Literature - Thinking of fear and freedom - News

The Arab Women's Organization, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Fund and the League of Arab States, recently met in Cairo to discuss the preparation of quantitative and qualitative indicators of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in their organization. It was the third meeting by experts, and held in order to provide support for the Arab States in preparing their national reports on their commitment to CEDAW.\ The Kingdom of Bahrain with host the event entitled Be Free on June 9-10. International organizations such as UNICEF and the Organization of Internet Control along with and a number of world-renown experts will participate. The goal of the two-day event is to discuss ways to prevent the trafficking and physical abuse of children through the Internet. \ The Center for Arab Unity Studies in Beirut has issued a new book on the concept of crimes against humanity in international law. Written by William George Nassar, the book covers the concepts of crimes such as genocide, torture, and apartheid, along with ways to identify criminal prosecution and the need for international protection for humanity. \ The Arab Today reported that the Jordanian Ministry of Development plans to conduct a study on the subject of elderly unmarried women in the upcoming months. Thought to be widespread throughout Jordan, the study will focus on the economic and social impediments of spinsterhood.\ An Australian court has agreed to allow a 17 year old female to continue medical treatment that has lead to confusion of her legal gender identification. After the ruling, the court has allowed doctors to remove her breasts in order to appear more masculine. She has already completed several hormonal therapies in order to prevent the onset of menstruation. Doctors have attributed her desire to change her gender due to depression.\ Doctors at the British Queen's University reported that the number of patients with juvenile diabetes has increased significantly within Europe. More than 20,000 children under the age of five are now believed to be afflicted.\ The United Nations Children's Fund "UNICEF" has been asked to take firm action to stop the trafficking of children amidst the background of a new report stating that more than 150 million girls and 73 million boys under eighteen years of age are forced to have sex every year in different parts of the world. \ The government of the United Arab Emirates has launched a humanitarian initiative which ensures that, upon legal age, any citizen the country deems an orphan will be submitted for employment and receive a secured monthly income. The Human Resources Section of the Dubai police will implement this initiative.\ 18 organizations in a local Jordanian community recently signed the Memoranda of Understanding with the Organization of American Jurisdiction to implement the program "Combating Child Labor through Education." The program will continue for a period of four years, with funding from the Department of Labor in America, at an estimated cost of U.S. $ 4 million.\ A U.S. study reported that an estimated 3.5 million children under the age of five are at risk of starvation in the United States alone. These findings coincide with another study by the U.S. Food Group, which indicated that more than 20% of American children in eleven states suffer from hunger due to the lack of food.