Child Neglect

In order to bring attention to cultural and legal issues surrounding youth around the world, the United Nations has created International Youth Day

International Youth Day (IYD) is an youth awareness day. It is the brainchild of the United Nations, and was first celebrated on 12th August 2000, after the UN General Assembly passed a resolution. The day is also observed in 18 countries on many different dates throughout the year. The UN defines the worlds' youth as the age group between 15 and 24 years old, making up one-sixth of the human population. It is celebrated all around the world with an objective to raise awareness about issues to recognize the efforts of the world's youth in enhancing global society. It also aims to promote ways to engage them in responsible and active ways so that they can make positive contributions to their communities.

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Here is a picture of Haitian children fathered by U.N. peacekeepers.

The U.N. peacekeeping force, MINUSTAH, was sent to Haiti in 2004 to keep order following a movement that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. since, some peacekeepers have been accused of several abuses including rape, using excessive force, introducing cholera and fathering children in some cases with under age women.

A recent report released by the United Nation has brought to light the dark side of the U.N personnel-- sexual exploitation and abuse against civilians while they were stationed in countries plagued by conflict and natural disaster. The revelation came after interviewing 231 people in Haiti, who claimed that they were forced to perform sexual acts with the UN peacekeepers in exchange for 'basic necessities'. In the past, the UN workers were accused in a similar way of fathering and subsequently abandoning children at the end of their deployment in Cambodia, Mozambique, Bosnia, Sudan, Kosovo, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. A report reveals that UN Peacekeepers fathered 24,500 babies in Cambodia and 6,600 in Liberia. The U.N. force in Haiti currently includes 4,899 uniformed personnel, a combination of military and civilian police, from more than a dozen countries. As per Ghandi Shukry, the head of a Conduct and Discipline Unit in the U.N. mission, 29 claims for paternity have been submitted against MINUSTAH to the U.N. in Haiti and 18 of them were classified as 'victims', because they were receiving some kinds of supports. There are many unreported instances of non-payment where the women took the badges of the peacekeepers and threatened to reveal their infidelity via social media. However, in 2003, the U.N Secretary General circulated a bulletin on "Zero Tolerance Policy" in this regard.

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Several cases of Haitian mothers found to be abandoning their children in hospital in Dominican Republic.

Dominican Hospitals tasked with finding Homes for Abandoned Children

Haitian mothers are deserting their children at Dominican hospitals. Arturo Grullon Hospital Director, Dr. Morel, says the hospital must take care of the children while CONANI looks for foster families or an orphanage.

She says mothers bring in a sick child, get them admitted, and then flee, never to return. She adds new policies will be implemented for Haitian mothers bringing in sick children, to stop the practice of child abandonment.

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