In September, an extraordinary special session of the United Nations will discuss recent efforts to stop the global exploitation of children. Millions of children are kidnapped and used as soldiers or sold into sexual bondage or forced labor. Twenty million live on the streets of Third World cities, and tens of millions suffer or die because of malnutrition or are orphaned by AIDS. A preliminary U.N. analysis reports “net progress” in many areas but also “setbacks, slippage and real retrogression” in others, including a 30 percent cut in foreign aid from developed countries. Meanwhile, some U.S. lawmakers say the United States should ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, but conservatives oppose it as anti-family. And many child advocates want the United States to commit more money to the U.N.'s AIDS war chest.

Brian Hansen, a freelance writer in Boulder, Colo., specializes in educational and environmental issues. He previously was a staff writer for The Researcher and a reporter for the Colorado Daily in Boulder and Environment News Service in Washington. His awards include the Scripps Howard Foundation award for public service reporting and the Education Writers Association award for investigative reporting. He holds a B.A. in political science and an M.A. in education from the University of Colorado.