International News: UN Round Up
UN ROUND-UP: The 2003 edition of UNICEF's annual State of the World's Children report called on governments to teach children democratic values and expand access to education and participation in government. "If we fail to promote child participation from an early age, we are missing an amazing opportunity to deepen democracy and human dignity around the world," UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said in a statement. "That failure leaves young people with a sense of powerlessness and exclusion from society - and that can carry a great cost." The UNICEF report notes that while traditional problems like infant mortality and illiteracy are slowly diminishing, others, including AIDS, the trafficking in girls, and domestic violence present new and difficult challenges.
