(The image states:  I (HEART) RAEDNIG – 42 million Americans are functionally illiterate. Join Jumpstart in the fight against illiteracy.)

There are many initiatives to boost people’s ability to read and write, as the right to education and attain the skills to read and write are still not being fulfilled for many people. A particularly striking campaign is underway in the United States, where jumpstart is using the famous “I love New York” icon to highlight the need to ensure that everyone has a chance to learn to read and write:

(The image states: I (HEART) NWE YROK – 22% of New Yorkers can’t read. Join Jumpstart in the fight against illiteracy.)

The Child Rights Convention is the only UN human rights treaty with almost universal ratification – save the USA and Somalia. As the AP reports, representatives in the US House are staging opposition to the possibility of ratification, citing the potential “erosion” of parental rights.

“A child’s ‘right to be heard’ would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed”; and “Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion,” Representative Hoekstra is said to fear.

The economic crisis is starting to show its ugly face pretty much everywhere. One indicator reported by the WP: the cases of child neglect in the District of Columbia area have gone up significantly. In some cases as much as 150% compared to autumn 2007.

The crisis in Zimbabwe is going from really bad to worse. The NYTimes reports with this picture of children picking up corn that a passing truck had lost: