Child well-being

South Korean flags

‘Major milestone’ immunization campaign begins in North Korea with support of UNICEF

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More than 800,000 children and 120,000 pregnant women will be vaccinated in a nationwide campaign launched on Monday by the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) with the support of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Over four million doses of essential vaccines — including Pentavalent, Measles-Rubella (MR), Tetanus-Diphtheria, BCG, Hepatitis B, and Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine (IPV) — were delivered to the DPRK in July to kickstart this comprehensive catch-up effort.

France to trial ban on mobile phones at school for children under 15

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France is to trial a ban on mobile phones at school for pupils up to the age of 15, seeking to give children a “digital pause” that, if judged successful, could be rolled out nationwide from January. Just under 200 secondary schools will take part in the experiment that will require youngsters to hand over phones on arrival at reception. It takes the prohibition on the devices further than a 2018 law that banned pupils at primary and secondary schools from using their phones on the premises but allowed them to keep possession of them.

African children in schools

Zambia’s free schools lead to surge in student numbers

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The Zambian government introduced free primary and secondary school education in 2021. Three years later, an additional two million students are filling classrooms across the country. The overall increase in enrollment reflects a trend across sub-Saharan Africa, with more children in school than ever before, according to UNICEF.

Good news for LGBTQ rights

California passes first-in-the-nation law banning forced outings of queer students in state public schools

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The SAFETY Act prohibits “parental notification” policies in school districts that require educators to notify parents if their child requests to use pronouns and facilities different from the gender they were assigned at birth. The law, which goes into effect immediately, also protects teachers and administrators from retaliation if they choose not to follow district directives to out queer kids to their parents.

Sierra Leone woman

Sierra Leone bans child marriage

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Anybody in the West African nation now involved in the marriage of a girl under the age of 18 will be jailed for at least 15 years or fined around $4,000, or both. The Ministry of Health estimates that a third of girls are married off before they turn 18, accounting for the country’s high number of maternal deaths – among the highest in the world.

Contraceptives

Free contraception initiative helps Finland reduce teenage abortions by 66%

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The number of abortions among women under 20 rose during the 1990s in Finland, leading the Nordic country to make morning-after pills available without prescription from 15 years of age and sexual education compulsory in all schools. As a result, the number of abortions fell 66% to 722 in 2023 from 2,144 in 2000 among all teenagers aged 19 or younger in Finland, while the drop was even steeper at 78% among those under 18 in the same period.

Packages of diapers

Tennessee to become the first U.S. state to provide some children’s diapers

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According to the National Diaper Bank Network, 92% of families receiving diapers in Tennessee are working and still unable to afford an adequate supply of diapers. However, it was just announced that the state’s Medicaid program will officially start covering 100 diapers a month for newborns, infants, and one-year-olds in August 2024, becoming the first U.S. state to do so.

Danish flag

Denmark relaxes abortion law

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Denmark is easing its abortion law for the first time in 50 years to allow women to terminate their pregnancies up to the 18th week. The new rules will also allow 15 to 17-year-olds to have an abortion without parental consent and will replace the five regional abortion consultations with a new national abortion board, to avoid local differences.

Contraceptives

Canada to make contraception for women free

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The government will pay for the most widely used methods to avoid pregnancy, such as IUDs, contraceptive pills, hormonal implants or the day after pill, for the nine million Canadian women of reproductive age, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a press conference. “Women should be free to choose the contraceptives they need without cost getting in the way. So, we’re making contraceptives free,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

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