Sir, - Recent events in Belfast, New York and Washington will remain etched on the memories of so many people, particularly the children.
On the Late Late Show recently, Father Aidan Troy told of a young child coming up to him to say: "You stayed with us in our time of need." A child taken from a crΩche in New York on September 11th asked if the end of the world had come. In Afghanistan now and in coming weeks children there may be facing that prospect. How many of us adults are failing them?
There are estimated to be more than 300,000 children of both sexes under the age of 18 fighting in 36 conflicts around the world. Many of these children are recruited by force.
More than 10 million children under five years of age die every year from preventable diseases and malnutrition. Forty per cent of all children in developing countries (between 600 and 700 million) struggle to survive on less than a dollar a day.
Every 50 seconds a child dies of an AIDS-related illness and another becomes infected by HIV. Some 1.4 million children worldwide are living with HIV. Many of them in developing countries are the main carers of their dying parents.
Worldwide, 100 million children are not attending school and one third of all children do not complete five years of schooling, the minimum required for basic literacy.
If we could see the world through the eyes of a child, I have no doubt we would be a more humane, caring, compassionate society. There would be so much more hope for the future.
Many children in anonymity are the unsung heroes of modern times. We, as adults, could learn so much from them. - Yours, etc.,
Rosaleen Maguire, Irish Association of Social Workers, Pearse Street, Dublin 2.