Archive for category: Child Poverty

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3 Organizations Fighting Child Poverty in Vietnam

Child Poverty in Vietnam
Although poverty has reduced in Vietnam, child poverty in Vietnam is still a key issue. Due to political reforms, Vietnam has enjoyed steady economic growth and poverty reduction over the past few decades. In fact, per the World Bank, Vietnam’s poverty rate has decreased from 50% in the 1950s to 2% as of 2019. Despite these recent gains, around 4 million Vietnamese children still live under the poverty line. In fact, 24% of Vietnamese children suffer from stunting due to malnutrition, while 10% are out of school. Ethnic minorities, especially those living in rural areas, are particularly high-risk for child poverty.

Today, many organizations are fighting child poverty in Vietnam decreases and children receive a happy, healthy start. Here are three nonprofits fighting child poverty in Vietnam.

Children of Vietnam

Founded in 1998, Children of Vietnam aims to utilize effective, personal strategies to lift children out of poverty. The organization focuses on serving particularly vulnerable youth. This includes those with disabilities, ethnic minorities and students at risk of dropping out of school.

The organization has several initiatives helping various groups impacted by child poverty in Vietnam, such as the Empowering Single Mothers Initiative. This initiative works to meet the immediate needs of single mothers and their children while simultaneously helping them develop important business and educational skills. The program involves microloans, training on micro-business and school scholarships for single mothers’ children. Another initiative is the Delivering Clean Water and Sanitation Initiative which operates by bringing large water filtration systems to schools and communities in rural areas. In 2021 alone, the nonprofit has provided 1 million meals to hungry children, 480 interventions to children with disabilities and 795 scholarships.

Save the Children

Save the Children began working in Vietnam in 1990. Since then, it has received the reputation of being one of the leading charities aiding those suffering from child poverty in Vietnam. Its main focus is on health and nutrition, in addition to providing assistance in the areas of education and livelihoods, child protection, disaster risk reduction and emergency response. The organization primarily operates by working in tandem with governmental agencies, schools and local networks to provide aid. In 2020, Save the Children was able to positively impact the lives of over 7 million children in Vietnam.

ChildFund

ChildFund partners with local organizations to support the education, health and long-term opportunities for ethnic minority children in Vietnam. When working with children aged 0-5, the program focuses on ensuring health, security and child-friendly learning corners in the home. The 6-14 age range centers on education and confidence building, with experiential learning training playing a key role. Programs for ages 15-24 are based on the principles of skillfulness and involvement and include participation in vocational training and securing employment. Through its sponsorship model, the program has benefited over 33,000 children and their families over the past 25 years.

Despite ongoing issues of childhood poverty, organizations such as Children of Vietnam, Save the Children and ChildFund are working to provide sustainable, community-based resources for those suffering from child poverty in Vietnam. As these initiatives continue to grow, the outlooks of impoverished children and families in Vietnam will grow alongside them.

– Nina Lehr
Photo: Flickr

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The Move to End Child Poverty in Nepal

Child Poverty in NepalChild poverty in Nepal is an issue that the country continues to struggle with. While the child poverty rate has decreased over the past few decades, it is still detrimental to the overall progress of the country. In combating this issue, it is important to understand the consequences that stem from living in poverty. Two of these consequences are high levels of malnutrition and child marriage.

Overview of Child Poverty in Nepal

While Nepal has seen improvements over the past few decades, the overall poverty rate remains high. The decline of the child poverty rate in the country has not matched the decline of the overall poverty rate. Between 1995 and 2006, there was an 11% decline in the overall poverty rate, yet the decline in child poverty in that time period was only 8%.

The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified this issue by weakening Nepal’s economy and forcing children to stay home. The lack of income for parents and the lack of schooling due to the pandemic has pushed millions of households into a precarious situation. It is estimated that nearly 10 million children in Nepal live in impoverished circumstances. The presence of COVID-19 exacerbates the already damaging effects of child poverty, including malnutrition and child marriage.

Malnutrition Among Nepali Children

Maintaining high nutritional standards for children is vital for a country. It ensures children will grow up to be healthy and productive adults, fully able to break cycles of poverty. Child poverty in Nepal is detrimental, in part, because it leads to high rates of malnutrition. Malnutrition may cause developmental issues and results in chronic health problems later in life. While Nepal has made progress in lowering malnutrition rates among children, it is still a cause for concern. In 2019, 43% of children under 5 years old were malnourished. Moreover, 36% of these children suffer from stunting and 10% of these children suffer from wasting.

The country’s high poverty rate exacerbates this issue because low-income families are unable to afford a nutritious diet for their children. As a result, malnutrition rates in Nepal are directly linked to poverty. According to USAID, “17% of children in the highest wealth quintile are stunted as compared to 49% of children in the lowest wealth quintile.” These statistics demonstrate how poverty impacts child mortality. Malnutrition causes the deaths of almost half of all children who perish before reaching the age of 5 years old.

Due to the impacts of child poverty and malnutrition, the government has set up initiatives to improve nutritional standards in the country. Since the 1990s, programs such as the Vitamin A campaign have launched in order to increase the consumption of certain nutrients. In 2004, Nepal implemented the National Nutrition Policy and Strategy, which focuses on the nutrition of women and children.

Child Marriage and its Relation to Poverty

Child poverty in Nepal also directly impacts the rates of child marriage in the country. Despite the fact that marriage before the age of 20 is illegal, 37% of girls are married before the age of 18. Girls who marry at a young age are at a higher risk of facing domestic violence. Human Rights Watch states, “A study across seven countries found that girls who married before the age of 15 were more likely to experience spousal abuse than women who married after 25.”

Additionally, early marriages are associated with lower levels of education. Strict gender roles in Nepal dictate that married girls are expected to be homemakers so girls who get married while still in school often do not finish their education. Early childbearing also has health consequences for these young women. Poverty is a primary reason child marriages persist in Nepal, despite efforts made by the government to stop the practice. Young girls in impoverished families are married off to ease the economic burden on the family. One less child to feed is sufficient justification for a family to allow a child marriage. Some of these girls even welcome child marriage because it means they will have food to eat.

Looking Ahead

At a 2014 “Girl Summit” in London, Nepal pledged to end child marriage by 2030 in accordance with the U.N. Sustainable Goal to end child marriage by 2030. The government of Nepal partnered to develop the National Strategy to End Child Marriage in order to meet this objective.

Child poverty in Nepal continues as a challenge for the country and impacts a wide range of topics. Malnutrition and child marriage are pertinent issues associated with child poverty. With a government commitment and help from organizations, child poverty in Nepal can be combated.

– Nikhil Khanal
Photo: Flickr

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The Reality of Child Poverty in Haiti

Child poverty in Haiti
Haiti, a small country that borders the Dominican Republic on the Hispaniola island, suffers greatly from poverty. Natural disasters, systemic inequality and diminishing economic opportunities create a dire state of extreme poverty. Specifically, child poverty in Haiti is the major poverty crisis.

More than half of Haiti’s 11.2 million population live on less than $3 a day, and malnutrition affects 65,000 children under 5 years old. Many children under 14 — more than a third of Haiti’s population — do not have ready access to health care, clean water, food security or the right to fair and decent work. The question stands: What does child poverty in Haiti look like today, and what obstacles persist in ending it?

It is easy to forget that statistics reflect the experience of real, living people. Please keep this in mind. Considering this, here are five facts about child poverty in Haiti.

The Statistical Perspective

  1.  Malnutrition: Caloric and nutritive malnutrition affect nearly a third of children in Haiti. Out of every five children, one child is malnourished and one out of 10 is acutely malnourished. Before the age of five, one child out of 14 will die. Those who live deal with the effects of inadequate food supplies. Poor access to vital nutrients means that children are subject to poor health, growth and development.
  2. Education: Despite Haiti’s free publication education, only half of the elementary-aged children are enrolled in school. Millions of disadvantaged parents have very few with little resources to secure education for their children. This is a result of Haiti privatizing 92% of schools.
  3.  Labor and Human Trafficking: Nearly half a million children are orphans in Haiti. A significant proportion of these “lost” children experience exploitation for labor in dangerous conditions. “Host households” take in children whose families cannot provide for them. Many of these children — known colloquially as “restaveks” — end up as victims of human trafficking.
  4.  Health Care: Adequate health care is hard to come by in Haiti. Child immunization has stagnated at 41%. The proportion of children who die before their first birthday has risen by 2% in the last year – from 57% to 59%. HIV, tuberculosis and a variety of other chronic, crippling diseases ail an estimated 20,000 children in Haiti, and treatment is increasingly difficult to obtain.

COVID-19

Haiti is particularly prone to natural disasters, in large part due to its geographical situation in Bermuda. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake ravaged the island of Hispaniola in 2010. A slew of tropical storms, hurricanes and additional earthquakes further compromised Haiti. Nearly 10 years later, Haiti still struggles with recovering from its 2010 earthquake and hurricane Matthew alongside dealing with recent social unrest and COVID-19.

Humanitarian aid efforts are nearing an all-time high for the country, but the efficacy of these programs and endeavors has been questioned. The threats of COVID-19 are not the only ones Haiti must face. The future is increasingly uncertain for millions of Haitians and their children, due to equipment shortages, lack of qualified health care professionals and a worsening economic climate.

Solutions

UNICEF has been implementing relief efforts to provide aid in the aftermath of earthquakes. Additionally, it has helped improve sanitation, nutrition and health care for children. However, if one would like to aid Haiti themselves, for free, they can create momentum on social media to raise awareness about the dire situation in Haiti. A number of ways exist to combat child poverty in Haiti; it just takes action.

– Henry Comes-Pritchett
Photo: Flickr

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Reducing Child Poverty in Kyrgyzstan 

Child Poverty in Kyrgyzstan 
In 2015, child poverty in Kyrgyzstan was significant with about 32.1 percent of those in poverty being children. Although the number is high, the Central Asian country reduced the child poverty rate from 39.9 percent in 2006. Kyrgyzstan focused its efforts on reducing the overall poverty rate through social programs as the country developed economically after independence in the early 1990s. Despite the overall poverty rate dropping from 40 percent in 2006 to 25 percent in 2017, child poverty remains high. The negative effects of poverty, such as lack of education, clean drinking water and balanced nutrition, lead to a harsh life for children and the families that care for them.

Reasons for Child Poverty

Unemployment of parents is one of the main reasons for child poverty in Kyrgyzstan. The lack of sufficient income affects children in many ways. Health care and education might have to be cut if the parent or parents are in dire circumstances. Having one working parent reduces the risk of child poverty from 53.5 percent to 40 percent. Household size also increases the risk of child poverty. About 42 percent of children in poverty live in houses that contain four or more children. Similar to adult poverty, child poverty is mainly in rural areas. About 78 percent of poor children live in rural regions. Poverty among rural regions varies widely as well. Child poverty is 6.8 percent in Bishkek, 56 percent in Osh Province and 57.1 percent in Jalalabad Province. In these two regions, large families contribute to high poverty. The average household in these two regions has 2.9 children.

Solutions

A social passport system, in use since the early 2000s, is one direct way that Kyrgyzstan is fighting child poverty. The Unified Monthly Benefits includes discounts on heating, gas and hot water charges. In 2002, 92 percent of poor families had social passports.

As part of the Family and Children Support project, Every Child assists the most vulnerable families seeking help. The project included cultivating access and information to health and education services and recalculating social benefits. In 2018, Kyrgyzstan’s National Healthcare Reform Programme reached completion. The results were on par with the Sustainable Development Goals relating to the key indicators for health. Children’s under-five mortality rate reduced from 33 percent in 2000 to 21 percent in 2015.

Ending Child Poverty

Child poverty reduced from 65 percent in 2002 to 32 percent in 2013, yet further assistance by NGOs and the government is needed to bring long-term changes to reduce it in Kyrgyzstan. Rural regions such as Osh Province and Jalalabad Province still have high rates that need addressing. Without sufficient income, families, especially large families, have difficulty providing proper healthcare and education to their children. Unified Monthly Benefits have helped grant families assistance to an array of benefits. Thanks to social programs, child poverty in Kyrgyzstan is being addressed, yet more work needs to occur to completely eliminate child poverty. With further progress, and based on the massive reduction in child poverty from 2002 to 2013, the country could end child poverty within the next 10 years.

– Lucas Schmidt
Photo: Flickr

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Gaming For Good: Changing Lives Through Gaming

The video game industry is a $10.5 billion per year industry. With the level of financial power held by this form of entertainment, there is a great opportunity for gaming to become a major force for good. Gaming For Good is an organization that seeks to fulfill this opportunity. The organization encourages players to purchase “points” through donations made to charitable efforts by Save the Children International. These points can then be spent on games such as Psychonauts, Splice and Worms Revolution.

Gaming for Good was founded by Bachir Boumaaza, better known by his online nickname “Athene.” Athene has been described within gaming media as “the best gamer in the world,” and holds records ranging from the first to reach level 60 in Diablo III to the most hands of online poker played in one month. This organization is a way for the online celebrity to take what is clearly more than a hobby for him and use it to make a difference.

This method is working incredibly well. Along with partnering with major gaming media such as Twitch TV, the site won a Webby Award in 2013. More importantly, the charity has been an absolute powerhouse in terms of fundraising. In 2013, the organization reached $10 million in donations. The organization’s recent support of charity efforts in Nepal came with a request of $200,000. It raised over $805,000 for relief in Nepal thus far.

Everybody has a hobby. For some it is collecting, for others painting and, for many, that hobby is gaming. With gaming being such a successful industry, this organization does something amazing by mobilizing that success to promote change in the developing world.

Gaming for Good can be visited here.

– Andrew Michaels

Sources: Polygon, Kotaku 1, Kotaku, Save the Children , Webby Awards, Save the Children
Photo: Dual Shockers