Indonesian police said Monday that one of four young children injured by an Islamic militant's attack at a church on the island of Borneo has died.

East Kalimantan police spokesman Fajar Setiawan said 2-year-old Ade Intan Marbun died from complications after suffering burns to more than three quarters of her body.

"It affected her respiratory system and efforts to save her failed and she died early Monday," said Setiawan.

The attacker, identified by police as a 32-year-old former terror convict from the West Java town of Bogor, threw a Molotov cocktail from a motorcycle as he rode past Oikumene Church in Samarinda, the provincial capital of East Kalimantan province, on Sunday.

The man was captured by locals after jumping into a nearby river. TV footage showed the injured man lying on the deck of a motorboat. He was wearing a black shirt emblazoned with the words "Jihad, Way of Life."

National police spokesman Maj. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said the suspect had been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison over a 2011 attack and was released in July 2014. He moved to East Kalimantan about a year ago.

It was the second explosion at a church in Indonesia this year. In August, a would-be suicide bomber failed to detonate a bomb during Sunday Mass in a church in Medan, the provincial capital of North Sumatra, but he managed to injure a priest with an axe before being restrained.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has carried out a crackdown on militant networks since the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.</s>Timely intervention of officials led to stopping of 44 child marriages that were to take place in the district between January and October.

Under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme, a training programme for field workers was organised by the Social Welfare Department and District Child Protection Unit here recently. Collector M. Asia Mariam said that the role of field workers is very vital in ensuring that the children in distress are protected. She said that of the 44 children rescued from marriages, 24 were pursuing their studies at special schools while the rest were with their parents. She said that 86 child workers were rescued from various places in the district and 44 were pursuing their studies. Six children were sexually abused and were provided counselling and were continuing their education, she added. Creating awareness among the children and the parents on various child protection laws would help in protecting the children, the collector said.

Any children in distress or the public if they come across children in problems can call the Childline at 1098 so that immediate action can be taken in rescuing and rehabilitating them. Under the Sponsorship and Foster Care Approval Committee (SFCAC) assistance for children who lost their parents, 40 children were given assistance in 2013-14 and 41 children in 2014-15.

District Child Protection Officer P. Prabhu and District Child Welfare Committee member Jeyabal Sundar Singh provided training to the participants.</s>Sometimes Aedín O’Leary has to bite her tongue when she hears people talking about how they are not bringing children to a funeral.

“I know it’s terribly sad and you don’t want to expose your children to any unnecessary trauma,” she says. But they can just think a person has disappeared. It’s important for closure.

She and her husband, Niall, have had several close family bereavements to steer their children through, including the death of their baby brother.

Aedín was five months into her third pregnancy before there were indications there might be a problem. But it wasn’t until a few days after the birth in Holles Street hospital that Oscar was confirmed as having the genetic disorder Edward’s syndrome.

He spent nearly two weeks at home in Blackrock, Co Dublin, before he died aged one month and a day on July 5th, 2004. Their eldest child, Katie, who was nearly five, was more clued in to what was going on than her other brother, Harry (2).

“We tried to explain to them how he was sick and he was going to go to heaven. Then when he did die, they were sad but you know what kids are like, they’re sad one minute and the next minute they are talking about Barbie.”

They had been advised to use the words “die” and “death” to the children rather than ambiguous euphemisms such as “he fell asleep” or had “gone to a better place”.

Oscar was waked at home and then Katie and Harry went to the funeral. Some people think that’s a bit heavy for little kids, says Aedín, but she and Niall felt it was the right thing, although they did arrange for the creche to take them straight after the Mass, rather than going to the graveyard.

Some time afterwards, Aedín remembers driving home from creche one day when Katie started crying in the back of the car. She asked what was wrong.

“She said: ‘Everybody says he’s an angel now. I don’t want an angel – I miss the skin of him’,” articulating how she didn’t want people placating her with talk of “angels”.

Four years later, the sudden death after a brain haemorrhage of Aedín’s sister Nuala, at the age of 41, was another huge bereavement for Katie, Harry and their youngest brother, Conor, born 15 months after Oscar’s death. Nuala had been Katie’s much-loved godmother and she took ill and went on a ventilator just two days before the little girl’s First Holy Communion.

Nuala had been wondering what to get Katie as a Communion present and Aedín suggested she wait until after it was all over and then get her some earrings, as she was going to have her ears pierced afterwards.

However, a week beforehand, Nuala suddenly decided to bring Katie to a Build-a-Bear Workshop instead, along with Harry.

“I am so glad that she did go ahead – they have those teddies to treasure,” says Aedín. Nuala’s death was a huge wrench, particularly for Katie.

“By the age of eight, she had been exposed to [the deaths of] two very close relatives. My sister was laid out in the funeral home and she did go in to have a look, but she came straight out again and that was fine and she didn’t want to go back in again. Whereas Harry was in and out – it is a very individual thing.

“What is right or wrong there, I don’t know. Maybe just to have the choice.”

Four years later, Aedín’s mother died just a day after Katie’s Confirmation.

Based on her experiences, Aedín believes in involving children as much as possible – to the extent that they are comfortable with it – in funerals.

“You have to make a judgment,” she says. “No two kids are the same.”

A passion fuelled by professional expertise and personal experience is what drives Sir Al Aynsley-Greene to campaign for better support for bereaved children.

A paediatrician and later the UK’s first commissioner for children, his career was forged after losing his father at the age of 10. He remembers sitting alone on a bench playing with a toy truck in the waiting area of a hospital where his mother was visiting his father, who had been operated on the day before.

After several hours, he was surprised to see his aunt, who told him: “Your daddy has just died, and you have to be the man of the family now and look after your mum and sister.”

He was later to learn that his father had begged to see his son before he died, but it was hospital policy not to allow anybody under 16 to visit patients on the ward.

That day young Al’s life had changed in an instant and he resolved to become a doctor to “stop other boys’ and girls’ mummies and daddies dying”.

Some 40 years later, he was watching a television documentary about the UK charity Winston’s Wish, which runs residential weekend camps for bereaved children. As the children let off helium balloons containing a message for the loved ones they had lost, Aynsley-Greene wept uncontrollably.

It was an outpouring, he says, of pent-up anger about not being allowed to say goodbye to his father before he died, nor to see his body when it was in their sitting room before the funeral.

“Think adult, think child,” is his mantra to professionals caring for a dying adult, as he told the recent St Luke’s symposium in Dublin. He will be back to address the Irish Children’s Bereavement Network conference on November 18th. They need to ask what does this mean for the children of the family – “they may be the only people to ask that question”.

While the hospice movement is very good, he says, there needs to be much more focus on how unexpected death is handled in hospital emergency departments.

There is hard evidence of what is most important for bereaved children, he says. This includes:

* For death to be seen as part of life – in wider society and within families;

* Information and education on what death actually means;

* Careful listening to encourage them to talk about how they feel. In his experience they bottle up their feelings because they don’t want to upset their families, or they may feel guilt. For example they may wish they hadn’t had an argument with the deceased before he went off on his motorbike;

* Help to come to terms with their grief. Part of this is meeting other children to share experiences of bereavement;

* Access to support. But, Aynsley-Greene stresses, it is very important that bereavement and grief are not seen as medical issues. “Countless families survive very well, despite the difficulties, and there is always the risk of medicalising what is a natural phenomenon;

* Addressing of their fears and anxieties. For example: “My sister has just died from cancer – will I get cancer?</s>In aid:Two children, who received financial assistance for heart ailment, with their mothers at Childline Helpline office in Ramanathapuram on Tuesday.— Photo: L. Balachandar

After launching series of proactive measures and awareness programmes, the Childline India Foundation, District Child Protection Unit (CPU) and Child Welfare Committee (CWC) have jointly prevented as many as 94 child marriages in the district during 2015-16.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, on ‘Childline Se Dosti,’ the week-long programme to make ordinary citizens stakeholders in Childline 1098, S. Karuppasamy, District Childline Director said they had stopped 94 child marriages compared to 73 in the previous year, thanks to increased awareness.

As they followed up the cases after stopping child marriages, they found that parents of three children conducted re-marriages ignoring their warning and they were facing legal consequences after police registered cases against them, he said. More than eight people were arrested in the three cases, he added.

He said compared to 562 calls last year, they had received 1,825 calls through childline helpline this year and made interventions in respect to 640 calls, he said adding they had rescued 15 child labourers and 28 children seeking alms, including eight with their parents and helped them to continue education. They had also identified 75 ‘dropout children’ and helped them continue education, he said. Besides, they arranged medical treatment for 36 underprivileged children and the beneficiaries included six children who had undergone heart surgeries and two hearing and speech impaired children, he said.

District Child Protection Officer S. Duraimurugan said the district witnessed 19 child sexual abuse cases. FIRs were registered in respect to ten cases and more than 22 people were arrested, he said adding victims and parents were counselled in nine other cases at the request of parents, he added.

The foundation also provided educational assistance to 139 poor children in the district and offered counselling to 59 children who had problems in schools and homes with the help of CWC and CPU officials, he added.

As part of the ‘Child Se Dosti’, the foundation would launch mass awareness campaigns and cultural events. On Friday, Superintendent of Police N. Manivannan would launch an awareness programme on POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, he said. Devipattinam Childline sub centre director S Devaraj, Rameswaram sub centre director Mannar Mannan and District Chidline coordinator M Anandaraj were present.</s>Hundreds of children are subject to child protection plans in Wigan, new figures have revealed.

An alarming 505 children were deemed as being sufficiently at risk as to need council intervention to keep them safe.

That figure, which rose slightly from 488 the previous year, includes 356 youngsters who were under plans because of neglect, 36 for sexual abuse and 84 for emotional abuse.

The statistics show thousands of children in the borough were classed as being in need in the same period.

The reasons varied from hearing problems, learning difficulties to abuse and neglect.

Released by the Department for Education, the results show that of the 2,019 children considered to be in need as of March 31 2016, 1,459 were at risk of abuse or neglect, 184 because of a disability or illness, 152 because of a family in acute stress and 134 for family dysfunction.

In 2015/16, 4,347 children were assessed by children’s services. In 1,838 cases, domestic violence was considered a factor, while mental health was in 1,606 cases, alcohol misuse in 946 and drug misuse in 947.

In seven cases, children were classed as unaccompanied asylum seekers, compared to none in 2014/15.

Child sexual exploitation was a factor in 217 cases, trafficking in 12, gangs in 22, self harm in 142, neglect in 609 and sexual abuse in 317.

Police referred the most youngsters to council services, with 1,522 of 4,615 referrals coming from officers. Schools referred 624 children, 574 came from health services and 225 from housing.

A council spokesman said: “Everyone has a role to play in keeping our children safe from abuse and neglect and any piece of information, no matter how small, can be a part of the bigger jigsaw which draws from a wide variety of sources and contacts to paint a fuller picture of family life.

“It is important that people do raise any concerns with us. Any information we do receive is carefully assessed and further evidence is gathered to add to the wider picture of a case.”

If you have concerns about a child or young person’s welfare you can go to www.gov.uk/reportchildabuse where you can find an online form to fill in to raise your concerns. You can also call 01942 828300 or 0161 834 2436 out of hours.

You can also find out more about the work being done to protect children across the borough by going towww.wigan.gov.uk/wscb.</s>Child trafficking victims and unaccompanied children are going missing from local authority care at an “alarming” rate according to a new report, which reveals that in one year, nearly 30% of all UK child trafficking victims and 13% of unaccompanied children disappeared from care services.

New research by child trafficking NGO Ecpat UK and the charity Missing People has found that 167 of the 590 children suspected or identified as child trafficking victims in the year from September 2014 to 2015 vanished from foster and care homes across the country.

An additional 593 of the 4,744 unaccompanied children placed under the protection of local authorities also went missing at least once in the same time period. Of the 760 trafficked or unaccompanied children who disappeared from care, 207 have never been found.

The new data, drawn largely from freedom of information requests to 217 local authorities across the UK, shows that Thurrock, Hillingdon, Croydon, Kent County Council and Surrey had the highest numbers of trafficked and unaccompanied children who were unaccounted for. One local authority reported that 22 child trafficking victims had gone missing in the recorded time period.

The majority of child trafficking victims who vanished from care are from Vietnam, Albania and the UK. Most of the unaccompanied children who went missing are from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Albania and Vietnam.

Despite the high numbers, Ecpat says that the real scale of the UK’s missing child trafficking victims is still not accurately reflected in the data.

Chloe Setter, Ecpat UK’s head of advocacy and policy, said there was “huge concern” that only 45 of the 217 local authorities asked for information were able or willing to provide data on the numbers of children whose whereabouts were still unknown.

“I think what is most alarming about this survey isn’t the data we’ve received, it is the data that we haven’t,” said Setter.

“Twenty per cent of the local authorities we contacted could not even report how many children in their care were [formally] identified or suspected of being trafficked. Only 10 local authorities could report the nationalities of the trafficked children who had disappeared. It is unacceptable that we can’t get a clear picture on how many exploited children are simply falling off the radar and, in the case of trafficked children, presumed to be back in the hands of their exploiters. These are hundreds of children who have simply vanished from places where they should have been protected.”

The report also underscores issues with identification and recording practices. Despite London being a prime destination for human traffickers, 10 of 33 local authorities reported zero trafficked children, and an additional four local authorities were unable to provide any information.

“There has to be an improved data recording system put in place for trafficked and missing children,” said Setter. “Many of the authorities we asked couldn’t even search for these children in their existing databases.”

The report cites various reasons for the children going missing, from the failure of the government to identify trafficked children, to the influence and control of traffickers, lack of trust in adults and lack of consistent support. Poor protection measures, as well as asylum and immigration concerns, were also noted.

Ecpat and Missing Children say that in order to stem the flow of exploited children disappearing from care services, the child protection system must be expanded to introduce specific training on child trafficking and unaccompanied children and investment in appropriate accommodation and support services.



Lynne Chitty, UK care director at the anti-trafficking charity Love146, said she was not surprised by the findings of the report and expected the numbers to continue to rise if urgent safeguarding policies were not implemented immediately.



“Every week we see children going missing, most within 24 hours of arriving in care, and we know child trafficking victims are largely going back to their traffickers,” she said. “Many are in debt bondage or have been given a number to call as soon as they get taken into care. They aren’t getting the protection, services or support they need to stop them from believing that their traffickers are the only option for them here.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “It is vital that children in care are protected from harm. We have already strengthened regulations on children’s homes, and local authorities have a duty to tell us about all incidents of young people going missing.

“But we know trafficked and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are especially vulnerable. That’s why we have commissioned specialist training for those caring for them, committed to an independent advocate in each area to help champion their rights and outlined clear plans for a new government strategy to look at their particular needs, including reviewing the accommodation available.”</s>As a new report paints yet another gloomy picture for child poverty in the city, a Toronto woman is leading a national movement to protect and empower children everywhere.

Children First Canada, a non-profit launching this week, takes aim at dispelling what founder Sara Austin calls the general misconception that Canadian children are thriving because they live in one of the most prosperous nations on Earth.

“They are not all right and the statistics are pretty jarring,” Austin said.

From lacking adequate food and proper healthcare to facing issues of child abuse and bullying, Canada is ranked 17th out of 29 affluent nations for children’s wellbeing, according to UNICEF’s global index. Most vulnerable are Indigenous children, kids in single parent homes, youth in foster care and refugee children, the report says.

It echoes the findings of a report released Monday by a coalition of social agencies, showing 27 per cent of Toronto’s children live in poverty and reclaiming the city’s title as “child poverty capital” of Canada.

“As a mother and a citizen, these things makes me angry. I don’t know why there isn’t more outrage,” said Austin, who has worked in the non-profit sector for more than 20 years.

Children First Canada’s mission is to be a champion for children’s interests, engaging government and the private sector to address many issues affecting kids’ ability to succeed in their life. Those challenges include access to education, mental health, increasing levels of obesity and access to proper housing, said Austin.

By bringing together the efforts of community organizations and children ambassadors, the charity hopes to be a loud voice in holding municipal, provincial and federal governments more accountable to children’s cause.

First among demands the charity will be fronting is the appointment of a children’s commissioner, an independent officer of the federal government charged solely with establishing policies that make children’s life better.

The charity will also be calling for a children’s budget, detailing how much the country invests in children and evaluating the impact of the spending. Another demand will be the establishment of a platform to involve children in public policymaking.

“Children are experts in their own lives,” said Austin. “ We can and must do better in fighting poverty and ensuring the welfare of our children.”</s>By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA

Cape Coast, Nov. 13, GNA - The Ghana Police Service (GPS) has developed a curriculum on Child Friendly Policing, to be taught in all the police training schools across the country as part of efforts to integrate it into the Service.

This, it said was to give quality training on children's rights and protection to enable personnel of the Service handle issues which came before them, as far as children's rights were concerned.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) George Appiah-Sakyi, Central Regional Coordinator of the Domestic Violence, Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the GPS disclosed this at a roundtable with stakeholders on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The forum, organised by the Ghana NGOs Coalition on the Rights of the Child was attended by child rights stakeholders in the Region including the Department of Children and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice.

The rest were the Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, Department of Community Development, DOVVSU as well as civil society organisations (CSOs).

It was aimed at assessing the level of implementation with respect to the Convention on the Rights of the Child at both district and regional levels and to give account on their specific contributions to the full implementation of the document concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

DSP Appiah -Sakyi said the integration was to improve children's access to justice, address ethical issues often faced by law enforcement personnel as far as children were concerned and develop a standard operating procedure for handling children.

He said though child friendly activities were being undertaken in the Service, it had been done by specialised units such as DOVVSU.

He said the integration would made it possible for every police personnel to handle cases relating to children.

Mrs Felicia Tetteh, Childcare Assistant at the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) said the Department had closed down 19 orphanages and children's homes in the Region within the past three months for operating below standard.

She said research undertaken by the Department indicated that many children in the orphanages were not orphans but rather poor and irresponsible parents dumped them in such institutions.

She said some non-governmental organisations were taken advantage of the situation.

The DSW had therefore introduced new policies to streamline activities of orphanages, foster and children's homes in order to eliminate unqualified operators to ensure the safety of children in such institutions.

Mrs Tetteh noted that lack of parental control was a major challenge in the Region especially in the Cape Coast metropolis as DSW continued to record many maintenance cases especially during the months of September and October.

She said the Department had set up a team to advise and monitor parents to ensure that they took full responsibility of their children and cared for them appropriately.

Mrs Baaba Brew Fleischer, the immediate past National President of the Ghana NGOs Coalition on the Rights of the Child expressed satisfaction about the inputs of the participants.

She said the outcome of the discussion would benefit the Government to be able to effectively report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on the progress made in implementing the concluding observations of the committee.

She said such discussions were useful because it offered the NGOs and CSOs the opportunity to share ideas together so as to adequately embark on their advocacy. GNA
A child is killed and three other children are wounded in an attack in Samarinda.