Fwd: Poverty Matters: Rights of children still abused and supporting women in Afghanistan

Having trouble viewing this email? Rights of children still abused and supporting women in Afghanistan We look at children's rights 25 years after the UN convention; and where are women's voices as London readies for a conference on Afghanistan? If you are viewing this on the web and would prefer to get it in your inbox every two weeks, register for the email edition theguardian.com, Tuesday 25 November 2014 06.22 EST Bangladeshi children play near the highly polluted Hazaribagh tannery on the banks of the Buriganga river in Dhaka. Photograph: AM Ahad/AP The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is 25 years old, but children's rights are still being violated with impunity. Unicef said a baby born this year had a "dramatically improved chance" of living to the age of five, compared with one born in 1990, but that conflict – in Syria, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Gaza and elsewhere – is endangering many children's lives. We asked children around the world which rights are most important to them. London is hosting a conference on Afghanistan on 3-4 December, with aid, business and reform all on the agenda as the country prepares for life without Nato combat troops from next year. But where are the voices of Afghanistan's women? Samira Hamidi argues that women's voices must be heard to build a better Afghanistan. Activists are urging the UK government to lobby for women to have a role in peacebuilding, but Oxfam has warned that peace talks with the Taliban threaten women's rights. Elsewhere on the site We marked World Toilet Day with a quiz, news on the sanitation MDG being off-track, a gallery of toilets in Zimbabwe and a blog on why women in rural India need toilets. Plus: South Sudan's next generation in a hurry to fight Act of faith: the Catholic priest saving Muslims in CAR Caught in conflict: women in Pakistan The evolution of the Ebola crisis – your stories On the blog Shree Venkatram: India's sterilisation camps must give way to proper family planning Calestous Juma: Private sector can help Africa to take responsibility for its development Lawrence Haddad and Dolf te Lintelo: World leaders must grasp the nettle in the battle against malnutrition Students Speak Why do some emergencies get stronger support than others, and can funds be allocated more fairly? In our new series inviting submissions from students, we ask why humanitarian crises receive varying levels of support. Submissions close on Thursday. Multimedia Video: Brazil's asbestos industry: the human cost Video: Rebranded: erasing the marks of the US sex trafficking industry Video: The women trapped by conflict in Pakistan Gallery: Ethiopia's refugee camps swell with South Sudanese Coming up We'll have more coverage from the London Afghanistan conference, on female activists and whether the world will forget the country when the troops go home. During the Cop 20 climate change conference in Lima in early December, we'll be looking at how a changing climate is affecting Nicaraguan farmers, and how women on the frontline of climate change are making a big impact using small grants. What you said: top reader comment On the story of 'I carried his name on my body for nine years': the tattooed trafficking survivors reclaiming their past, David1980 wrote: It's a sad indictment of human nature that the human being is capable of such cruelty and barbarism. What is equally sad about our social evolution is that despite abolishing slavery a long time ago, modern-day slavery persists in even more complex and organised forms whereby it hides in plain sight. I'm sure that the abolitionists would be shocked and horrified to see how people are procured, trafficked and held in servitude in countries that proclaim to be the most progressive in the world. Sadly, it would seem that the experience for those in the article is that America certainly isn't the land for the free. And those that are being held in servitude in the UK – in brothels, children in organised crime gangs of shoplifters, illegal immigrations "handcuffed" to nail bars or tied to takeaways as kitchen staff – may wonder just how aware the communities around them are of their precarious situation. Highlight from the blogosphere Development Horizons: 12 killer facts from the global nutrition report And finally … Poverty matters will return in two weeks with another roundup of the latest news and comment. In the meantime, keep up to date on the Global development website. Follow @gdndevelopment and the team – @swajones, @LizFordGuardian, @MarkC_Anderson and @CarlaOkai – on Twitter, and join Guardian Global development on Facebook. Sign up for the Guardian Today Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Sign up for the daily email You are receiving this email because you are a Poverty Matters subscriber. Click here if you do not wish to receive Poverty Matters emails from the Guardian News and Media. Click here to find out about other Email Services from the Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. 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