54949 - Design MENA SitAn Report - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY(1) (PDF)

العدد-44-من-مجلة-خطوة (PDF)

Araqib is not only the name of a village
Nabila Espanioly, Director of Al-Tufula Center, Nazareth

Araqib is the name of a girl born in the village of Al-Araqib on the same date as the demolition of the village: July 27, 2010. Her parents decided to name her Araqib after the name of the village.
About 700 people lived in the village before it was demolished for the first time, but today only dozens reside in the village. They live near the cemetery and continue to struggle against its demolition by the Israeli authorities.
Al-Araqib was subjected to several attempts to expel the residents, as the Israeli bulldozers completely demolished the village 198 times, the last of which was on February 22, 2022.
Al-Araqib bears witness to the Israeli policies of displacement and dispossession, as Israel declares that the residents of Al-Araqib must be “removed” and forcibly displaced from their lands, along with another 45000 Palestinian Bedouins in the Negev region.
The occupation authority refuses to provide any services to these villages, so the people there including children live deprived of public services and infrastructure with no medical or educational services, and they lack electricity and water. Moreover, these villages remain at risk of demolition.
This is the reality experienced by the girl Araqib and the children of the occupied unrecognized villages. The natural rights of these children to identity, health, education, recreation, and protection are violated on a daily basis.
They do not have the minimum rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child “without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group, color, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion…”

Read the Child-Friendly Version here

Once Again: Displaced Children Suffer the Most in World of Double-Standards

The conflict in Ukraine reminds us of the ongoing tragedies of the children of Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti, Madagascar, Sudan, and many other places. In a world of double standards in dealing with war-affected children:
the Arab Network stresses that the Convention on the Rights of the Child must be the primary reference point for Governments, donors, and international actors to protect and support all young refugee children and their families in Ukraine and all other crises-affected countries equitably.

ANECD contributed to the joint statement raised together with The Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN), the Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC), Moving Minds Alliance, the International Step by Step Association (ISSA), the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC), and the Africa Early Childhood Network (AfECN) who are all concerned about the effects of the violent crimes on the Ukrainian children.

You can read the full joint statement on ECDAN’s or ECPC’s websites

Based on this joint statement, ISSA is calling for support for families and young children impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Support here

Putting Children at The Center of Climate Change

ANECD celebrates World Water Day on March 21st, by drawing public attention to young children subject to the risk of environmental erosion, especially of aquatic systems. On 17 February 2022: ARNEC launched their first webinar of the #ARNECwebinars series, to hold on to the “eye-opener” topic of young children’s rights to a clean, safe and secure environment.

Building on ARNEC’s call for “Putting young children at the center of environmental and climate change actions: the role of ECD”, ANECD alongside 30 organizations working in partnership, aims to invite you to be part of this CoP (Community of Practice) to increase awareness, investment, and commitment in the areas of policy, programs, and financing.

Join the ECD, Climate Change and Environmental Issues CoP group
Watch the webinar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o06l4s9Jc4

On International Women’s Day: We empower girls in the early years

UNICEF, UN Women, ESCWA, FAO, UNFPA, UNDP, UNESCO, WFP, WHO, Plan International, and Terre des Hommes Foundation came together to work on the Regional Situational Analysis (SitAn) of Women and Girls in the MENA and Arab States Region. The site covers the main developments impacting women and girls throughout the timeframe of 2010 – 2020.
Read full report here
Read executive summary here

News from Partners in Arab countries

Children First Association activities at the Muscat International Book Fair, Sultanate of Oman
Dr. Amer Al-Aysari, Assistant Professor, Department of Early Education, Sultan Qaboos University.
The “Children First” Society participated in the 26th Muscat International Book Fair to implement a busy program of more than 50 activities, workshops, interactive games, stories, theatrical and advisory events oriented toward children.

Khotwa Magazine, Issue 44, Winter 2022, Issue File, Child and Music
Khotwa magazine publishes articles focused on childhood in our Arab world. For issue No. 44, the authors decided on the topic of Children and Music and will continue to address the same subject from other angles in the following issue.
Read the issue in Arabic here

The World Bank Early Childhood Program: Opening of affiliation for the fellowship program in 5 Arab countries

The Early Years Fellowship program by the World Bank is now recruiting up to 15 fellows to launch their third cohort. The program is recruiting from several countries including five Arab countries (Jordan, Egypt, Djibouti, Morocco, and Somalia).
Recruitment will close on Friday, April 15th, 2022, at 5 pm EST.

Learn more

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