#straight18

[positivedevelopment]

Monthly Roundup January 2023

Your Red Hand counts!

"Red Hand Day (February 12th) and the campaign to stop the use of child soldiers [have existed] for over 15 years. Hundreds and thousands of handprints have been collected in more than 50 countries and handed over to politicians and to responsible parties, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. There is progress, but there are still 250,000 child soldiers in the world."

Help to stop this abuse of children. Show your Red Hand to the world!

Our demands:

Straight 18: No child under the age of 18 may be used or trained in armies, armed groups or other military units

Punishment of those responsible

Care, protection and political asylum for former child soldiers

Expand financial support for aid programs for child soldiers

Stop of arms exports

Promotion of peace education

Stay tuned over the next week as the Dallaire Institute shares highlights of this important initiative and ways you can #RaiseYourRed to help end the practice of children being recruited and used as soldiers.

Photo credit HERE

From child soldiers to carpenters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

"To mark IVD 2022, UN Volunteers lend support to APROJED under the Actions and Projects for Sustainable Development, an organization in Turunga, a Nyiragongo municipality on the outskirts of Goma.

This organization houses a training facility formed in 2006. Here, former child soldiers and vulnerable children are taught practical life skills, such as carpentry. So far, this training facility has trained and imparted vocational training to more than 600 children."

26 minutes: counting down for elephant conservation

"Every 26 minutes, on average, one African elephant dies for its ivory. This gloomy statistic is fueled by rampant poaching, by the land and water shortages that drive tense conflicts between people and animals, and by the stifling threats of climate change.

Yet, working together, we can achieve wonders in 26 minutes. That’s how long it takes for IFAW and our conservation partners to protect the life of an African elephant through the complex process of translocation, or movement from one place to another."

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#Repost @stoprecruitingkids (@get_repost) ・・・ According to Child Soldiers International, the United States remains one of a small minority of countries worldwide which actively target underage kids with military marketing and recruitment. Let's work together to end these unnecessary and harmful practices. #StopRecruitingKids #military #recruiting #schools #education #army #navy #airforce #marines #futuresoldiers #dep #jrotc #nmscc #militarism #war #peace #demilitarize #teachpeace #Straight18 #SRKcampaign