[ePrayer – Pray for the situation of undocumented children]
It is estimated that there are between 1.6 and 3.8 million irregular migrants in the European Union. Many of them are children. Most come from other European countries like Turkey, Hungary and Romania, but a large number also come from Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. The reason for migration includes family reunification, protection from persecution, better living conditions, education and economic opportunities. A large number of these undocumented children, mostly from Hungary and Romania, are also victims of trafficking. They can be exploited in prostitution, forced labour, organised begging and can be compelled to commit crimes. [IPS]
Pray for the situation of undocumented children:
Pray that the basic human rights of these Europe’s ‘invisible’ children can be protected.
Pray also that they can have access to education, healthcare and shelter.
Pray that there can be effective measures to combat human trafficking and to reduce the risk of children.
[ePrayer – Pray for the intensifying environment threats]
A UN report said more than 40 countries have done better than previously expected on the UN’s human development index (HDI), which combines measures of health, wealth and education, with gains accelerating over the past decade. Yet the report warned that the number of people living in extreme poverty could increase by up to 3 billion by 2050 unless urgent action is taken to tackle environmental challenges. It said climate change is already exacerbating chronic environmental threats, and ecosystem losses are constraining livelihood opportunities, especially for poor people. Inaction on climate change, deforestation, and air and water pollution could end gains in the world’s poorest countries and communities. [Guardian]
Pray for the intensifying environment threats:
Pray for prompt actions taken by all nations to tackle environmental challenges;
Pray also for those especially the poor who are affected and suffer from environmental threats.
[ePrayer – Pray for the Children Ministry in Ethiopia]
Give thanks that God use CEDAR’s partner AAGC as a channel of His grace and love to the children and families in these years. AAGC is now serving around 200 children by providing education, food, vocational training and medical help. To ensure well being of children, AAGC also encourages children to participate in some social and spiritual activities. According to statistics, national HIV/AIDS infection rate is dropping and less discrimination is observed in AAGC’s target communities.
Pray for the Children Ministry in Ethiopia:
Pray that God to give AAGC the wisdom and strength to serve the communities, including those living with HIV/AIDS;
Pray for those families that AAGC is serving. Hope their living conditions can improve and may their lives be full of God’s love and grace.
[ePrayer – Pray for better civil registration system in Asia]
Stronger civil registration systems are needed in Asia, home to 60 percent of the world’s population, to ensure the legal and human rights of all. Civil registration is the most basic requirement for individuals to establish legal identity and to formalise family relationships, and is thus a basic responsibility of the state. Without a legal identity, individuals may be deprived of the right of access to key public services such as health, education, social welfare and recourse to justice. Statistics show that only one quarter of the world’s seven billion inhabitants live in countries with registration systems that record births and death efficiently. 51 million children go unregistered each year globally, while in South Asia two out of three children are not registered at birth and thus have no official record of their names, family and place or date of birth. Birth certificates are crucial forms of social protection for vulnerable and marginalised groups such as people in poverty, and such registration can be an effective tool for preventing human trafficking and child marriages. [IRIN]
Pray for better civil registration system in Asia:
Pray that governments of Asian countries can take an active role to improve the civil registration system and remove the barriers such as geography, cultural differences, inadequate legal frameworks and provide funds for such changes;
Pray for public awareness towards the importance of civil registration and more marginalised group will get registered to protect their rights.
Last June, the conflict between the Burmese government and the Kachin rebel group in Myanmar has forced some 75,000 people displaced. CEDAR has been supporting one local Lisu church partner to provide emergency relief (food items and clothes) to displaced refugees. Unfortunately, the conflict has intensified recently.
For many years the Lisu people are caught in between the fighting and conflict of the KIA armed group and Burmese military forces. The Lisu people have no arms and do not fight but often out of their will reluctantly became a source of supply to the two armed groups. Their crops & livestock get taken away, their children get kidnapped and conscript to work as porters and child soldiers.
Our local church partner is now taking care of displaced Lisu people who are seeking safety at their churches and student hostels. As these newly arrived Lisu children and youth do not speak Burmese, our partner is hoping to provide tutoring lessons to assist them to pursue an education while giving the the children protection at the hostel. The annual cost to recruit four teachers is US$7,200.
Pray for the displaced Lisu:
Pray that our partner is able to hire teachers to give lessons to the war affected Lisu children;
Pray for more humanitarian access into the conflict area to meet the dire needs of the large displaced population;
Pray for a long-lasting peace in the affected areas.
Since the second half of 2011, CEDAR has put in much attention to evaluate and reflect on the impacts and directions of our children ministry. After a year of study and discussion, we finally set our focus to encourage community-based children development projects and to provide training to child care givers and service providers. This will be an collaborative effort with experienced overseas partners in order to give children better rights to protection, provision and expression.
Children at risk are the main target of our projects in Myanmar in partnership with local Christian partners. Full Moon is one of our local partners, founded in 1997 to provide hostels to conflict affected children. In January 2012, due to the ceasefire agreements reached by the Karen armed groups and the Burmese government, the local situation has so improved that our partner can start planning to help older children/youth to return and reintegrate into their home villages.
Prospect in the Coming Year
Conflict is a cross-cutting issue in Myanmar, having impact on various social issues, such as ethnic conflicts, education, health and hygiene, and human trafficking. Women and children are most vulnerable in conflicts. Therefore, in coming year we will endeavour to assist the resettlement of conflict-affected communities, particularly of the Lisu people in Kachin State and the Karen people in Mon & Karen State, and seek protection for women and children from human trafficking and exploitation, child labour and abuses through education and empowerment.
Lisa’s Sharing
‘During a monitoring visit to Myanmar at one children home with children affected by cyclone, I used a “River of Life” exercise to encourage children to explain the events that they believed are important in the past, present and future of their lives. In the exercise, a girl drew picture of a school of fish swimming together before the cyclone in 2008, followed by a fish left along in the river after the cyclone. At the end of the river of life she had three fishes swimming together again. It breaks one’s heart to see her River of Life yet it helps us to understand the painful experience in her, allowing her to express this feeling and hopefully we and our partner can better response to her needs.’
After the exposure monitoring trips and discussions in the past two years, according to a series of measurement, such as the human development index (HDI), Gini coefficient, political and social stability, uniqueness and the possibility of monitoring project, we have finally chosen Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, India, Nepal, Myanmar and China to be the focus countries for our projects.
