sa国际传媒

Police are investigating an explosion that injured at least 26 school students in their classroom in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

A聽 powerful blast shook the private school at Narbal village in聽southern Pulwama district聽two days ago.聽

One of the students聽:聽鈥淲e had just finished with our English class when a sudden blast took place inside our classroom, leaving many students injured.鈥澛�

An official said most of the victims had injuries to their legs, but none were critically hurt. The students are believed to be aged 15 and 16.

The cause of the explosion is not yet known.聽Reports said young boys had previously died or been injured while playing with explosives found at the sites of between rebels and Indian troops in the disputed Himalayan region.

Schools should be safe places where children can learn free from conflict, violence and fear. But sa国际传媒’s recent report Safe Schools: The Hidden Crisis said that聽between 2013 and 2017 there were more than 12,700 attacks on schools,聽harming more than 21,000 students and educators in at least 70 countries.

An international declaration on early childhood development (ECD) – which calls for a rapid increase in global investment – was announced this week.聽The philanthropic organisation Dubai Cares and UNICEF 鈥� at the World Government Summit in Dubai.聽

It calls聽for a rapid increase in global investment in the first years of children鈥檚 lives. Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Chairperson of Dubai Cares, said: 鈥淕iving every child, no matter where they live, the best start in life is the best way to ensure healthy and prosperous individuals, communities and nations.”聽

The declaration identifies the elements and approaches for a package of services for young children and their caregivers – from stimulation and play to nutrition.聽

sa国际传媒 has been campaigning for countries and international donors to invest 10% of their education spending on early childhood development and to provide two years of free, quality pre-primary education to every child.

NEW REPORT: Violations against children in conflict soar, research shows 300 babies die everyday and 1 in 5 children are now living in conflict zones.

— SavetheChildren News (@SaveUKNews)

It鈥檚 vital that refugee children in Uganda get back into education as quickly as possible, says a new report today on the effect of conflicts.

Save the Children cited South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo as countries where children are particularly vulnerable to being killed or injured, attacked in their schools or recruited by armed groups. Most of the 1.2 million refugees in Uganda have fled those countries.

The report – – stresses the importance of urgently getting refugee children back into education, to help them return to a sense of normalcy and have an opportunity for a better future.聽57% of refugee children in Uganda are out of school, as well as 34% of the local host community in refugee-hosting districts.

Brechtje van Lith, the charity鈥檚 country director in Uganda, said: 鈥淯ganda has been a safe haven for refugee children for many years and it鈥檚 vitally important that this continues. We must do all we can to protect them from further harm and help rebuild their future.鈥�

The report said analysis showed 870,000 children under the age of five died in conflict areas around the world between 2013 and 2017 鈥� five times as many as the number of fighters killed. It said an average of 300 babies die every day as the result of conflict.

Millions of school students in Indonesia will learn how to be prepared for natural disasters. There will be classes on disaster mitigation at 250,000 schools in areas prone to earthquakes, flooding and other crises.

鈥淲e will make it easier for students to understand by presenting comics, games and short films,鈥� said Lilik Kurniawan, community empowerment director of the聽National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

The聽BNPB will also evaluate emergency facilities at disaster-prone schools, including emergency routes and the nearest exits for each classroom. A聽nationwide disaster drill will be held at schools on April 26.

sa国际传媒’s report Safe Schools: The Hidden Crisis said about聽half of the 75 million children who have their education disrupted each year聽do so from environmental threats, including natural disasters and disease outbreaks.聽聽Despite this, education is rarely a core focus in emergency responses.

A shocking increase in the number of child soldiers around the world has been revealed – along with the exploitation of girls by armed groups.

To mark聽International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers this week, a report found 8,185 new verified cases in 15 countries last year聽– an increase of 159% since 2013. There were 893 new verified cases of girls associated with armed groups and forces, four times higher than the 2017 figure.

The alarming trend , whose Director聽Isabelle Guitard said: 鈥淭hese statistics alone are shocking and probably only scratch the surface on the true scale of child exploitation by armed actors around the world.鈥�

Apart from the risk of violence and trauma, the development and education of recruited children is disrupted.

In South Sudan, more child soldiers have been released. A total of 119 children – 48 of them girls – were the latest to be freed by armed forces and groups.

More than 3,100 have been released since the conflict began. But聽: 鈥淭here is a long way to go before all of the more than 19,000 children still in their ranks are returned to their families.鈥�