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Child slave labor thrives in Haiti today. An estimated quarter of a million Haitian children work as slave laborers, an issue largely forgotten amid the sea of incomprehensible tragedies in Haiti.

These children are known as “restaveks”, a Haitian Creole word that means “stays with”. Many impoverished families in rural parts of Haiti send their children away to stay with, or more accurately “work for” families in urban areas of Haiti.

The majority of these children are female and undocumented. Many are raped, assaulted and subjected to abysmal working conditions without pay.

The Pan American Development Foundation recently completed the most comprehensive on-the-ground evaluation of the status of restaveks in Haiti. You can read the entire report here (large pdf).

There are undoubtedly many problems in Haiti today. Years of natural disasters and corruption have taken much from those who have very little. The future of Haiti will come from its children and those who seek to protect them.

The following two organizations are working to protect and educate the restaveks of Haiti. 

The odds are stacked against the youth of Yemen. A prosperous future looks bleak when 46% of its exploding population are below the age of 15 and employment opportunities are scarce with 35% unemployed.

Yemen has rocketed to the center stage of world affairs when a suspect with Yemeni ties attempted to detonate a bomb on a Detroit-bound flight.

The dismal economic and political conditions in Yemen make it fertile ground for terrorist groups. A policy debate has erupted in the US regarding the future of Yemen and the responses needed to assure that Yemen is not used to train future terrorists.

Governments around the world will continue to discuss financial aide options for the government of Yemen. One low-cost, yet effective form of aide, comes from sponsoring cultural programs in Yemen.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are among the most difficult countries in the world to be a woman. Afghan women face draconian legislation that permits husbands to deny their wives sustenance if they disobey sexual demands while Pakistani school girls face brutal acid attacks in their quest to get an education.

Forced marriages, many for the exchange of money or services, highlight the absence of basic civil rights for many of these women. Two recent events, one in Pakistan and the other in Afghanistan, demonstrate the depths of their plague.

In December a Pakistani newspaper wrote about a 20 year old woman who was sold at a public auction. The bidding started at $589 and she was sold to a 50 year old man for the final price of $3,185.

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times highlighted the story of a young Afghan girl sold by her brothers for $20,000 to an older cousin.