UNICEF+(NOVICE)+-+UNITED+KINGDOM

Abigail Piegols United Kingdom UNICEF (Novice) Arundel High School January 30th, 2014


 * Childhood Malnutrition **

When developing countries are confronted with the issue of malnutrition, it is the job of the United Nations Children's Fund to develop a solution. The United Kingdom is a particularly blessed country therefore it is the duty of our people to aid those less fortunate then us. Childhood malnutrition has devastating long-term effects like memory deficiency as well as attention deficit disorder. No child, no matter where they are from, deserves to live their whole life handicapped by the effects of malnutrition because they couldn't access the correct foods for their diet, or didn't know what they were.
 * Introduction**

There are children in every country suffering from malnutrition. However, countries in conflict zones or those effected by warfare, like Afghanistan, Nigeria , and Pakistan, are much more prone to child malnutrition because many families cannot easily access food, let alone enough nutritious food to feed their family. the poverty rates of these countries have increased dramatically, resulting in increased child malnutrition. Once a family is caught in a cycle of poverty it is extremely challenging for them to break out of that cycle. This makes it particularly difficult to end child malnutrition in these countries. However, despite what one might think, in September of 2013,The World Bank Child Malnutrition Database found that the global percentage of stunting and underweight children was in fact decreasing, while the global percentage of overweight children was increasing, 18% in Southern Africa, 12% in Central Asia and 7% in Southern America. This form of child malnutrition can be caused by an inactive lifestyle, lack of energy balance, and an insalubrious environment.
 * Global Predicament **

Currently the UK is a part of the " Enough Food for Everyone IF" campaign, which is a movement made up of several organizations as well as individuals who have united in order to end world hunger. This group rallies for government leaders to take a stand against world hunger by stopping poor farmers being forced off their land and growing crops for food not fuel, keeping it's promise on life-saving aid and finding new ways to support low-income countries to adapt to climate change, being honest and open about the actions that stop people from getting enough food and by closing tax loopholes so big companies have to pay their fair share of taxes in poor countries.
 * UK Response **

Because there are several different types of child malnutrition, there will have to be several solutions that vary from one type of malnutrition to another. When it comes to child obesity, since it is most heavily concentrated in developed countries it is a possibility to create local organizations that promote healthy lifestyles, which include exercise as well as a healthy diet. These organizations would visit schools and guide new parents towards providing healthy lifestyles for their children. When it comes to wasting, stunting, and underweight children, because they are more concentrated in developing countries, assistance from more developed nations will be necessary to make a dramatic difference. The UK would be willing to help civilian towns in conflict zones, by helping to develop new plantations or farms, making the areas self-sufficient, so nutritious food is within reach.
 * Possible Solutions **

Child malnutrition is an extraordinarily immense problem that effects children all over the world in both developed and developing countries. This means that it will take the cooperation of several nations to reverse the vicious cycle of malnutrition that our children have fallen into. The future belongs to them, making it extremely important to give them as many opportunities for growth an improvement as possible and as US president Barrack Obama once said "Our values call upon us to care about the lives of people we will never meet" (Obama).
 * Conclusion **

Abigail Piegols United Kingdom UNICEF (Novice) Arundel High School January 30th, 2014


 * Child Soldiers **

In mostly developing countries today, there has been an increase of the use of child soldiers. This issue made popular by Joesph Kony and the Invisible Children Organization, it has now been brought to the attention of the UN. In places like central Africa children are being kidnapped from there homes, and forced to kill others, even their own families. This practice is unacceptable and it is imperative that the UN find and implement a solution so that these children can be rescued and rehabilitated.
 * Introduction **

In places of conflict, particularly poverty ridden areas, it has become quite popular to use children as military weapons. In a majority of these cases children have been forced to leave there homes and join the military. This is a practice exhibited by the Lords Resistance Army led by Joesph Kony. Kony has been known to travel from village to village kidnapping children and on occasion forcing them to kill their own families. This only makes it harder for them to return home, even if they have the chance, who is waiting for them, and how could those people not see them as a monster? The physical and mental abuse on these children is extremely taxing and affects them for the rest of their lives. Even after a child returns home, they can be plagued by depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Many young girls who have been abducted were raped, leaving them mentally scarred, deemed as undesirable for marriage in many villages across Africa, and possibly pregnant.
 * Global Predicament **

Being from a country who is no stranger to warfare the UK sympathizes with these victims and is interested in providing aid to the rescue and rehabilitation of these children. In 2003, the UK ratified the Optional Protocol, this gives the responsibility of keeping underage military members out of hostile regions to the nations government. It has also been a goal of the UK's to find a way not only to end the use of child soldiers, but to punish the nations that go as far as to use children as soldiers, weapons, and human shields. The controversial idea that the child soldiers themselves should be punished is still in debate. However, the UK would rather punish the nation who failed to protect them from the horrors of war instead of punishing the children who were forced into war for the war crimes, in most cases, they were forced to commit.
 * UK Response **

A simple solution to the use of child soldiers in more developed countries, is to imitate the Optional Protocol and pass a law or bill in that country that forbids the nation to send any child under the age of seventeen to a hostile region. Aiding child soldiers in less developed countries will prove to be a much harder task. As made popular by the Invisible Children Organization there are two different steps to focus on that will best aid the children who have been abducted; the first encouraging them to escape and letting them know that no matter what they've done it's okay for them to come home. The second step is providing some kind of rehabilitation so that these people can have their best chance at living a life that is not weighed down by the affects of the crimes that they were forced to commit and the war that they were forced to be a part of. To encourage them to attempt to escape, the UN could have messages flown through the sky on the backs of planes or blimps that let the soldiers know that their families and villages miss them and want them home again. They could also send groups of civilians from the villages in the area, escorted by a number of armed troops to venture through the surrounding jungle or savanna, to find groups of soldiers and safely deliver the message that they don't need to continue being a part of someone else's war, and it is safe for them to return home. As for rehabilitation, The Red Cross could volunteer to assist escaped soldiers with physical as well as mental therapy. There could be a traveling group of volunteers who move from village to village, as well as a small group of stationary volunteers who would stay in one village for a year or two to help the escaped soldiers recover.
 * Possible Solutions **

Abducting and using children as disposable soldiers for a war they know nothing about is one of the most heinous crimes that anyone could commit. The importance of finding a resolution can not be stressed enough. No idea is unworthy of mentioning, because even one bad idea can lead to another good idea. If several of the nations within the UN collaborate there is no doubt that a solution will be at hand, and with it the power to save lives. "Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see." - John W. Whitehead, founder, Rutherford Institute, what kind of message do we want to send?
 * Conclusion **