Today, the UN outlawed abuses inflicted on children including prostitution, pornography, and the sale of children. I don't know why this took so long, but good for them. It's good to see world leadership stepping up and doing their part to protect kids from abusers.
What if the church stepped up to do something radical? What if the church said, "If there are any children in the world in danger of being exploited sexually or trafficked, we will take them in. We'll find families. No questions asked."
That's the kind of Acts 2 love and sacrifice that would change the world.
New York — The United Nations on Tuesday launched a major campaign for universal adoption of treaty protocols that outlaw the sale of children, child prostitution and pornography, and protect youngsters in armed conflict, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling for full ratification by 2012.
"The sad truth is that too many children in today's world suffer appalling abuse," he told a ceremony at the headquarters of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in New York, marking the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the two optional protocols strengthening the Convention on the Rights of the Child by providing a moral and legal shield for youngsters vulnerable to prostitution and pornography or caught up in armed conflict. "Two-thirds of all member states have endorsed these instruments. On this tenth anniversary of their adoption, I urge all countries to ratify them within the next two years." Mr. Ban cited recent advances: the release three months ago by the Maoist army in Nepal, under UN supervision, of more than 2,000 soldiers who had been recruited as children; the UN-assisted freeing of children from the ranks of armed groups In Côte d'Ivoire; the prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of former Congolese militia leader, Thomas Lubanga for war crimes against children. He noted, too, that fewer and fewer states now permit children to join the armed forces and reiterated his previous calls to the Security Council to consider tough measures on those states and insurgent groups that still recruit children. From AllAfrica.com.
