GENEVA, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - The collapse of Communism has led to a 'catastrophic' decline in access to education and widening inequalities in the former Soviet bloc, the United Nations Children's Fund warned Thursday.

More than 14 million children enter the workplace each year without any kind of formal education or school diploma, in contrast to the near-universal levels of education enjoyed in Soviet times, UNICEF said in a report.

GENEVA, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - At least 54 children have been recruited as soldiers by rival militias in Nord-Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

UNICEF is 'very concerned' about the renewed recruitment of child soldiers, with at least 54 children forcibly enlisted at Nyamalima on the Ugandan border according to aid workers on the ground, spokeswoman Veronique Taveau told journalists.

GENEVA, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - The UN children's fund on Monday called for pressure to be maintained to stop female circumcision in Egypt, where more than three quarters of 15 to 17 year-old girls are subjected to the practice.

UNICEF acknowledged progress by authorities in the country which has clamped down on the practice this year, but said the problem was still widespread.

BAGHDAD, Aug 12, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations children's agency called Sunday for Iraqi mothers to breastfeed their babies rather than resorting to infant formula that might spread waterborne diseases.

Iraq distributes formula free through its food rationing system and only one in four nursing mothers relies entirely on her own milk -- a situation that UNICEF's Iraq representaive Roger Wright described as a 'recipe for disaster'.