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SEPTEMBER 2004

Mission Possible:
Helping Children Around the World
by Patrick Schoof

Youth Advocate Program (YAP) International provides voice and visibility to the most vulnerable children worldwide, and has for the past decade. Its formal mission is to "promote and protect the rights and well-being of the world's youth, giving particular attention to children victimized by conflict, exploitation, and state and personal violence".

Specifically, it focuses on issues such as preventing and eliminating the worst forms of child labor, the use of children in armed conflict, commercial sexual exploitation of children, and incarceration of children as adults. YAP International also works to protect and ensure rights and services for children affected by war, exploitation, homelessness, statelessness, discrimination, HIV/AIDS, and for refugee and internally-displaced children.

In order to develop sound strategies and policy, YAP International serves on numerous national and international child rights and protection committees. Its research work combined with its committee and advocacy work, continually improves the ability of the organization to make a more meaningful contribution to awareness campaigns, education programs, training, and policy development.

YAP International's broad-based knowledge on a wide range of atrocities facing children today, and its ability to bring to the table informed perspective and insight to aid children, is one of its greatest strengths.  It is also the reason why the organization has been asked to provide consultation to a wide range of constituencies from government, to teachers, to reporters, to talk shows.

In its ten year history, the organization has produced nine books, numerous resources papers, a new resource website, a series of curriculum modules, and is in the process of gathering research for several new publications and developing new projects with international partners. Youth Advocate Program International helps to ensure the public, policy-makers, and media are educated on these issues so these issues will move to center stage where long-term, positive change can occur. Therefore, its organization's work is critical in preventing these atrocities; in protecting children currently affected and those at-risk; and, in ensuring victimization, exploitation, and violence does not extend to future generations.

You can make a difference by becoming more informed, and informing those around you, in this case, educators, administrators, and students. YAP International even has the tools to make this easy at our website: www.yapi.org

Patrick Schoof is the Executive Director of YAP International, and has worked on issues affecting children and youth for twenty years. He advises policy-makers and the media, and serves on a dozen national and international child rights and protection committees.

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