Sharing Web Resources

I believe this article on the UNICEF Mexico website entitled “Mexico: Government and UNICEF launch ground-breaking study addressing child poverty”  sparked my curiousity mainly because the topic of poverty was one I have recently learned about in the United States and in my local area. What I learned about poverty in Mexico was:

·        To ensure equity and inclusion for all children in Mexico, a Child and Adolescent Poverty and Social Rights study was completed in 2013. It was launched by UNICEF in partnership with Mexico’s national social policy evaluation agency, CONEVAL and it revealed that despite Mexico’s economic growth over the past 10 years, an estimated 20 million children and adolescents-- of which more than five million continue to live in extreme poverty, meaning the poor are not better off and this situation, according to Erika Strand, UNICEF’s Chief of Social Policy in Mexico, requires an urgent public policy response.

·        This study aimed to take advantage of Mexico's innovative methodology to measure poverty beyond simply income; to better inform public policy design and implementation and serve as a best practice model for UNICEF in upper middle-income countries as part of UNICEF and Mexico’s joint efforts to export the country's best practices in measuring poverty.

·        As of February 2016, UNICEF Mexico news reported that the number of cases of children and adolescents who migrated unaccompanied by an adult detected by Mexican immigration authorities increased by 333% from 2013 to 2015 and this problem, according to the United Nations Fund for Children in Mexico, UNICEF, requires its full attention to ensure that the rights of these children and adolescents are respected.

I found UNICEF an interesting place to research because it spans across the world and I feel its website could give me a real experience on issues involving children and this article did not dissapoint. I also learned that this organization is funded entirely by philanthropists who are committed to children and their education. 

UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. It is the world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries. UNICEF also supports child health and nutrition; good water and sanitation; quality basic education for all boys and girls and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

I also learned about the state of poor children in Mexico today. Because of the immediate safety factor of these childrenissue of  these children travelling without the supervision of an adult, I as a parent first and an educator second am concerned about these Mexican boys and girls—whether they will survive or not and if so, will they be susceptible to an ill-fate of mistreatment and abuse or hunger when and if they reach their destination. It's a disturbing thought and one I would like to look more into as I move forward in this course. 

                                                Reference

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/media_68584.html    

Getting to Know My International Contacts

Unfortunately, I have not heard from my list of professionals as of yet but I am not giving up just yet and so, I will be doing the Alternative assignment for this week.

I have chosen to also request several staff members of UNICEF to request email communication on poverty in both Jamaica and Mexico.

In addition, I am sharing 3 insights I’ve gained from studying UNICEF’s website on Child Poverty, Poverty Insights in Several Countries and the Global  Study on Child Poverty and Disparities.

One thing that I have learned is that deep-poverty or children living with families in below the poverty line is the same as children living with families in poverty around the world when it comes to children who become sick. Like America’s poor, many poor parents around the world often have to choose between providing care and earning a living when one of their children becomes sick and like America’s poor, this decision could result in the family not being able to pay the rent, buy food or even care for the sick child but since 1991, poor families in several countries around the world have participated in a 24-month program designed to provide direct assistance for food, medical care, job training, legal advice, housing assistance and government program help for families to gain skills and support for breaking the cycle of poverty (unicef.org, 74282).  

I also learned that UNICEF has an online publication entitled “Child Poverty Insights” (CPI) shares insights, experience and innovative developments on issues of child poverty, deprivation and inequity. The publication was launched in August 2009, and a variety of topics have been published which have been well-received by thousands of people in over 150 countries.  Each CPI responds to one of three important areas of child poverty and inequity, namely: 1) evidence: where high quality research results that focus on children’s inequity issues are reported; 2) think pieces: where new approaches to measuring or approaching child poverty and inequity are introduced; and 3) practice: where real-world programs are discussed to show examples of ‘best practice’ in responding to child poverty and inequity (unicef.org, 69227).

Lastly in September 2007, UNICEF launched a Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities to strengthen the profile of children and study the global health, education and protection needs of children living in poor, vulnerable households and influence the economic and social policies that affect resource allocations in the hope of making children a priority in national programs addressing the poverty of families raising children in disadvantaged communities on the global study on child poverty and disparities blog (unicef.org, 45357).

            In reflection, it is empowering to know that there is an organization such as UNICEF committed to influencing policy, allocating resources and being a “watchman on the wall” committed to supporting its vision of respecting and protecting all children around the world (United, 2009). UNICEF also serves as a model for professionals like myself, who wish to continue advocating for all children, as well.    

References

http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_45357.html

http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_69227.htm

http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_74282.html

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (2009). The State of the World's Children: Special Edition (Research Report)                                    Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/rightsite/sowc/pdfs/SOWC_Spec%20Ed_CRC_Main%20Report_EN_090409.pdf

Sharing Web Resources

As a NAEYC member, I have subscribed to the following magazine

 and (optional) scholarly journal:

      1) The Young Children is NAEYC’s peer-reviewed professional journal, published five times a year—in March, May, July, September, and November. Issues are organized around topics important to the early childhood education field. Young Children’s practitioner focus makes it unique among journals and its award-winning status testifies to its excellence.

      

       2) The Early Childhood Research Quarterly

       NAEYC sponsors the scholarly journal Early Childhood Research Quarterly. Published four times a   year, ECRQ contains outstanding research on early childhood. It also includes the section,

        Practitioner Perspectives. Also, occasional special issues address hot topics in the field. 

      

     THE WEBSITE I HAVE CHOSEN IS: NAEYC.ORG and ITS INTEREST FORUMS   

      

      The Iterest Forums are used to expand my knowledge and exchange opinions and have discussions, dialogue (nationally and globally) and reflections on specific topics relevant to the ECE field and NAEYC’s mission and goals. I have joined the following forums:

      Latino Interest Forum, Black Caucus Interest Forum and Asian Interest Forum

      Diversity and Equity Education for Adults Interest Forum and

      Children’s Global Issues Community

     

     WHAT I LEARNED TODAY was under the Latino Interest Forum entitled “Census Shows It’s Time To Invest in Latino Children, Says Experts” by Sandra Lilley and I included a quote from the article made by a professor of Maryland University on why it is important to decide to invest money on educating immigrants rather than on politics and immigrants in my Application assignment.

 Reference

http://nbclatino.com/2012/12/12/census-shows-its-time-to-invest-in-latin

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I searched the web and stumbled across The Global Alliance of NAEYC. Below are the emails of several early childhood professionals from the website that I would like to communicate with about Issues and Trends from their perspectives: 

Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association
Dr. Betty Chan Po-king
20 Somerset Rd. Kowloon Tong, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel: 852-23396005
Email: sannas@ycef.com 

The National Early Childhood Development Alliance
Mr. Eric Atmore
P.O. Box 2363
Clarinch, 7740
South Africa
Tel: 27 21 683 2420
Email: cecd@iafrica.com 

Cuba
OMEP Comité Nacional Cubano

Sra. Hilda Pérez Forest
E-mails:
celep@rimed.cu
celep_cuba@yahoo.com
hilda_perezforest@yahoo.com 

Haiti
Step by Step Program / Tipa Tipa
Dominique Hudicourt
Email: tipatipa@hainet.net