e-newsletter on Adolescence in the Arab Region, n° 15-January-February 2007
Preamble
The Wild Flowers
Algeria’s adolescents… wild flowers that have resisted the storms of fundamentalism and the fire of terrorism, are yearning for peace and for a safe and dignified life in a homeland which is healing its wounds, reconstructing itself and aspiring to a better future.
Algeria’s adolescents like their peers in other Arab countries are living with the reality of the nation with its crises, failures and achievements…
Aisha Zinay
Domestic violence:
A major source of the phenomenon of street children
News
According
to a statement made to « Al Khabar » newspaper (August, 2006) by Mrs. Khira
Massoudane, Chairwoman of the National Board for the Protection of Children
and Juvenile Delinquency at the General Directorate of National Security, on
the phenomenon of violence against children in Algeria, the number of
Algerian children and adolescents who were subjected to violence of all
kinds in 2005 reached 5091, most of whom were male.
She also pointed up that 1472 children were victims of sexual violence and girls accounted for the majority.
. more
in
line with CAWTAR's efforts towards reducing the knowledge Gap related to
the adolescence issues,
and based on the 2nd CAWTAr's Arab Woman Development report (AWDR):
The Arab Adolescent Girl: Reality and Prospects,
CAWTAR will launch Soon the Indepth Analysis" Adloscents:Values and Rights", covering Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain and Morocco.
Because of terrorism ... 7000 Algerians are raped
Child labor between prevention and restriction
Report-Algeria
Saida Ben Habiles, Chairwoman of the Algerian Association for Rural Women’s Rights and Chairwoman of the International Association for the Victims of Terrorism underlined that terrorists had raped more than seven thousand women in ten years. It added in a press conference that this figure is but the announced one. The real figure is much higher
given that a large number of families whose daughters were raped declined to announce it because of the traditions and for fear to be disgraced.
According to the data provided by the latest population census in Algeria, the number of children in the labor world reached 22,000 below the age of 15, 60% of whom are from rural areas. Besides, children’s labor is experiencing a continuous increase in large cities despite the measures taken by the Algerian government to curb this phenomenon, such as submitting the employment of children between the ages of 16 and 18 years to special conditions and banning the employment of those under the age of 15, bearing in mind that Algeria had ratified the Convention No. 182 of the International Labor Organization on the elimination of the worst forms of child labor.
Arab Woman Development Reports
Voices of Adolescents
“I’m
afraid my parents don’t trust me. I Know what I’m doing. At times, when I
am far from home, at school, they think maybe I’m doing bad things, away
from home, that is, I do not like it when they say that because I am old
enough and I face up to my responsibilities… When they see me with a boy
they do not like, I always say to them I know very well what I’m letting
myself for »
Hela, 17 years- Algeria
“At times they don’t let me go out at all and that is stifling, having to obey all the time, and it becomes unbearable, then I disobey”.
Meriem, 17 years- Algeria
“I think one must do as one’s parents says; if they give advice, it’s because it’s good for us, they know what they are talking about and don’t want to hurt us. We must always obey our parents, not other people, because they are bad”.
Linda, 17 years- Algeria
Gender and Globalization
Arab Adolescent Girl : Reality and Prospects
Arab Woman and media
Arab Woman and Decision Making
Arab Woman and Legislation
The school, formerly a mechanism for modernizing, is no exposed to a counter-infiltration making it vulnerable to word and local community changes. The school crisis is a global one, involving the school, its system and human powers, and the structure of its internal relations and forms. The crisis involves the role of the school in society, as well as its cognitive and economic functions, and the relations with its administrative and academic bodies, pupils and parents. This complex crisis can be understood only as part of global social change.
The Arab Woman Development Report (2003) Arab Adolescent Girl : Reality and Prospects, P143
Orphaned children who are
deprived of family life represented before 1990 a small percentage which
started to increase owing to the painful events that
occurred in the country later. In accordance with the national
legislation, the responsibility of taking charge of homeless children
falls upon the Ministry of Solidarity. Actually, the number of relevant
hosting centers reached 35 across 27 governorates. Yet, these structures
host only 63.59% of orphaned children.
What is rather worth noticeable is the absence of the role of non-governmental organizations where there is clear shortage at the level of orphaned children’s centers stemming from them which gave way to the activities of foreign non-governmental organizations. One of the most important children’s care structures was SOS Kinderdorf which is a non-governmental Organization entrusted with deprived children through the creation of children’s villages and their management.
Historically,
the first SOS children’s village was founded by Herman Gmeiner in
Austria after World War II to aid orphans and displaced children as a
result of the war in 1949. Then, these efforts reached out to many
children of the world. Hence, several SOS children’s villages were
opened in various countries of the world including Algeria where a
children’s village was founded in the area of Draria, in the outskirts
of the capital. This village provided family care for orphaned children.
The village comprises several families each one is run by a mother (an
employee of the association). The family is made up of brothers and
sisters and these families which live with them form a small village
with its own conveniences such as schools and shops.
Let's visit the Millenium Development Goals...
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and Hunger
The achievement of the Millenium Development Goals is not the Duty of only Governments, nor the Civil Society, it is our Duty as Citizens of the world...all of us, Children, Adolescents, Youth, Adults...
As Rights Claimers and as Duty Bearers, we have to build and reinforce our partnership to achieve the MDGs
Indicators of
the 7th Goal
Ensure environmental
sustainability
-
Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources
-
Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water
-
Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020
Link to a flash Quizz-game on Water Management
http://www0.un.org/cyberschoolbus/waterquiz/waterquiz4/index.asp
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other deseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global Partnership for Development
Editor in Chief of the issue: Aisha Zinay * Editorial Secretariat: Saloua Ghazouani * Design: Mohamed Imad Zouari
Address :
P.O. Box n°:105 1003 Cité El Khadra Tunis- TunisiaTel: +21671773511 Fax: +216 71773611 ./ +21671780002 .
Web: www.cawtar.org e-mails: cawtar@planet.tn adoonline@cawtar.org