the minuscule amounts she could afford she was humbled to see other shoppers doing the same. But they weren't economising for just a few days. They shopped like this all the time. She was struck by how privileged her life is.

Many years ago with a couple of other Sisters I ran a Mission in the west of New South Wales with the local Aboriginal people. We ran a medical clinic, pre-school and junior school on a pittance and aimed to live as closely as possible to the people around us.

But I learnt that despite all our intentions we could never truly live their lives. We had the education and the networks, which enabled us to escape. We never faced the despair and sense of helplessness that seemingly never-ending poverty can bring.

Probably the big thing "Live Below the Line" achieves is that it raises the awareness of the general population of how others are struggling to survive.

And these are not only the 1.4 billion people in developing countries but also thousands of low-income New Zealanders.

Perhaps with celebrities raising the consciousness of many of us it may prevent the snide remarks of some prominent businessmen when the organisation "The Living Wage" was launched last week. Perhaps some celebrities may even lend their fame to help New Zealanders who are finding it so difficult to raise their families despite their hard work. Perhaps they may join "The Living Wage."

Source

• Sr. Catherine Hannan

These families are sheltering in over 200 evacuation centres and many lack regular access to water, food and essential items. Water and electricity shortages across the Western Division are creating a potentially dangerous situation for thousands more.

The director of the Fiji Disaster Management Office says between 30 and 40,000 people are receiving rations following Fiji floods that killed at least six and caused widespread devastation.

Pajiliai Dobui says the number of people in evacuation centres in the Western Division stands at just over 1,800 and there are 28 evacuees from a village in the Central Division's Rewa province.

UNICEF is especially concerned over access to clean water for both drinking and bathing. Leptospirosis, diarrhea and typhoid are a real threat in the flood-affected areas. Water is being delivered by trucks to evacuation centers and communities - however, due to damaged roads not all areas can be reached regularly. For those who do have access to water, proper filtering and storage of water is essential.

Source

• Radio New Zealand International
• Pacific Scoop.co.nz
• Image: The Voice of Russia

"It felt really heart wrenching to see families, and especially young children in the evacuation centers with nothing but the clothes on their back. Some lost everything while others saved what they could. It was really sad to see these families waiting and wondering where their next food supply would come from," says Joseph Hing - UNICEF Pacific, Senior Communications Assistant.

UNICEF Pacific representative, Dr Isiye Ndombi, said: "Providing mothers of infants with a safe space and the support to breastfeed is the simplest and best way we can protect our youngest children particularly when hygiene and water is a challenge."

In a statement, UNICEF

• Advised that food supplied to families in need should contain a balance of protein from fish and dhal, as well as starchy basics such as noodles, rice and biscuits.
• Encouraged mothers of infants to continue to exclusively breastfeed their newborn children.
• Said, over the long term, families who have lost crops and incomes should be supported to ensure that children's health and well-being is not compromised.

UNICEF said it was especially concerned over access to clean water for drinking and bathing.

Source

• The Fiji Times
• UNICEF - First-hand description of the plight of children
• Image: UNICEF