Dear Editor,

Amnesty International has once again launched a campaign under the slogan: "Child soldier. They will throw him into the front lines, and if he dies, they'll go to a school and find another; and after that another". Jean-Charles, Guru missionary in Uganda, has explained that children are kidnapped and turned into authentic killing machines. For many years now, the terrorist group LRA conducts these kidnappings and reduces the children's mothers to sex slaves for the children's army.

Many young girls of South East Asia are often slaves of sexual trafficking. Anesvad Foundation has launched an advocacy campaign to save these innocent girls and train them to find a decent job.

According to the Pontifical Mission Societies, child exploitation rates are mind-boggling: there are 14 million homeless children as a result of AIDS. Out of the half of the 600 million poor people in the world, 130 million do not go to school, 180 million suffer from malnutrition, 250 million are exploited for labour, and one million are victims of sexual trafficking.

A child's image represents an adult's moral condition. A civilisation that fights against children is a world that has lost any type of hope. Allowing children to suffer poverty, abuse, beatings, and/or abandonment is a crime against humanity that will soon be judged by their own descendants.

Furthermore, it is estimated that 400 million child slaves are being exploited. Among these there are chained children forced into hard labour in agriculture, wells, mines, industries, and slavery. These children are estimated to be half a million. Moreover, about two million children are forced into being sexual objects.

Meanwhile, one out of seven children born in most poor countries is sentenced to die before reaching the age of five. About 250,000 children under five die each year. Most of these children die from lack of food and vital nutrients; a condition which weakens them, and makes them lose weight. These children are exposed to a high risk of catching infectious diseases. This burden of grief is prevalent in all countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Declaration of the Rights of the Child states that every child must enjoy the benefits of social security. Every child has a right to grow and develop in good health. It is therefore necessary for special care to be provided for children and mothers, such as pre- and post-natal care. Every child must enjoy appropriate nutrition, housing, recreation, and medical services.

Clemente Ferrer

Madrid, Spain

clementeferrer3@gmail.com