Barbie clothes maker accused over child labour
A Mexican factory making costumes for Barbie dolls is alleged to have employed children as young. US toy manufacturer Mattel denies the allegations saying if it did not want to adhere to labour laws in Mexico, it would follow the move of many other garment operations to Asia where cheaper labour is available. Financial Times UK

Ugandan children flee at night
The United Nations says up to 40,000 children are leaving their village homes in northern Uganda at night to avoid being abducted and forced into fighting. About 20,000 children have been abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army and a recent surge in fighting in the north of the country has seen an increase in the number fof children fleeing their homes. ABC

Geldof criticises rich leaders
Activist and rock star, Bob Geldof, has told leaders of the world's wealthiest nations that they are not welcome in Britain unless they do more to end world poverty. Geldof attacked the lack of progress being made towards the Millennium Development Goals, saying the fate of the developing world lay in the hands of the G8 - the world's seven wealthiest nations plus Russia. Guardian

EU to boost development aid
The 25 nations of the European Union have agreed to increase development aid by 20 billion euros. The EU has agreed to fix a development aid budget of 0.56% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2010 and reach the UN Millennium Development Goal target of 0.7% of GDP by 2015. Australian Financial Review

Aid budget boost welcomed
An increase of nearly 12% in Australia's aid budget has been welcomed by the Australian Council for International Development. The Council also welcomed the government's development of a White Paper as an important opportunity to consider the best ways to achieve sustainable development and the reduction of poverty. ACFID

World of plenty: A Report
Humans are consuming more food, material goods and natural resources than ever before, leading to a rise in environmental problems and leaving the poor further behind. A new report reveals that while world food production rose in 2004, the number of hungry people also increased for the first time since the 1970s. Inter Press Service

Torture must be outlawed for civilised society to prevail
"Society will be judged by its respect for all people, by the rules we set and by which we seek to live. The strongest argument of all against torture is our knowledge that it is wrong and must be outlawed if a decent civil society is to prevail." Malcolm Fraser The Age

MAGIC!
This UNICEF initiative encourages children from all over the globe to make media, in a bid to see media play a more positive part in children's lives. There's a database of media projects by kids and a link to the One Minutes Jnr, a series of one minute films made by young people.
www.unicef.org/magic/

Storyline Australia: Iraq, My Country – An exile's return to Samawa
Australian filmmaker Hadi Mahood, returns to his hoetown in southern Iraq, fourteen years after he left. Mahood discovers a city struggling to rebuild and a people trying to overcome the effects of both Saddam Hussein's regime and the ‘war of liberation'.

SBS TV - Thursday June 9th, 2005 8.30pm

Labour of Love
"Dear Lord,
Please help me to not want everything I see, but to see everything I need...
Please help me to be the change in the world I want to see." Partner