PAKISTAN: Education Falling Out of Afghan Refugees’ Reach

He is only 13 and a refugee in a not-too-hospitable country, but Ahmed Jamal already knows what he wants to do for the next decade or so: follow in the footsteps of his older brother.

UNICEF Leads Campaign for 69 Million Out-of-School Children

The U.N. children's agency UNICEF is taking the lead in an intense global campaign to provide schooling to some 69 million children who are unable to go to school - or don't have any schools to go to.

MEXICO: Bicentennial Nothing to Celebrate, Say Indigenous Peoples

"I don't understand why we should celebrate [Independence]. There will be no freedom in Mexico until repression against indigenous peoples is eliminated," says Sadhana, whose name means "moon" in the indigenous Mazahua language.

LIBERIA: Chronic Malnutrition Blamed on Mothers

Mercy Freeman sits on a small hospital cot in one of Liberia’s emergency hospitals, looking down at her frail son, whose dark eye sockets have sunk into his bony face.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Youth Gangs – Reserve Army for Organised Crime

In El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the expression "de rodillas ante las pandillas" is not just a catchy rhyme referring to youth gangs bringing the countries to their knees but is an accurate description of reality today: these criminal groups, born and evolved in violence, wield ever-increasing power.

MEXICO: Gender Violence Hits Behind the News

Amalia is an indigenous Maya girl from a rural community in southern Quintana Roo, on Mexico's Caribbean coast. She is 11 years old, and in August became the youngest mother in the country when she gave birth to a baby girl, 51 cm long and just under three kg.

Hershey Chocolate Linked to Child Labour

Hershey, one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the U.S., is lagging behind other companies in taking steps to ensure decent working conditions in its supply chain, charges a new report.

MIDEAST: Divided We Educate

A thin Palestinian boy, no older than ten, darts between the piles of garbage and the congested lines of traffic which converge at the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem.

Women, Children Top U.N.’s Anti-Poverty Agenda

All eight of the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are critical to development, but numbers four and five on child and maternal health are the real priority areas for this year. That was the main takeaway from a series of briefings with U.N., NGO and country officials in which IPS participated this week.

“Orange” Maize Could Save Eyesight of Millions of African Children

'Orange' maize, a variety of the common cereal crop, could improve the lives of millions of malnourished people by providing increased vitamin A in their diet, according to a new study released here this week.

NEPAL: Adoption Suspension Leaves Children in Limbo

A big question marks looms over the future of many Nepali children in various child homes in the country in the wake of the suspension by 11 countries of their child adoption programmes for this Himalayan nation.

Biking Across the Americas, Spotlight on Children

Damián López, of Argentina, has been riding his bicycle the length of the Americas for the past three years. His mission? In addition to completing the long journey, he wants to shine the spotlight on children who are at risk due to violence or abandonment.

UNICEF Shifts Gears to Target Poorest of Children

A focus on the children at the very bottom of the economic ladder is the most effective and efficient way to help children and communities in need, concludes a new report from the United Nations children's agency UNICEF released Tuesday.

PORTUGAL: Prominent Figures Sentenced in Child Sex Ring Scandal

A trial that dragged on for six years amidst public outrage ended Friday in Portugal with the unexpected sentencing of prominent personalities, found guilty in a child sex abuse scandal that shook the nation.

BOLIVIA: UN Calls for Broad Pact on Children’s Needs

A national pact to focus on the rights of children was proposed by United Nations representative in Bolivia Yoriko Yasukawa on the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

500,000 Pregnant Women at Risk in Pakistan Floods

Aid groups and U.N. agencies are raising the alarm over the vulnerability of pregnant women and babies in flood ravaged Pakistan.

MIDEAST: Netanyahu Ignores President, and Wife

Thousands of Israelis have protested in a central park here demanding that their government revoke its decision to deport 400 children of migrant workers.

SPAIN: Puppet Marathon for Building School in Bolivia

The 17th Titirilandia (Puppetland) Festival will conclude with a marathon puppet show, to be held Sunday Aug. 29 in Spain's capital city in aid of a school in the remote Bolivian mining province of Potosí.

MIDEAST: This Math Class May Figure Out Israel

In a bright and spacious classroom, with plants overflowing in the courtyard outside, six students lean forward at their desks looking at the 10-digit addition they are asked to make. One student stands before the numbers on the chalkboard and a red and yellow-beaded abacus. But her attention is on the abacus she visualises in her mind.

MEXICO: Junk Food Regulations in Schools Fall Short, Consumer Groups Say

What was initially announced as a government ban on sales of junk food in schools has failed to keep fried and sugary foods out of the classrooms to which Mexico's 25 million primary and secondary students returned Monday after summer break.

Niger Facing Growing Food Crisis

In April, the United Nations World Food Programme estimated it would need 190 million dollars to respond to a food crisis threatening more than 7 million people in Niger. By July, the WFP had revised the amount needed upwards to $371 million: a month later, the U.N. agency has been forced to scale back aid for lack of funds.