New York, U.S.A. — The U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s flagship Trick-or-Treat campaign, which has raised more than $167 million for children in need around the world, is getting a new look this year. For the first time in the campaign’s 62-year history kids will have a chance to design their own collection boxes. Original designs for the “Create-a-Character” contest may be submitted online at trickortreatforunicef.org. Winning designs in three categories will become part of a limited edition collection for next year’s campaign.

The box design contest will run from September 1 through October 26.

“Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF helps kids, parents and educators celebrate Halloween by raising money and learning about children in other parts of the world,” said Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. “This year, we want to tap into children’s imaginations by letting them bring their own creativity to the traditional Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF boxes.”

Original box designs may be submitted online at trickortreatforunicef.org beginning in September. A winning design from each category (children ages 4-8, 9-12, and 13 years and older) will be chosen and announced on Halloween, October 31.

Participants who prefer a finished box have new choices this year, too. The traditional Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF box has been given a new look, with six spooky new character boxes – a monster, black cat, princess, pumpkin, vampire and a witch. Fundraising kits containing the character boxes, the blank collection box for design and new educational resources may be ordered online with free shipping at trickortreatforunicef.org.

Begining in 1953, volunteers wore armbands featuring a silhouette of a child drinking milk and carried small orange boxes. The collection boxes have become an iconic symbol of the organization as millions of children have gone door-to-door each Halloween to Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF.

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF is grateful for the support of our National Sponsors Key Club International and Starcom MediaVest Group; along with Promotional Supporters American Airlines and Coinstar, Inc.

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A decade-old ban on murals may be headed for change with the crafting of a number of new mural ordinances that would preserve existing murals while creating opportunities for new ones. “Threats of fines, lawsuits and jail time for artist and property owners in ‘The Mural Capitol of the World’ have created a chilling effect on free speech and the 1st amendment right of artistic expression in Los Angeles,” states Mike McNeilly. Hundreds of murals have been lost due to the aggressive enforcement by city officials and the city ban on murals.

As an example, for decades street artist Mike McNeilly has created dozens of murals in L.A. that have been painted over and removed by orders from the city. The murals have raised awareness for social, moral and environmental issues as well as murals that celebrated the creative history of Los Angeles.

“Stop the Violence, Save the Children”, “We The People”, “Liberty”, “I Love You Daddy”, “No Glove, No Love”, “Bubblehead”, “World War-World Peace”, “Purple Haze”, “9-11″ and “One L.A.” are a few of McNeilly’s murals that are now history due to the ban on murals and the unfair actions of L.A. politicians. When asked about the New Mural Ordinance, McNeilly stated, “Remove the ban on murals and make sure the politicians don’t try to dictate the content of the new murals…the city has the right to rule on Time, Place and Manner but not the Art.”

The new mural ordinance will be separate from the sign law by identifying murals as something other than signs, with a focus on murals as original works of art. Currently, any mural on private property is considered illegal commercial signage even if it’s purely artistic in nature.

In all, four proposals were green-lit to move forward. Two of them, the Vintage Mural Permit and the Time/Place/Manner Permit, were sent to the City Attorney’s office to be drafted into ordinances that would be put before the city council for adoption.

The Vintage program would create a process to retroactively permit murals placed on private property during the ban. The Time/Place/Manner Permit ordinance would allow “hand-produced works of visual art”–painted by hand or tiled would allow for creating the opportunity for new murals across the city and dismiss art as a crime.

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At least 283 people have been killed in Thailand by unseasonably wet weather affecting two million people and forcing more than 40,000 people to flee their homes. Thailand is witnessing the worst flooding in half a century – submerging cities, industrial parks and ancient temples as it comes.

According to Save The Children, an estimate of up to 500,000 young people may have been affected by the disaster while thousands of roads and bridges and hundreds of buildings have been damaged and swathes of land remain swamped by flood waters. The Thai cabinet has allocated 6.13bn Baht to help flood victims.

According to the public health ministry, Nakhon Si Thammarat is the worst affected area where one person is missing. Australian Ben Garden, who flew into Koh Samui for a friend’s wedding on Friday, described the situation as “scary and dire.”

According to Smith Dhamasarojana, a former director-general of Thailand’s Meteorological department, authorities in Thailand did not release enough water from the dams earlier this year because they feared water shortages in the dry season. According to him, authorities miscalculated the amount of rainfall and they also failed to manage the water.

The monsoon season this year has brought disaster to Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam well as Thailand. Thousands of people have been displaced as typhoons have literally battered the country to pieces. Thousands of tourists have been stranded as trains to the region have been canceled and three airports have been shut.

Many Australians are among more than 15,000 tourists trapped on holiday islands after the storms and floods hit southern Thailand. A tourist association spokesman said that about 13,000 tourists have been trapped on Koh Samui alone, and that they have advised tourist to stay in hotels and not to travel to the airport until the situation returns to normal.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who visited the area, ordered the evacuation of everyone living in the region. The Thailand Government said it was deploying its only air craft carrier to rescue 1000 people stranded in the region. Economic toll of these floods can’t be easily valued precisely at the moment, but according to reports, floods have already inundated many industrial parks and manufacturing centers.

In areas where flood water have breached walls of industrial estates, Honda and Toyota industry has been forced to shut down their assembly plants. Economist fear that Thailand’s most severe floods in decades may cost the country up to $5 billion and may reduce its Gross Domestic Product by about one percent.

Thor Jorgen Udvang / Shutterstock.com

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The United States Embassy cable released by WikiLeaks reveals United Nations peacekeepers engaging in sexual misconduct with underage girls in Ivory Coast. Written in January 2010, the cable highlights the inappropriate actions of Beninese peacekeepers located in the poverty ridden western town of Toulepleu.

According to the cable, parents encouraged their daughters to sleep with the peacekeepers so they would provide for them. In 2009, Save The Children U.K., an aid organization, conducted a poll of 10 girls in Toulepleu.

“Eight of the 10 said they had ongoing sexual relationships with Beninese soldiers in exchange for food or lodging,” the diplomat wrote in the cable, citing information shared with the embassy by a protection officer. Hamadoun Toure, U.N. mission spokesman, said the UN is concerned about the allegations and are taking the matter seriously.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy. We are here to protect the population, not engage in such things,” Toure said. The mission released an official statement on Thursday night concerning the misconduct. It stated said that authorities have formed a campaign with the soldiers to deal with what appears to be an ongoing problem. He said UN officials have traveled to the west on a “fact-finding mission.”

After receiving the reports two weeks ago, the Ivory Coast mission informed UN Headquarters, the Ivorian government and the home countries of the accused soldiers, according to the statement. The UN declined to mention the soldiers’ countries, citing confidentiality. Toure said any guilty soldiers would face repatriation and punishment from the judicial system in their own countries.

Earlier last week, UN spokesman Michel Bonnardeaux confirmed that 16 Beninese peacekeepers, 10 of which were commanders, engaged in sexual misconduct. According to the Associated Press, Bonnardeaux said that authorities “failed to maintain an environment that prevents sexual exploitation and abuse.” 

Bonnardeaux added that 42 allegations of sexual abuse by UN staff in Ivory Coast have been reported since 2007. Sixteen of these cases involved minors. According to UN records, no new incidents have been reported this year. “If these allegations are founded, it would be the responsibility of the countries from which these peacekeepers come to take appropriate action against those involved,” the UN said in a statement.

Sexual misconduct by UN troops has been reported in a number of countries including Congo, Cambodia and Haiti. New abuse allegations against UN peacemakers in Haiti came to light on Friday. 

According to an Al Jazeera article written Saturday, peacekeepers in Haiti face allegations of sexual abuse. The UN is investigating accusations that Uruguayan soldiers serving with the world body’s peacekeeping force in Haiti sexually assaulted an 18-year old man. Footage of the incident was captured by a mobile phone and was circulated throughout the country.

“We’re aware of this alleged incident. As soon as it was brought to our attention we immediately launched an internal investigation,” said Eliana Nabaa, spokeswoman for the UN’s Haiti peacekeeping mission, said on Friday. Nabaa echoed a message very similar to Toure’s remarks on the abuse in the Ivory Coast. 

“We have a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and abuse and we take it extremely seriously. If the allegations are proved, the soldiers must be brought to justice,” Nabaa said. A Haitian magistrate told the Agence France-Presse on Friday that he had turned the case over to prosecutors after viewing the evidence.

The alleged victim and his parents gave depositions in a courthouse in Port Salut, the southern seaside town where the attack is said to have occurred. The Haitian magistrate added that he was also investigating allegations of sexual relations between Uruguayan peacekeepers and young Haitian females who had become pregnant.

Bonnardeaux said the troops involved in the alleged incident in Haiti have been confined to their barracks while the investigation is conducted.

homeros / Shutterstock.com

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Meanwhile the world’s attention is captured by the events of the Northern part of Africa in the last weeks in Ivory Coast there is a real humanitarian emergency. Since the elections of November 2010 the country is torn by the political instability and the conflicts among the “two presidents” supporters.

Thousands of refugees and hundreds of dead have been estimated in the last months by the humanitarian organizations which are working in the country to help the population and try to keep the peace and avoid another civil war.

The UNHCR has reported that the situation is getting worse every day and that the clashes and the violence are increasing dangerously.

The presidential election in November showed the loss of the president Laurent Gbagbo, in favor of his rival Alassane Ouattara. The results have been contested by Gbagbo who refused to hand power to Ouattara, declaring the elections’ results were not valid. The victory of Ouattara has been internationally recognized by most countries and the United Nations, which see him as the Ivory Coast’s president in office.

This event has led to a situation of strong tension and to the rise of violent clashes among the population. In this civil war climate the population is fleeing the country for taking refuge in the nearest countries, especially in Liberia, where already 20.000 people are escaped there.

According to Save the Children the half of the refugees are children. Numerous are the non-governmental organizations (NGO) that report a difficult situation which is getting constantly worse in these weeks. The fear of a new civil war – after that of 2004- is strong.

The president Alassane Ouattara declared: “my country is on the brink of genocide”. It seems that peaceful demonstrations of the president’s supporters in the Abobo neighbourhood, a suburb of the city of Abidjan, were put down with bloodshed by the forces loyal to Gbagbo. The protesters have been attacked with tank fire and at least seven women were killed and 110 people wounded.

UN refugee agency spokesman Jacques Franquin said: “The situation is deteriorating rapidly. Certain areas of Abidjan are truly in a situation of war with the population fleeing. The situation is making it impossible to reach people who are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.”

“Today I will reiterate it to the genocide in the making. They are killing people along ethnic lines. They are killing foreign nationals from foreign countries, from neighbouring countries. They are killing people who are opposed to Mr Gbagbo. That’s not acceptable. “These were the words of Yousoufou Bamba, Ivory Coast’s ambassador to the UN and Ouattara loyalist, who is calling for more international intervention and for the arrival of more peacekeepers in the country.

The UN Security Council is concerned about the situation and particularly about the attacks on the civilians. It has been estimated by the United Unions that at least 365 people have been killed since December, and about 200,000 people have been displaced by the bloodshed.

The world can’t stay in total indifference; this situation has to be faced up as soon as possible. Africa is still fighting to achieve a civil condition of life and the basic human rights but the West of the world too often forgets it.

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