The Silent Army’ – which brings the plight of child soldiers in Afrika to the screen – has been selected for viewing at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Children in war
While the movie itself is fiction, the stories of the children in this movie were based on the real life experiences of (former) child soldiers and children of war who have taken part in War Child programmes. Today, over 250,000 children around the world are currently being exploited as child soldiers.

War Child Holland was involved in the production of the movie from the very beginning, offering knowledge and expertise about the problematic situation in Africa, particularly when it comes to child soldiers. Read more >>

NEW CD RELEASED : ”War Child : HEROES

War Child: Heroes’ is an unprecedented collaboration between music’s most heralded legends and the finest current artists.

We asked 15 ultimate icons to select a favourite song from their classic back catalogue and to nominate the new act they most trust to create a unique interpretation of that hand-picked track. This album is the result: 15 exclusive and breath-taking cover versions.

The album will be released in the UK by Parlophone and internationally by EMI on February 16.  2008   Read more >>

NEW website: ”WarChildHolland.org

Recently a brand new website was launched by War Child Holland to enable all the English speaking visitors to read more about the War Child Holland projects and organisation. War Child Holand is the largest of the War Child organisations and reaches more than 850,000 children very year. With lots of interesting info and background, links & resources, this is surely a site to visit. Read more >

Check out the new English language website for War Child Holland at www.warchildholland.org
 

One Million People On The Run in Congo

Congo's other, deeper, conflict, in the North and South Kivu provinces near the Rwandan border, has displaced almost one million people since August 2008, killed millions more, and victimized women with high levels of sexual and gender-based violence. Although international attention has increased in recent months and the UN Security Council recently urged an immediate ceasefire in Eastern Congo, the likelihood of peace being achieved without drastic action is slim. Read more>

More details regarding the complex conflict in eastern Congo can found at the International Crisis Group's website.

Peace Day around the World- 21 September - slideshow

21 September 2008 - War Child Holland organised another Peace, which was celebrated in Holland and Belgium with lots of fundraising and awareness activities. But Peace Day was also celebrated in the War Child project countries  Sierra Leone, Uganda, Afghanistan and Sudan,  with huge live peace signs made by communities and schools. In this way War Child would like to raise awareness for children who grow up in the midst of war; and focus on the importance of continuous dedication to peace in these areas.

See impressions of the festivities in the photo slideshow >

Largest live online protest @ Habbo Hotel, Peace Day - 21 September

15 September 2008 - War Child and Habbo are teaming up for what promises to be the largest online protest ever. On 19th September, in the run up to UN International Day of Peace, teens will gather in Habbo hotel to raise awareness about the effects of war.

Habbo is a virtual community of millions of young people, who hang out, play games and get involved in these kind of events. Visit Habbo to join them on the 19th of September.  See www.habbo.co.uk or www.habbo.nl

HEROES: biggest names in music history and today’s hottest artists collaborate

15 September 2008 - “War Child has been  involved with the music industry since it’s early beginning. The new project  Heroes”, is to be released on November 24, featuring a unique and unprecedented collaboration between the biggest legends in music and artists from the next generation to create a modern reworking of that classic song.

Featured artists will include Duffy covering Paul Mc Cartney’s “Live and Let Die”; Hot Chip covering Joy Division’s “Transmission”; Beck covering Bob Dylan’s “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”; Rufus Wainwright performing tracks from “Smile”; and The Kooks covering The Kinks “Victoria”.  Read more >>

Franklin D Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award for War Child

25 May 2008 - At an international happening at the Nieuwe Kerk in Middelburg on the 24^th of May 2008, the Four Freedoms Award 2008 for Freedom Of Fear was granted to War Child Holland . The Freedom from Fear Award is awarded to War Child Netherlands for its indispensable assistance to children in war zones to help them create a peaceful future, and as a recognition of the important work carried out by the many volunteers who invest their time and resources for this noble cause. Read more and view video >

The International Award was granted to dr. Richard von Weizäcker. The Award for Freedom of Speech and Expression went to Lakhdar Brahimi, the Award for Freedom of Worship was awarded to Karin Amstrong,  and the Award for Freedom of Want went to Jan Egeland.

Child Rights on the agenda in Sierra Leone

30 May 2008 - Last month a large “community” festival was organised in the War Child Holland program in Sierra Leone. Several different villages came together during this festival. The central theme of the festival was: a peaceful existence and better future for children. These are very important subjects in a war torn country like Sierra Leone.

Read more>

Peace Camp Uganda

23 May 2008 - See the pictures of the Peace Camp that was held in Uganda from 28 April until the 7th of May. With this Peace Camp, War Child Holland is trying to close the gap between youth and youngsters from different regions in Uganda.

See photo slideshow >

Ending impunity in Northern Uganda

How a legal aid program is protecting the rights of women and children. Sexual violence against women and children is rife in northern Uganda. Until a unique intervention by War Child Canada, they suffered in silence. Now, we are offering them recourse to the law and the chance to seek justice. .

This situation is intolerable but things are changing, thanks to a unique War Child Canada initiative. We are empowering women and children to demand justice and protection, by providing direct legal aid from local lawyers whom we have trained in child rights law, and educated about the consequences of gender-based violence. Read more >

A Brighter Future in the Congo

A War Child Canada supporter reports on his life-changing visit to a school in Congo. High school teacher Barry Smith, one of War Child Canada’s biggest supporters,  has just returned from a visit to the Congo to see the school that he and his students helped build:

"I will never forget the day I visited L’institute Kamba in Makobola… One student I spoke with in the DRC walked a full 5 kilometers to school each day. Despite this trek, he was dedicated to fulfill his dream to finish school and go to university to become a physician. Read more about this story >

Protecting Children from the Food Crisis

The global food crisis is bad news for everyone. Have you noticed a hike in your grocery bill? Have you been thinking twice about going out to dinner? Belt tightening seems inevitable. But what if the food crisis meant going without health care? Or that you had to take your children out of school and send them out to work or beg?

These are the impossible choices now faced by families in many countries in Africa, the Middle East and around the world. What if your problems went beyond poverty? What if you were living with the legacy of conflict or the AIDS epidemic or both – how would you cope then? Read rest of story >

Sign for a ban on cluster munition

6 May 2008 - Many victims of cluster bombs and ammunition are children. War Child therefore supports the Campaign Stop Cluster Munition.

Cluster bombs are air-dropped or ground-launched munitions which launch a number of smaller submunitions (”bomblets”), which can cover large areas of land. The use of cluster bombs have been used since Vietnam, and continue into the Iraq war, and continue to kill thousands of civilians, many of which are children. Read more  >

Red Hand Day: Hope and concern after Child Soldier UN report

2 February 2008 - February 12 is the annual Red Hand Day, the commemoration day to draw attention to the use of children in armed conflict and war.

According to UNICEF estimates, last year alone some 250,000 children served as soldiers, however other NGO’s, such as HRW report figures as high as 300,000. Child soldiers continue to be used in Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, the Philippines, Somalia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Uganda. Read more >

UN Chief presents sanctions against use of child soldiers

31 January 2008 - In a release issued on January 29, 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged that the United Nations impose sanctions against those countries and armed groups that partake in the use of child soldiers.

Ban also asked the Council to refer violations against children in armed conflict to the International Criminal Court (ICC). in order to set “precedent” in an effort to put and end to the impunity of such unspeakable crimes against children.