XUNICEF News and Views

Within the space of two days this week, US juries in two separate states delivered verdicts that together mark a watershed in the legal protection of children from social media harm. The New Mexico jury's $375 million ruling against Meta was followed within 24 hours by a California jury finding both Meta and Google's YouTube negligent.  With TikTok and Snap having already settled out of court, all four of the dominant social media platforms consumed by children now face legal accountability in the United States — a precedent with implications far beyond these cases.  Potentially hundreds more such cases may now go forward seeking huge settlements or fines against social media.  Tom

This verdict is more than a legal milestone for children and families in the US — it is the first formal acknowledgement by a US jury that a social media giant knowingly put profit ahead of child safety, and that such a choice carries consequences. With more than 40 state attorneys general pursuing similar claims, the New Mexico verdict transforms what was once a argument about the reputation of Meta and other online giants into a legal one: that tech platforms cannot hide behind Section 230 when their own algorithms are the instrument of harm.  Tom

Shared by Baquer Namazi The Advocacy Resource Pack has been updated to reflect the latest developments on the Humanitarian Reset. View this email in your browser ...

Shared by Victor Karunan Greetings from Bangkok. In case you have not seen this recent report on funding for child protection in humanitarian action. Victor Karunan From the Esecutive Summary Child protection needs and funding requirements continued to rise in 2023, with total child protection requirements across all UN-coordinated appeals reaching $1.5 billion. However, child protection only accounted for 2.5% of total HRP requirements, indicating significant underfunding. While child protection funding has increased, it remains disproportionately underfunded compared to other humanitarian sectors. The recommendations emphasize the importance of prioritizing child protection in humanitarian responses by integrating it into all planning, advocacy, and resource mobilization efforts. Humanitarian leadership should ensure that child protection is recognized as a life-saving priority and is adequately funded across all sectors. Additionally, there is a call for enhancing support for loca...

UNICEF's goal for institutionalized children in Europe is to reduce the current numbers of institutionalized children in Europe to zero by 2030.  At the present time some 337,287 European children are growing up in residential care institutions.  

  Article shared by Robert Cohen When should we think of children as young people with agency vs potential victims of abuse?

  Over 100 experts condemn UN International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour The UN has declared 2021 the International Year for the Elimination of Child labour in direct support of Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which stipulates that child labour in all its forms is to be eliminated by 2025. In response, over 100 experts (academics, practitioners, and working children themselves) have signed an open letter calling for more evidence based approaches to child labour, instead of pursuing this highly unrealistic and potentially harmful global goal. Following the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) own global estimates on child labour, even in a pre-COVID world this goal was entirely unrealistic. Currently, there is a great danger that working children’s precarious situations can be further damaged by well-intentioned, but ineffective and potentially counterproductive pre-COVID-19 norms. Removing children from work is no help if this d...

SRSG Gamba with children ©OSRSG-CAAC Good News from South Sudan, Warm Wishes, Rima South Sudan: Grave Violations Against Children Declined Following Revitalized Peace Agreement and UN Engagement with Parties, But More Remains to Be Done Third Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in South Sudan New York, 11 January 2021 – Encouraging signs of progress are reflected in the third report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in South Sudan released today. Covering a period of nearly two years (July 2018 – June 2020), the report highlights the significant decrease of violations against children since the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) in September 2018. Nevertheless, the situation remains concerning and numerous challenges still need to be addressed for the protection of children affected by the ongoing conflict. Grave violations against children continue to be comm...