For the children of Syria

My post on this subject is long overdue as is any post for that matter, but my heart has been heavy for the Syrian children since the conflict started several years ago. I have protested the US's bombing of Syria when that proposal was brought up and I have looked into what is being done for the Syrian children who find themselves refugees in neighboring countries. There are thousands of children who have fled from their homes, with or without their parents, and who have been adjusting to life as a refugee. A lot of them are not in school due to the turmoil and the stretch of resources available to them as refugees; and as for those who are still in Syria, who knows what their situation truly is. As much as I believe children are resilient, I also believe that children are the most fragile and vulnerable. We as adults really need to go to great lengths to protect children - any children - so that they can improve the society we live in. It is what we put them through today that will determine what kind of people they will be tomorrow. But it seems that the US news channels have now forgotten about these events and have moved on to others. Of course there are plenty of other current events that are captivating our attention, but I cannot shake the burden I have for these children and all those other children in that area that are suffering due to the actions of the adults. Children should not have to suffer because adults cannot find peaceful solutions to their conflicts.

More recent news articles and reports on Syria can be found here:

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2014/08/syria-no-strings-2014817105747216504.html
https://news.vice.com/article/airstrikes-pound-islamic-state-forces-in-syria-as-rebels-gain-an-unlikely-ally
UNICEF calls Syria one of the most dangerous places for a child.

And of course this also reminds me of the children in Gaza, who are suffering the same things as the Syrian children having already been through several conflicts depending upon their age. The only difference is that the children of Gaza have nowhere to go, no neighboring countries to flee to. It is a truly tragic situation - again, children suffering because adults cannot find peaceful solutions. Here's an article about the children of Gaza:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28803447

Women Victimized in Armed Conflict

It has been a while since I posted and though time has passed and a new year has come, the need for heightened awareness of human rights issues is greater than ever. We all look to the new year as a fresh start and hope for new and good things. I hope then that we can look at this year as a fresh new start to heightened awareness of the human rights issues that continue without any consideration of the holidays or the new year, unfortunately.

Today my post is about women being victimized in armed conflict. Unfortunately, women become brutalized in situations of armed conflict, particularly currently in the DR Congo, Sudan, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. But these brutalities do not just happen during wartime; brutalities and crimes against women happen even in refugee camps where women have come to find refuge from the outside situation. This is atrocious. The very places that they have come to find shelter and safety are the places where they are being brutalized, sexually and physically. And then when they try to return to their homes, they're victimized.

Even after the war in Afghanistan, women are still being victimized - particularly those outside Kabul, and being denied their basic rights to participate in the rebuilding of their country. Women in Iraq continue to face sexual violence and abduction so they keep away from work and schools.

Take a look at the Women's Rights work by the Human Rights Watch organization, here.