The Declaration and Agenda for Action of the 1st World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children generally defines sexual exploitation of children in this way: “The sexual exploitation of children for commercial purposes is a fundamental violation of their rights. It includes sexual abuse by an adult and compensation in kind or money paid […]

Non-compliance with human rights and international humanitarian law continues to worsen in Syria; after nearly six years of war, Syrian children are down to their last ounce of strength. They sleep in ruins, they are cold and starved, they have witnessed the inconceivable. Every child in Aleppo is experiencing psychological trauma because of the lethal […]

Bangladesh, the country exporting the most textiles after China, saw an increase of 88% in its Human Development Index over the last 30 years, and is set to join the Middle Income classification of countries by 2021 (Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, 2016). While the nation’s dynamic economy resists economic and political crises, the social situation […]

8 February 2017, UNHQ, New York Endorsement: This statement is endorsed by the following human rights and humanitarian organizations: Caritas Internationalis, Child Rights Connect, Child Rights International Network (CRIN), Child Soldiers International, Defence for Children International, Geneva Call, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Human Rights Watch, Humanium, International Bureau for Children’s Rights, Liechtenstein […]

Japan has one of the highest suicide rates. A World Health Organization report shows it is actually 60 per cent higher than the global average (Lu, 2015). The country counts an average of 70 daily suicides and alarmingly children are also affected by this problem (ibid.). Since 2014, suicide has become Japan’s leading cause of […]

Children born prisoners: from conception to detention The “Maison d’arrêt et de correction d’Abidjan” (the “detention center of Abidjan”, called the “MACA”) is an overpopulated prison. It often accommodates more than 3,000 prisoners instead of the 1,500 allowed by the state (Yao, 2014). There are around a hundred women and some are living with their […]

Ending child, early and forced marriage in one of the priorities of U.S. foreign policy, as set in the U.S. Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls of 2016 which strongly condemns this practice in the developing world as a human rights abuse. This is why it is extremely surprising to learn that, in the United […]

Contemporary beliefs in witchcraft still exist and have been documented in different countries in the world, including in sub-Saharan countries such as Tanzania, the Central African Republic, and Nigeria, but also in Bolivia, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Iran, Nepal, Thailand, or Saudi Arabia, and in communities in Europe and the U.S. (Hanson & Ruggiero, 2013). The […]

20 years since Graça Machel’s report on “The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children”: what input on the rehabilitation of former child soldiers? On 9th December 2016, Humanium participated in the celebration of the 20 years mandate of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict at the […]

If swimmer Fu Yuanhui created such a stir during the Olympic Games in Rio by mentioning her periods on live television, it’s because the subject is still very much taboo in many parts of the world. In France, the debate on the tax on tampons and sanitary towels highlights a bigger problem: not all women […]