Perhaps grandparents can help in meeting one of the greatest contemporary challenges: translating talk and ideals about putting children first into reality. They cannot stand alone in love and protection, but what grandparents can represent and harness is a threefold gift: the ability to look back, aware of the paths we have traversed, realistic yet also visionary ideals for a future that comes with a later part of life sense of time and urgency, and a robust capacity to savor both love and the magic dreams of childhood. We need all three gifts as we strive to protect, cherish, and support the world’s children.

Moving rhetoric and promises hark back to ideals of childhood: a time of limitless prospects, dreams and discovery, innocence, intense curiosity, boundless love, and spiritual depth. Many a leader and politician has voiced commitments to care and act for children, at countless levels, global to family, extending to every religion, culture, and continent. It would be hard to find leaders with hearts so hardened that they deny the appeals of childhood or the need to protect the young.

And indeed, the progress the world has seen in improving children’s welfare across the world is a remarkable human achievement. Infant and child mortality, a harsh reality over the centuries, is sharply reduced. Child labor persists but 16-hour days in factories for children or a life-time breaking bricks or weaving carpets, once deemed acceptable as a norm, today encounter outrage. Schooling and healthcare were a reality only for the privileged in the past; today the right to education and health care are central human rights and a daily norm in most parts of the world. When children thrive, there are few bounds on what they, and their families and communities, can achieve.

These transformations have come about both because compassionate visionaries and dedicated scientists, religious leaders, politicians, and countless others have worked creatively and doggedly, in partnerships, to change norms and systems.

This progress, that has transformed the lives of children across the world, shows what is possible and what is desirable. But it also shines a harsh light on what is still to be done.

Because alongside children who thrive, there are vast numbers who suffer. These children live in situations of poverty and deprivation, malnourished or starving, subject to illnesses that can be cured, out of school or learning little. The wonders that technology brings cause harm as well. Mobile devices and the internet open worlds of learning but also pornography and trafficking. Far too many children are abused both by those who should care for them and give them love, and, worse still, by flawed and unjust systems. To take one especially disturbing reality, many millions of children face uncertain, stunted futures as they grow up in refugee and internally displaced people’s communities.

Cruelty and neglect have always been a part of the realities of childhood (many fairy tales remind us of those ancient realities). These realities today stand in stark contrast to the knowledge of what can be done to stop them, and the good it offers to society. We can and must do better. The questions and challenges we face today turn far more on how than on what and why. As to who, surely this is a widely shared social and political responsibility

Four imperatives stand out, and, with the kind of partnerships that Arigatou International promotes and inspires, success is within reach. The ideals are set out clearly, notably in the global blueprint that is reflected in the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in countless international, national, and local commitments. But each goal demands clear sights and visions, action plans, dedication to partnerships, and solid commitments.

• Quality education for all is an internationally central goal and a key to the future. Skills are essential but so are social gifts and a robust ethical compass. Especially on the latter, there is much scope for action as children are prepared for the complex, ever-changing, plural world of today and tomorrow.
• Security, with action to resolve conflicts and to assure safety and protection from violence of all forms.
• The good governance and equitable multilateral action that can address inequity and extreme poverty, assure food security and decent healthcare, and act on discrimination and persecution. And
• A child-centered approach to all matters of policy, from the United Nations institutions, G7, and G20, religious and interreligious communities, national authorities, to the most local, community settings, to listen to and hear the voices of children and to promise and give them the love and care that is so often promised but not delivered.

The reality of policy-making is that large gaps can separate noble intentions, promises, and even solid commitments from the pressures of daily action. In the throes of policy-making, budget debates, political bargaining, and interpersonal maneuvers, the needs of children, whose voices too rarely rise above the din of the policy fray, fall down the policy agenda ladder. We need systems and approaches (Arigatou falls in this category) that remind, constantly, creatively, and forcefully, that children must come first. Grandparents, who have rather magical roles and a special kind of love and care can help. We need the time-hardened ability to understand realities together with the capacity to hear children’s inner and outer voices and to imagine well what they can become. The Arigatou coalitions, diverse and working alongside leading governance bodies, can unite and serve this watching, conscience role.

The post Dignity for All in Practice: The Commitments We Make Together for Social Justice, Peace and The Planet. appeared first on End Child Poverty.

The post Dignity for All in Practice: The Commitments We Make Together for Social Justice, Peace and The Planet. appeared first on Arigatou International.

Perhaps grandparents can help in meeting one of the greatest contemporary challenges: translating talk and ideals about putting children first into reality. They cannot stand alone in love and protection, but what grandparents can represent and harness is a threefold gift: the ability to look back, aware of the paths we have traversed, realistic yet also visionary ideals for a future that comes with a later part of life sense of time and urgency, and a robust capacity to savor both love and the magic dreams of childhood. We need all three gifts as we strive to protect, cherish, and support the world’s children.

Moving rhetoric and promises hark back to ideals of childhood: a time of limitless prospects, dreams and discovery, innocence, intense curiosity, boundless love, and spiritual depth. Many a leader and politician has voiced commitments to care and act for children, at countless levels, global to family, extending to every religion, culture, and continent. It would be hard to find leaders with hearts so hardened that they deny the appeals of childhood or the need to protect the young.

And indeed, the progress the world has seen in improving children’s welfare across the world is a remarkable human achievement. Infant and child mortality, a harsh reality over the centuries, is sharply reduced. Child labor persists but 16-hour days in factories for children or a life-time breaking bricks or weaving carpets, once deemed acceptable as a norm, today encounter outrage. Schooling and healthcare were a reality only for the privileged in the past; today the right to education and health care are central human rights and a daily norm in most parts of the world. When children thrive, there are few bounds on what they, and their families and communities, can achieve.

These transformations have come about both because compassionate visionaries and dedicated scientists, religious leaders, politicians, and countless others have worked creatively and doggedly, in partnerships, to change norms and systems.

This progress, that has transformed the lives of children across the world, shows what is possible and what is desirable. But it also shines a harsh light on what is still to be done.

Because alongside children who thrive, there are vast numbers who suffer. These children live in situations of poverty and deprivation, malnourished or starving, subject to illnesses that can be cured, out of school or learning little. The wonders that technology brings cause harm as well. Mobile devices and the internet open worlds of learning but also pornography and trafficking. Far too many children are abused both by those who should care for them and give them love, and, worse still, by flawed and unjust systems. To take one especially disturbing reality, many millions of children face uncertain, stunted futures as they grow up in refugee and internally displaced people’s communities.

Cruelty and neglect have always been a part of the realities of childhood (many fairy tales remind us of those ancient realities). These realities today stand in stark contrast to the knowledge of what can be done to stop them, and the good it offers to society. We can and must do better. The questions and challenges we face today turn far more on how than on what and why. As to who, surely this is a widely shared social and political responsibility

Four imperatives stand out, and, with the kind of partnerships that Arigatou International promotes and inspires, success is within reach. The ideals are set out clearly, notably in the global blueprint that is reflected in the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in countless international, national, and local commitments. But each goal demands clear sights and visions, action plans, dedication to partnerships, and solid commitments.

• Quality education for all is an internationally central goal and a key to the future. Skills are essential but so are social gifts and a robust ethical compass. Especially on the latter, there is much scope for action as children are prepared for the complex, ever-changing, plural world of today and tomorrow.
• Security, with action to resolve conflicts and to assure safety and protection from violence of all forms.
• The good governance and equitable multilateral action that can address inequity and extreme poverty, assure food security and decent healthcare, and act on discrimination and persecution. And
• A child-centered approach to all matters of policy, from the United Nations institutions, G7, and G20, religious and interreligious communities, national authorities, to the most local, community settings, to listen to and hear the voices of children and to promise and give them the love and care that is so often promised but not delivered.

The reality of policy-making is that large gaps can separate noble intentions, promises, and even solid commitments from the pressures of daily action. In the throes of policy-making, budget debates, political bargaining, and interpersonal maneuvers, the needs of children, whose voices too rarely rise above the din of the policy fray, fall down the policy agenda ladder. We need systems and approaches (Arigatou falls in this category) that remind, constantly, creatively, and forcefully, that children must come first. Grandparents, who have rather magical roles and a special kind of love and care can help. We need the time-hardened ability to understand realities together with the capacity to hear children’s inner and outer voices and to imagine well what they can become. The Arigatou coalitions, diverse and working alongside leading governance bodies, can unite and serve this watching, conscience role.

The post Dignity for All in Practice: The Commitments We Make Together for Social Justice, Peace and The Planet. appeared first on End Child Poverty.

The post Dignity for All in Practice: The Commitments We Make Together for Social Justice, Peace and The Planet. appeared first on Arigatou International.

The finalists of the 2022 Children’s Solutions Lab were unveiled on Friday, 29 July 2022 in a virtual session with the children and their accompanying adults. The finalist groups were: “Home of the Sun” from Armenia, “Turma do Passaporte para a Vida” from Brazil, “My Rights, My Future” from Ghana, “The Inspired Children’s Club” from Malawi, and “Club d’Anglais du CES RD1” from Niger.

These five finalists were selected among other 88 applicants from 30 countries world over. Applications were open between March 1 and April 15, 2022, inviting groups of at least four children to submit projects led by them that could propose context-sensitive and unique solutions to poverty affecting children in their communities.

The projects were expected to address the ethical challenges and the cultural norms that can lead to poverty and suggest solutions based on education. While the solutions and their implementation are led by children, adults from the groups/organizations were encouraged to be available to support them.

The applications went through a competitive international evaluation process. Here is a glimpse into what they submitted and plan to do to alleviate child poverty through education-oriented solutions:

“Home of the Sun” from Armenia proposed to help harvest fruits and vegetables from their local village. In turn, they would earn from the harvests and further add value to the fruits and vegetables by canning them. According to “Home of the Sun” This solution demonstrates how children can creatively earn and support the consumption of healthy foods; thus addressing poverty by supporting the nutritional needs of families.

The lack of basic sanitation is a fairly common social problem in Brazil, which in turn affects children in situations of social vulnerability. Children are often contaminated by dirty water, leading to a series of diseases such as typhoid and dysentery that compromise the body and cognitive development, potentially putting their future at risk. “Turma do Passaporte para a Vida” came up with an idea centered around the cleaning of the sewage system. They intend to build a pipeline that will then connect to another pipeline in their neighborhood station nearby which then treats the sewage, enabling the consumption of safe water.

“My Rights, My Future” from Ghana identified a cycle of poverty associated with teenage pregnancy as a result of a lack of education in schools and the community on teenage pregnancy. The group seeks to educate their communities against teenage pregnancy by encouraging the education of all children as a means to alleviate poverty. This project seeks to take the education out of the classroom directly to the doorsteps of over 500 children who are otherwise likely to also become victims. Unlike previous interventions in their community, this solution will involve children out of school -who are most affected, to also be part of the solution to ensure maximum impact.

The “Inspired Children’s Club” came up with an idea focused on introducing a mobile school for the street children which will have a cart, learning materials and food. This mobile cart is expected to provide education for street children that are willing to learn and be later integrated into formal learning institutions, after receiving the necessary counseling and education. The Inspired Children’s Club will carry out an income-generating activity such as gardening and tree seedlings cultivation to help the environment by reducing deforestation. This activity will aid in the provision of the necessary materials for the mobile schools.

Troubled by the difficulties that over 1,585 school girls go through due to the lack of a toilet, especially during their monthly periods, “Club d’Anglais du CES RD1” from Niger proposed to construct a toilet for girls in a school in Niamey, Niger.

“Our project intends to raise awareness among the girls through the distribution of documents on menstrual hygiene, to organize training workshops in the manufacture of sanitary napkin kits for girls in the sixth and fifth grades and to build toilets for them” explained Kadri Hima, the accompanying adult in the project.

The project is hoped to improve the health of young girls and fight against infections linked to poor menstrual hygiene. Furthermore, it will enable girls to stay in school as long as boys and will preserve their dignity and significantly improve their education through regular attendance of school.

While congratulating the five groups, Fred Nyabera, Director of Arigatou International-End Child Poverty expressed the organization’s commitment to walk with the children in implementing their ideas and even in further endeavors aimed at alleviating poverty.

“We celebrate you and celebrate with you and commit to walk with you as you move along,” he said.

Similarly, Maria Lucia, Director of Arigatou International-Ethics Education for Children lauded the children as examples of the many voiceless children across the world.

“You are examples of other children in the world whose voice cannot be heard,” she said.

First launched in 2020, the Children’s Solutions Lab is one of Arigatou International’s meaningful spaces for child participation, whose aim is to support young people in taking action to address poverty affecting children in their communities through solutions based on education.

The Children’s Solutions Lab seeks to promote ethical reflections among children about the root causes of poverty and how some cultural norms can impact the wellbeing of children and, ultimately, lead to child poverty. Congratulations to the finalists!

The post <strong>Children’s Solutions Lab 2022: Finalists Unveiled</strong> appeared first on End Child Poverty.

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