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	Malala Yousafzai - winner of the Sakharov Prize 2013 by the European Parliament Pakistan   Pakistani campaigner for girls education Malala Yousafzai is the laureate of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2013.   "By awarding the Sakharov Prize to Malala Yousafzai, the European Parliament acknowledges the incredible strength of this young woman. Malala bravely stands for the right of all children to be granted a fair education. This right for girls is far too commonly neglected", said European Parliament President Martin Schulz, announcing the laureate. "As tomorrow 11 October is the International Day of the Girl Child, I would like to recall that some 250 million young girls around the world cannot freely go to school.   Malala"s example reminds us of our duty and responsibility to the right to education for children. This is the best investment for the future", he added.   Ms Yousafzai, 16, is a student from the town of Mingora in Swat District, Pakistan, known for her activism for girl"s right to an eduation in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban regime has banned girls from attending school.   She gave her first public speech in September 2008, entitled "The Taliban take away my basic right to an education?". When all girls schools under Taliban control were closed in January 2009, she started a blog for BBC Urdu under the pseudonym of Gul Makai, a folklore heroine. The blog brought fame to Malala and her struggle for the right to an education.   Threats to her family followed as soon as her identity was revealed, leading up to an assassination attempt in October 2012, when she was shot in the head and neck by Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school bus.   "Malala has gained global recognition as a human rights fighter, campaigning for the right to female education, freedom and self-determination".   The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament to honour individuals or organizations who dedicate their lives to the defence of human rights and freedoms, particularly the right to free expression.   2013 Sakharov Prize finalists announced   Belarusian political prisoners Ales Bialatski, Eduard Lobau and Mykola Statkevich, US spying whistleblower Edward Snowden and Pakistani campaigner for girls education Malala Yousafzai are the shortlisted finalists for this year"s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.   Ales Bialatski, Eduard Lobau and Mykola Statkevich (representing all Belarusian political prisoners) are dissidents from Belarus. They have been in jail since the mass peaceful demonstration, in Minsk"s Independence Square on 19 December 2010, against the disputed re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko. Ales Bialiatski is President of the "Viasna" Human Rights Centre, Eduard Lobau is a "Malady Front" activist, and Mykola Statkevich was a presidential candidate in 2010.   Edward Snowden is an American computer expert and former CIA/NSA employee who released classified information about US mass surveillance of electronic communications. In June 2013 the US government charged him with espionage, theft and illegal use of government property. Later in July he was given temporary asylum in Russia.   Malala Yousafzai is a 16 old girl who fights for the right to girls and women"s education, freedom and self-determination in Pakistan"s Swat Valley, where the Taliban regime has banned girls from attending school. She was 11 years old when she began her fight by writing a blog under a pseudonym. She quickly became a prominent voice against such abuses, and Taliban gunmen tried to assassinate her in October 2012. She has since become symbol of the fight for girls and women"s rights and worldwide access to education.   The laureate will be announced by Parliament"s Conference of Presidents on 10 October in Strasbourg and invited to the award ceremony on 20 November, also in Strasbourg.   http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparliament/en/00f3dd2249/Sakharov-Prize-for-Freedom-of-Thought.html http://www.fidh.org/en/asia/pakistan/international-day-of-the-girl-child-pakistan-s-future-depends-on-14122
	Syrian Children pay the heaviest price in War by Save the Children, Unicef & agencies   Parties to the conflict in Syria must allow humanitarian relief for civilians in need.   The suffering of civilians in Syria has now reached unprecedented levels, the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) said yesterday, calling on all sides to respect international humanitarian law.   Any escalation of the crisis would likely trigger more displacement and add to humanitarian needs, which were already immense, said Magne Barth, head of the ICRC"s delegation in the country.   "There are acute shortages of vital medical supplies, food and water in a number of areas that have been sealed off for months and to which the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent have not been given access," he said.   Under international humanitarian law, the parties to the conflict must allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need. They must also respect the right of all persons who are wounded or sick, whether fighters or civilians, to receive medical attention with the least possible delay.   In addition, any use of chemical weapons by any party would constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law. The ICRC calls on all parties to the conflict in Syria to respect the absolute prohibition on the use of chemical weapons.   To date, more than 100,000 people have reportedly been killed, and hundreds more are dying on a daily basis or struggling through with their injuries. In addition, each and every day, hundreds of people are joining the millions of Syrians already displaced within the country or seeking refuge abroad.   "The ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent remain as committed as ever and are ready to respond to needs, wherever they are and whatever they may be, provided humanitarian work can take place and we are given unconditional access to all areas," Mr Barth said.   http://www.icrc.org/eng/where-we-work/middle-east/syria/index.jsp   Sep 2013   The numbers of Syrian children affected by the brutal war ravaging their country are truly disheartening. According to UN agencies, one million children, three-quarters of them under age 11, have had to flee their country since the conflict began in 2011. “This one millionth child refugee is not just another number. This is a real child ripped from home, maybe even from a family, facing horrors we can only begin to comprehend,” stated grimly Anthony Lake, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF.) The children’s dramatic situation doesn’t end there, however.   In addition to the one million who have been forced to flee their country, two million others are displaced within their own country, making of this one of the most serious humanitarian emergencies today.   Children’s nightmarish situation is just a reflection of the wider conflict in their country, which so far has cost the lives of 100,000 people since protests broke out against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. Since then, Syrians of all religious beliefs have been fleeing to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and, increasingly, to North Africa and Europe. As a result, they have overburdened those countries health and social services and, as stated by Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, “The youth of Syria are losing their homes, their family members and their futures.”   Continuing the education of this mobile population of children is proving an almost insurmountable task. Few among them have been able to study or receive psychological counseling. Many fear these children have become part of a “lost generation” of children, who will be unable to contribute with their knowledge to their country’s development.   Educational problems are frequent not only among those children remaining in Syria, but also among those now living in other countries. A study in Jordan by CARE, one of the leading humanitarian organizations, found that more than 60 percent of school-age Syrian children are not attending any classes, despite the availability of free schooling, which may reflect problems of integration into a new country and circumstances. What makes this situation particularly serious is that the longer children stay out of school, the more difficult it will be for them to eventually return.   In Syria, in the meantime, in areas of more intensive fighting, one in five schools has been destroyed, damaged or is being used as shelter for displaced families. Now in Aleppo, only six percent of children are attending school. Classes that still function are overcrowded with as much as 100 children each, according to a UNICEF report. Many children are suffering the psychological consequences of seeing their family members and friends killed or injured, and become terrified at the sounds and scenes of the conflict.   Drinking water is a hard commodity now in Syria. In the most deprived areas, access to water has fallen by two-thirds, resulting in increased skin and respiratory infections. Four million people inside the country have access to safe water. However, basic infrastructure and public services have been systematically destroyed over the last 24 months, warns UNICEF.   Many children in Syria have been victims of human rights violations including arbitrary detention, torture, and killing, and many have been recruited and made to fight by one of the armies in conflict. In addition, many children are maimed as a result of stepping into explosive remnants of war. Thousands of children have found refuge in overcrowded collective shelters lacking the most basic services. Vaccination against common diseases has been severely disrupted. For most parents, the costs associated with schooling such as transportation, supplies and school lunches have prove to be an insurmountable barrier.   Given the tremendous negative effect of the conflict on Syrian children, it is obvious that we, the national and international community, have failed to protect them, to spare them the consequences of a barbaric conflict. As Anthony Lake stated, “We must all share the shame.”   27/08/2013   UN Committee on the Rights of the Child appalled by killing of children in chemical attack.   The alleged chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of the Syrian capital, Damascus, that reportedly killed many hundreds of civilians, including many children, is a tragic and horrifying example of how Syrian children are paying the ultimate price in the conflict, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has said.   “This atrocity is a gross violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” said Committee Chairperson Kirsten Sandberg. “It is a shocking example of how children’s rights are being violated as the Syrian conflict deepens, first and foremost the right to life.”   “Whoever committed these killings, as well as all those responsible for other crimes committed against Syrian children, should be held accountable,” said Ms Sandberg on behalf of the Committee.   The Convention on the Rights of the Child applies at all times, Ms Sandberg said, highlighting that more than 7000 children have been killed since the beginning of the conflict, and many more injured.   “The Committee joins the call by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to all parties in the conflict to stop targeting civilians,” she added.   In 2011, during a regular review of Syria’s implementation of the Convention, the Committee detailed a series of violations of the rights of the country’s children, especially the right to life and security and to freedom from torture and ill-treatment. In May 2012, the Committee publicly denounced the El Houleh massacre in which 108 people, including 49 children, died.   The 18-member Committee on the Rights of the Child monitors implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by 193 states, making it the most widely ratified UN human rights treaty.   * 11,420 Children Dead in Syria’s Civil War, So Far (NPR) http://www.npr.org/2013/12/19/255406234/more-children-become-victims-of-syrias-civil-war http://bit.ly/nolostgeneration Visit the related web page
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