[printer friendly (text) page]

• "Close to 90 percent of war casualties are civilians – most of them women and children."
• "In Nepal, children are used as soldiers and girls are trafficked out of the country to work as prostitutes."
• "In Guinea, there is massive suffering due to spillover from the war in neighboring Sierra Leone – one of the most brutal conflicts in modern history. Many girls and women have been raped; there is widespread use of child soldiers, and physical mutilation is inflicted as a form of terror."
• "Approximately 540 million children in the world – one in four – live in dangerous, unstable situations that are a direct result of war and conflict." 
• "In Uganda, more than 11,300 children, about one-third of them girls, have been abducted by military groups and forced into combat."
• "In parts of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, it is estimated that 75 percent of children born during war there have died or will die before their second birthday."
• "At least 20,000 women and girls between the ages of 7 and 65 were raped during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia in 1992 alone."
• "Genocide in Rwanda left an estimated 65,000 households headed by children – 90 percent of whom were girls."
• "From 1990 to 2000, girls under 18 participated in armed conflicts in at least 39 countries; in 65 percent of those countries, there are documented cases of kidnapping and physical force being used to recruit girls" (http://www.savethechildren.org/owow/statistics.shtml and http://www.savethechildren.org/owow/protect.shtml).

The humanitarian organization, Save the Children, has launched a campaign to globally address the condition of mothers and children in some of the most conflicted regions of the world. It is the hope of Save the Children that as a result of this campaign, the United States government does more to protect women and children who are the victims of war worldwide.

Save the Children is doing an enormous amount of work internationally to address the needs of women and children affected physically and emotionally by war. For example, according to the One World, One Wish website:

• "Save the Children has helped craft an amnesty policy that makes it easier to get women and children out of dangerous, exploitative situations."
• They organize "counseling, education and economic incentives to reintegrate former child soldiers into communities."
• They "support border surveillance to keep poor girls – who are even more vulnerable to exploitation during the chaos of conflict – from being trafficked into the sex trade in India."
• "Save the Children mobilizes community protection networks – similar to the “neighborhood watch” groups we have in U.S. communities. These networks keep a watchful eye to prevent children from being sold into the military and girls from being sexually assaulted" (http://www.savethechildren.org/owow/protect.shtml). 

Save the Children supports “zones of peace” that give women and children a safe place to go during hostilities and provide medical attention. The agency also support home-based schooling in places where it’s too dangerous for children to attend traditional schools.

What can you and your students do to get involved with this campaign? Lots! Here are a few ways that your students can use their skills to get involved with the One World, One Wish program:

Students can:

1. Send an e-postcard telling students, teachers and friends about the "One World, One Wish" campaign. Students can create a database of email addresses as a part of their class lessons.

2. Post a link to the One World, One Wish website on their school's website. Students could instead create their own website about the One World, One Wish program and educate the local community about how they can get involved.

3. Write to President Bush and your representatives in Congress.  Tell them our government needs to do more to ensure women and children come first. Students could do this as a part of their word-processing or keyboarding lessons.

4. Within a Social Studies or World Cultures classroom, students can learn more about the political and social conflicts that give rise to women and children being tortured and victimized. Students can raise money to support the One World, One Wish campaign by hosting a community dinner and arranging to have local speakers address issues relating to women and children abroad.  These presenters can discuss what is being done to help support women and children worldwide in times of war and crisis.

5. Students can use desk-top publishing skills to create informational flyers and pamphlets about the One World, One Wish program and the issues they are attempting to address worldwide. The students can distribtute the flyers and pamphlets throughout the community in the hopes of promoting awareness.

The world is a very big place. and for many students it is difficult to see beyond their own community. In times of war, such as now, children and youth often feel helpless despite wanting to do something to help promote peace or address the global issues on a more personal level. One World, One Wish is one way that students can get involved globally, locally and personally in a meaningful way.