Slavery - still a problem

December is another month where many international days are commemorated. One such event is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, to be observed on December 2. It was on a similar day in 1949 that the UN Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of Others was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

Slavery is "forced labour without pay under the threat of violence". Slavery in one form or another has existed since time immemorial, as a form of capture and domination by certain persons of their fellow men and their ability to work. According to statistics, over 22 million work as slaves worldwide.

Slavery, despite its cruelty, has not excluded children, and millions of children all over the world are affected by it. Many children suffer hardships and the indignity of toiling as slaves.

Of the estimated 246 million children working as labourers, many are in slavery. Over 171 million children work in hazardous situations such as in mines, with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or with dangerous machinery. Although they are everywhere, they are invisible.

Some of these children are unpaid and are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Millions of others work under horrific circumstances. Over 1.2 million children are forced into debt bondage or other forms of slavery (5.7 million).

Over 1.8 million are forced into prostitution and pornography too, while another 0.3 million are forced into participating in armed conflict or other illicit activities (0.6 million).

The year 2004 was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Year to commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition.

This day marks the bicentenary of the declaration of the first black state, Haiti, which is a symbol of the struggle and resistance of slaves, and the triumph (victory) of the principles of liberty, equality, dignity and the rights of the individual; and the reunion of the peoples of Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean and Europe.

The history of slavery goes back thousands of years.

After wars, the defeated people, and persons imprisoned for debt were used as slaves by the Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Persians and Romans. During the Middle Ages, the Saharian, Nilotic and Great Lakes network of Arab routes were opened for the draining of slaves from Africa.

The slave trade, especially of black people, began on an enormous scale with the discovery of the Americas by westerners. The Europeans who arrived in America found the need to exploit these lands, but the populations in those parts were not adequate to do so. Africa was considered as the right destination as Africans, they believed, were made of sterner stuff.

Men, women and children were captured and sold. The various waves of slavery resulted in the deportation of an estimated 25 to 30 million people, while more died on board ships or in the course of wars and raids.

Slavery is a practice which affects the dignity and freedom of all human beings. Children who fall victim are especially affected as they are denied the right to an education and a future. The UN Declaration of Human Rights states that "no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slaves and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms".

The slave trade is one of the human tragedies that affected the greatest number of people over the longest period of time.

Although it is banned now, with various international conventions such as the 1927 Slavery Convention outlawing slavery and human trafficking, the practice still exists under new forms, violating the human rights recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations.

Being accountable for AIDS

You may think that AIDS, the killer disease, may not affect you children, but you are wrong. Did you know that this disease claimed the lives of more than half a million children (570,000) in 2005?

The scourge of AIDS (Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome) has so far killed more than 25 million people, making it one of the most dreaded diseases in the modern world.

The epidemic claimed an estimated 3.1 million (between 2.8 and 3.6 million) lives in 2005 in many parts of the world, despite recent improvements made in anti-retroviral treatment and care.

World AIDS Day, commemorated annually on December 1, is organised to raise awareness of the global AIDS epidemic, which is a result of being infected with the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).

The concept for this day originated at the 1988 World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention and was introduced by the World Health Organisation. Since then, governments, international organisations and charities around the world have been observing the day, with many events held on a large scale.

Between 1988 and 2004, it was organised by UNAIDS, which also selected the theme in consultation with other organisations.

The responsibility of organising the events as handed over to the World AIDS Campaign (WAC), an independent organisation, by the UNAIDS in 2005. UNAIDS, though still playing a strong supporting role, no longer has a decision-making role. ‘Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise’ was selected as the theme in 2005 through to 2010.

This theme applies not just to this day, but also WAC’s other work. The theme selected for this year is ‘Accountability’.

The objectives of this year’s events are: seek enhanced accountability from political leaders on their promises on AIDS; support a broad movement of civil society organisations campaigning to develop their sense of joint identity and common purpose; and generate a greater public awareness of, and engagement with, the problem of AIDS worldwide.

The message of accountability is targeted at all kinds of leaders from all the stakeholders including civil society and the business sector, organisations like the UN and all governmental leaders.