Fieldnotes: Blogging on UNICEF's child survival work in the field
Entries from Fieldnotes tagged with 'girls'
Going for the goal
For me, the sport of soccer evokes memories of a suburban childhood: freshly laundered uniforms and energy drinks, grass stains and post-game pizza parties. Never once during the many years of weekend tournaments and afternoon practices did I consider the children across the world enjoying the same sport, in dusty streets and alleyways instead of newly sodded fields. And I certainly never considered the many children denied the fundamental right I took for granted each day—the right to play.
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| © UNICEF/NYHQ2009-1231/Giacomo Pirozzi |
| A boy balances a soccer ball on his head outside a UNICEF child-friendly space in Antananarivo, Madagascar |
The New York Times spotlights girls' education
This weekend's New York Times Magazine will be completely devoted to women's issues and rights—with a focus on the developing world. This is something I'm really looking forward to reading. You probably know by now that a big part of UNICEF's work is helping women and girls get an education and supporting programs that foster gender equality. So this is right up our alley.
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| © UNICEF/NYHQ2009-1271/Marta Ramoneda |
| Pakistan, 2009: Girls attend a class on the first day of the restart of school at Aman Kot Girls’ Primary and Middle School in Swat District in North-West Frontier Province. Over 400 girls’ schools were damaged or destroyed during the region's recent fighting. |
I encourage you to take time out to read these powerful articles—like this one, which profiles the girls' school in Afghanistan where students were brutally attacked with acid last year. After you've read them, let us know what you think.
A UNICEF staff member is killed in Pakistan
We're still reeling from the death of UNICEF staff member Perseveranda So. In case you haven't seen the news, So was killed in the massive car bomb explosion that hit the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan on Tuesday. The hotel was acting as home base for many aid workers, including more than 25 staffers from UN agencies. All told, 5 of the 17 people killed in the blast were with UN agencies responding to the region's growing humanitarian crisis.
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| © UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0671/Marta Ramoneda |
| Pakistan, 2009 On 1 June, a girl attends school in a tent classroom in the Chota Lahore camp in Swabi District, in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). An estimated 877 children are enrolled in the school. UNICEF is helping to provide education support for displaced children in camps and host communities. The Chota Lahore camp is one of many created in the last few weeks to accommodate people fleeing the current conflict. |
We all know that working in volatile countries brings personal risk. Just a few months ago, Kate Horton blogged about the dangers UNICEF field staff often face. And the fact that some die while on the job. But knowing the dangers doesn't make news like this any easier. When colleagues like Perseveranda So—"Persy" to those who knew her—are killed in violent and targeted attacks it feels particularly tragic. And just, well, unfair. Those who are working tirelessly to help save and improve lives should not be felled by those who seek only to destroy lives.
How bicycles help girls learn
Fifteen-year-old Rahinatu has a lot of responsibilities. In Ghana where she lives, as in many countries, adolescent girls like her are expected to play a major role in taking care of the household. And Rahinatu's chores take priority over just about everything else—including, alas, education.
That means Rahinatu can only leave for school in the morning after she's finished jobs that include cleaning the area around the family's home and washing up after breakfast. But her school is over three miles from her home—a lengthy walk on top of the chores.
"I was coming to school late every day," says Rahinatu.
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| © UNICEF/NYHQ2008-0866/Olivier Asselin |
| Ghana, 2008: Rahinatu, age 15, and Sherifatu, age 16, at attend school in the town of Tarikpaa. The bicycles nearby were distributed through a UNICEF-funded program to help cut children’s travel time in rural areas, where long distances are a major barrier to girls’ school enrollment. |
Rahinatu's schoolmate, Rahina, also had trouble making the long trip to school after scrambling to finish chores. In fact, she would miss school completely two or three times a week. All over the world there are girls like Rahinatu and Rahina—girls who desperately want to get an education but struggle to find enough time in the day for all they have to do.
Dangerous days in Afghanistan
I have a number of friends—reporters and photojournalists—who spend a lot of time in Iraq and Afghanistan. I used to worry more when they went to Iraq, and would feel relieved if they were just going to Afghanistan. But that's all changed. Afghanistan's low simmer of violence has been slowly building towards full boil.
This year has been deadlier for civilians in Afghanistan than any since the U.S. engaged the Taliban in 2001. According to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 1,445 civilians were killed in the first eight months of 2008, compared with 1,040 for the same period in 2007.
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| © UNICEF/ HQ07-1106/Shehzad Noorani |
| AFGHANISTAN: A girl writes on the blackboard inside a mosque that serves as a community-based school, in Kamar Kalagh, a village on the outskirts of Herat. As there are no official schools nearby, some 460 girls and boys from nearby villages attend informal classes here, although attendance, particularly for girls, is irregular. |
A resurgence in violence in Afghanistan is bad news for all sorts of reasons. The worsening security situation in the southern and western parts of the country is keeping almost 70 percent of school-age children away from schools. In the past three years, more than 230 students and teachers were killed, and militants attacked around 250 schools.
Somalia: Where is the outrage?
I recently returned from a UNICEF field visit that took me to northwest Somalia. What I saw there was both amazing and heartbreaking. In many ways, the children I was able to meet are doing better than their counterparts in the rest of Somalia. But in other respects, the situation there is still quite serious.
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| © US Fund for UNICEF / 2008 / Nick Ysenburg |
| UNICEF Ambassador Clay Aiken with children he met on his recent visit to Somalia. |
How a stove can save a life
In Sudan’s Darfur region, rape has become a widespread weapon of war, used by militias to intimidate and terrorize communities. Many of these sexual attacks occur when girls venture into the wilderness to collect firewood that is essential for boiling water and cooking.
Since the start of the conflict in Darfur, UNICEF has been helping children survive through immunization, nutrition and clean water programs. Now, UNICEF is helping protect young girls by providing fuel-efficient stoves.
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Welcome to Fieldnotes. Blogging gives us the ability to quickly report from the field, alert you to media coverage of interest, and share the success of UNICEF's lifesaving work around the globe.
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