Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Justice Systems in Africa: Training New Lawyers

Justice Systems in Africa
Flaws exist within criminal justice systems all over the world. Several justice systems in Africa have a design to ensure speedy and fair trials for defendants, but some are lacking. Furthermore, while several African governments take on the responsibility of providing adequate legal representation for defendants, some do not meet these standards. Many criminal justice systems in Africa lack quality legal aid due to increasing levels of illiteracy, corruption and poverty. Defendants with proper legal aid have a fighting chance in court.

Justice Defenders

Justice Defenders is a nonprofit that works within four African countries to provide prisoners with skills to defend themselves in court. This organization recognizes that the justice systems in Africa are suffering and aims to transform the lives of people who struggle within it.

Alexander Mclean educated prison communities about the law in Uganda. As a result, he founded Justice Defenders in 2007. This organization currently consists of over 350 workers across over 40 prisons in Africa. England and Wales recognized the organization as a charity. The United States recognizes it as a nonprofit as well. Recently, its impact has captured a lot of positive media attention.

Many other organizations aim to provide defendants with access to more lawyers. However, Justice Defenders works to train new lawyers who are living within the system. The organization believes that defendants have the ability to improve the justice system in Africa from the inside. The Defenders’ model has three core values: education, training and practice. Additionally, the organization partners with top law schools to train prisoners as lawyers and prison staff as paralegals. Furthermore, it runs clinics and offers free aid for those who would not have access otherwise.

Success Story

Morris Kaberia was a Kenyan police officer when he experienced imprisonment under robbery charges. However, he spent nine years waiting for his trial and in 2013, he received the death sentence. Fortunately, after meeting with members of Justice Defenders, he successfully appealed his case and effectively represented himself in court. Kaberia spent 13 years in prison before his release in 2018. Later, Kaberia studied law at the University of London and is currently representing other prisoners in Africa.

Justice Defenders have successfully served over 30,000 imprisoned clients and have trained over 300 paralegals in over 40 prisons in Uganda and Kenya. Furthermore, it has overturned over 150 sentences and has sent over 15,000 prisoners home to their families. This organization partners with the University of London and 91% of students pass courses offered. The organization’s website tracks and records many success stories of prisoners and students.

While there are still many flaws within justice systems in Africa, organizations such as Justice Defenders are positively instilling change from within the system. Furthermore, Mclean hopes to impact at least 1 million African prisoners within 10 years.

– Grace Wang
Photo: Flickr

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Women’s Education in India: What You Need to Know

Women’s Education in India, What You Need to KnowIn the fight against global poverty, women’s education in India is overlooked as a stimulant of change. Similarly, gender equality is a significant issue that prevails in India today. As a result of the country’s patriarchal structure, women continue to struggle to gain equal opportunities for success.

Women’s Rights in India

Throughout India’s long history, patriarchal and religious practices have greatly affected women’s rights. Misogynistic practices and ideas limit educational opportunities for women. Consequently, the reassertion of harmful gender roles is prevalent. 23 million girls drop out of school every year because communities are unwilling to provide proper feminine sanitation. This lack of women’s education hinders India’s economic and social growth.

Women also often take up domestic, unpaid labor because employers feel they are unqualified for employment. On average, women work six hours of unpaid domestic labor per day while men work 30 minutes of unpaid labor. This discrepancy severely limits women’s educational opportunities and ability to obtain employment. It also reinforces the belief that women are unable to provide for themselves and cannot actively contribute to the economy.

Women’s Education in India

Having equal access to education is crucial to alleviating poverty. According to the World Bank, countries with limited educational opportunities for women lose $15-$30 trillion in predicted lifetime earnings. Providing education for women helps strengthen female autonomy and allows them to contribute to the national economy.

Furthermore, educated women are less likely to marry young. According to The Tribune, women’s education could lead up to 60% fewer women getting pregnant under the age of 17. Educated women also have more opportunities to achieve higher socioeconomic status due to increased career avenues. By educating women and promoting gender equality, women are able to more confidently enter the workforce. Education is considered to be one of the best catalysts for sustainable growth within any country.

3 Organizations Promoting Women’s Education

Many organizations, including Pratham, Girl’s Who Code and Educate Girls Bond are fighting against global poverty by emphasizing the importance of gender equality and women’s education in India.

  1. Pratham: Founded in 1995, Pratham is an organization designed to improve education for children in Mumbai. Since then, it has grown in size and effectiveness. The organization seeks to provide necessary resources to educators in India, increasing the quality of education. Pratham has become well-established within the country’s educational system as an organization that developed testing programs for state governments and local communities. Pratham focuses on the implementation of grassroots initiatives and sustainable growth within local communities to educate children who are not receiving an adequate education. The organization makes yearly reports public for people to track their progress. In the year 2018, Pratham improved gender equality and education for 15.7 million children in India.
  2. Girls Who Code: Girls Who Code is an international organization that aims to provide opportunities for women to learn about and obtain specialized skills in computer science. Though the organization functions in many countries, its Indian branch is one of the most successful. After-school clubs and summer immersion programs are able to teach young girls valuable technical skills in a short period of time. Today, women hold only 26% of computer science employment positions. Girls Who Code acknowledges this and works to provide education for women to thrive in this field. The organization also provides scholarships to recognize students who excel in the programs. As of 2019, the organization has provided education for 300,000 girls at their camps.
  3. Educate Girls Bond: Educate Girls Bond is a Development Impact Bond that utilizes finances from independent investors to create new opportunities for girls’ education. As a part of this goal, the organization has created 166 schools in Rajasthan, North India. Educate Girls tackles gender inequality by addressing it as a social problem and showing its positive, social impact. The organization promotes gender equality by providing education for young girls throughout India. In just the first year, 44% of the targeted girls successfully enrolled in schools. This compels independent investors to continue their financial support while also attracting new investors to take part in this positive change.

Women’s education in India is often overlooked in the fight against poverty. However, promoting gender equality and providing equal access to education empowers women and boosts their socioeconomic status. Today, more women in India are able to contribute to the economy in ways that fight against poverty.

– Stella Vallon
Photo: Flickr

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Education in India During COVID-19

Education in India
Schools in India shut down in March 2020 due to COVID-19. While a lot of schools transitioned into online curriculums, many were unable to make this infrastructural shift. More than half of India’s population lives in rural areas. Furthermore, only 15% of rural households have access to the internet. The pandemic has put a spotlight on the digital divide within the country. NGOs, foundations and other social enterprises have become key to improving education in India.

Sampark

Sampark Foundation has reached more than 10 million children in six states throughout India. It focuses on education equality, providing low-cost educational services in order to broaden its reach. Sampark Smart Shala uses innovations such as board games, mobile applications and rechargeable audio devices to keep students engaged in lessons. These innovations specifically cater to students in rural areas.

Sampark’s COVID-19 response utilizes the national television channel Doordarshan and language-friendly apps to share quizzes and improve education in India. Furthermore, this organization posts ideas on a crowdsourced platform called Baithak for teachers to use. Teachers are also encouraged to keep in touch with their pupils.

Recently, Sampark has launched a program called Har Ghar Science STEM for Girls. This program’s goal is to establish science labs in rural schools and adopt an ascending approach to educating girls. As a result, education in India continues to evolve positively within rural communities.

Pratham

Pratham is an NGO based in Mumbai. Its goal is to bridge the gap in the Indian education system by implementing high-quality, low-cost and replicable interventions. This organization’s programs have improved education in India tremendously. Additionally, Pratham aids the government in encouraging children to regularly attend school. The organization relies on parents, local communities, volunteers and state governments to create personalized models of learning.

Currently, Pratham is working to engage underprivileged children and improve education in India through new programs. Karona Thodi Masti Thodi Padhai (Do it: A Little Fun, A Little Study) is a new program developed to aid students during the COVID-19 pandemic. This program uses popular messaging services, radio and WhatsApp to check in with students virtually. This new aspect of learning prioritizes “fun” and “study” to motivate students during this stressful time.

Eklavya

Eklavya is an NGO that works in education resource centers in Madhya Pradesh. This organization focuses on helping impoverished children become self-sufficient learners. Eklavya has published several books on education, children’s literature and other resource material, believing that education should be based on curiosity and experiences to motivate students. This NGO aims to enhance education in India by focusing on rural areas. Eklavya trains eligible parents, siblings and local youth to teach at well-ventilated spaces within local, socially distanced locations. Additionally, it has established a mobile-library system that rotates between localities.

Vidya

Vidya is an NGO that has served 3.7 million people in major cities such as Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai. This organization aims to provide education on life-skills, vocations and mental and physical wellbeing. Vidya’s goal is to improve education equality throughout India.

In response to the pandemic, Vidya developed strategies to combat the effects of COVID-19 on education in India. The NGO divided its solutions into technology and organization-based approaches. Solutions include reorganized exam schedules, adjusted syllabi and increased planning for a teaching aid for the next academic year.

The technological divide has made it difficult for students living in impoverished areas to access education in India. However, Vidya has received donations for phones, laptops and other devices to improve access to education. It arranges for students to pick up these devices at their convenience.

Thinkzone

Thinkzone is a social enterprise that aims to improve educational outcomes for children living in vulnerable communities. It uses “tech plus touch” models to combat inequality in education. Similar to other organizations, Thinkzone uses community-based approaches. This organization’s COVID-19 response is rooted in home-based learning that relies on phone calls and SMS to interact with parents who have started teaching their children. Fortunately, automated calls and interactive voice response technologies are accessible in many different languages. These automated calls provide pre-recorded course material to improve education in India.

This organization also strives to train community educators and assess the needs of students for further improvement. Furthermore, Thinkzone has partnered with various organizations and the government to improve education in India. Its home-based initiative has successfully reached more than 10,000 children in India.

These organizations have taken significant steps to improve education in India and aid the government in creating a more sustainable way of learning. With improved access to technology, education equality will continue to improve long after the pandemic has ended.

– Anuja Mukherjee 
Photo: Flickr

The Response to STIs in Tanzania

STIs in Tanzania
In spite of medical advances, diseases continue to thrive in the world. Those affected suffer severe illness and even death in many cases. The most troublesome factor is that the majority of diseases are either curable or highly preventable. For example, STIs in Tanzania are prevalent but preventable.

History with Disease

Disease is not an altogether new issue within Tanzania. The African continent in particular has been host to a large percentage of notable diseases, such as malaria and Ebola. In fact, 94% of malaria cases worldwide occurred in Africa in 2019. Yet, when it comes to preventable diseases, most of the African continent has shown exceptional preparedness concerning preventable diseases in comparison to other countries.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Africa had some of the lowest case rates in the world, despite its large populace. Some have attributed this to Africa’s experience with multiple past outbreaks. Many African countries that the disease ravaged had become experts in preventative healthcare measures. The continent displayed a greater sense of governmental readiness, such as sanitation standards to dissuade future diseases. Other measures include “isolating the infected, tracing their contacts and getting them quarantine while they get tested.”

How STI Transmission is Different

Cases of death due to STIs is high. The WHO estimated that over 90,000 people died as a result of STIs in Africa in 2004. The majority of individuals who contract STIs in Tanzania are young; most individuals with STIs in Tanzania are between the ages of 15-22. The high youth population is one component of the high STI rates. Another is education.

Reports found that adolescents throughout sub-Saharan Africa used condoms infrequently and practiced other high-risk sexual behaviors. Chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea specifically have a reported prevalence of 0.4% to 5% in Tanzania. One can attribute this to the lack of educational awareness in Tanzania regarding safe sex and the effects of STIs in general. A study showed that less than 15% of children in secondary school had an effective knowledge basin regarding STI symptoms. Further, it reported that only 50% of males and less than 33% of females 15-30 years old possessed any effective knowledge concerning STI transmission.

Tanzania is not sitting idly by during this crisis. Rather, the country is tackling this issue multi-directionally.

Tanzania’s Fight Against STIs

In response, both NGOs and the government have been working to combat the high rate of STIs in Tanzania. NGOs have been focusing on educating people about this issue and have shown positive results. The African Youth Alliance program exemplifies this, which encourages protected sex for males and females. A study found that young people visited clinics and outreach services over 2.5 million times as a result of this program. The Tanzanian government is also striving to provide life-saving aid. Its proposed healthcare financial strategy focuses on combating HIV. The emphasis will be on increasing health insurance coverage and economic improvement overall.

The country still has a long way to go in fighting STIs in Tanzania. However, increasing education and governmental intervention are steps in the right direction. Improved public health and an economy not directed at disease control might be on the near horizon for Tanzania.

– Jacob Hurwitz
Photo: Flickr

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3 Standout Indonesian Youth Programs

Indonesian Youth Programs
Around 85 million children live in Indonesia, making up one-third of the country’s population. Children are necessary for their country’s future, and the education and opportunities they receive are what allow them to have that impact. That is why it is important for children to have programs and organizations that give them more opportunities and allows them to realize their full potential. Several Indonesian youth programs provide these opportunities to children in Indonesia. The Indonesia Youth Foundation, Indonesian Youth Opportunities in International Networking (IYOIN) and Indonesian Youth Diplomacy are prime examples of Indonesian youth programs that aid children in education, provide resources and give them outlets to channel their passions.

Indonesia Youth Foundation

The Indonesia Youth Foundation began on July 23, 2020, as a non-governmental organization. Its objectives include connecting the children of Indonesia and other global youth through a variety of youth activities, offering general knowledge about the country and taking part in world advancement and the development of youth.

One can track the organization’s Youth Empowerment program through a series of articles on the organization’s official website, each entry providing tips on subjects such as boosting productivity and caring for mental health. Also featured is information on education and tourism to provide a better understanding of Indonesia.

Indonesian Youth Opportunities in International Networking

Indonesian youths created IYOIN in 2015. Since then, the self-started Indonesian youth program has spread across several different regions in Indonesia, with 18 local chapters.

The purpose of this organization is to serve as a medium for children in Indonesia to congregate, share and work together to realize their values for the country. The opportunities that this program provides also aim to improve the Indonesian youths’ education and to ensure that the youth will have the qualifications to tackle their futures successfully.

IYOIN became a United Nations SDSN Youth Member in 2017, a program that works to guarantee education that is inclusive and equal for all, in addition to encouraging learning opportunities. IYOIN joined this program because these goals align with its own mission.

Indonesian Youth Diplomacy

Indonesian Youth Diplomacy is a nonprofit Indonesian youth program that promotes and provides international exposure and empowers the next generation of Indonesian leaders. Known initially as G20 Youth Indonesia, efforts to form the organization began in 2010. This process continued in 2011 when the Indonesian Organizing Committee emerged to recruit Indonesian youth interested in contributing to the annual G20 Youth Summit. Recognizing the necessity of involving Indonesian youth in diplomacy beyond what the G20 program provides, the organization updated in 2013. Now known as the Indonesian Youth Diplomacy, it sends Indonesia’s promising young leaders to represent the country in international forums to raise awareness of diplomacy.

Youth programs can offer multiple benefits to children. They provide youth with quality education, a chance to involve themselves in their community and learn essential life skills and create a healthy social environment. All three of the organizations give these opportunities to the children of Indonesia. These Indonesian youth programs are crucial to allow children to spread their wings and learn since the youth are the backbone of their country.

– Celia Brocker
Photo: Flickr

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Improving Education for Children in Cambodia

Education for Children in CambodiaAround 30% of the population in Cambodia lives below the poverty line. Poverty affects children significantly. More than 10% of children in Cambodia do not have access to education and roughly 44.8% (1.52 million) of children aged 5-14 are economically active. Organizations are working to improve access to education for children in Cambodia, especially those living in poverty.

The Prevalence of Child Labor in Cambodia

The reason child labor is so prevalent is that many Cambodian families cannot afford to send their children to school and are in desperate financial circumstances. The costs involved in sending children to school include textbooks, uniforms and transport which families cannot afford. In the rural areas of Siem Reap Province, many people live below the poverty line on less than a dollar each day. As a result, they have to choose between food or education for their children. This forces children to work instead of going to school so they can help support their families.

Lack of education along with insufficient nutrition leaves children developmentally behind. Education is a lifeline for children to rise out of poverty but some children simply cannot afford the luxury of learning.

Rebuilding School’s in Cambodia

Part of the problem is the lack of schools in Cambodia. In the rural areas, there are few schools. One can trace this back to when the Khmer Rouge took control in Cambodia in 1975. Not only did schools close but the buildings either underwent destruction or the government took them over for use.

Many Cambodian teachers and students lost their lives at this time as well because intellectuals posed a threat to the society the Khmer Rouge was trying to create. Roughly 75-90% of teachers, 96% of university students and 67% of all primary and secondary school students died in the massacre that lasted from 1975 to 1979.

Rebuilding has been an essential part of improving Cambodian children’s education, a process that continues to this day. In 2020, the Cambodia International Charity Organization, a Chinese-run NGO, constructed a two-classroom school building for Treap Primary School in a remote village. The school headmaster said the existing school building has been deteriorating, making it difficult for children to learn when it rains.

The Cambodian Children’s Fund

This nonprofit organization emerged in 2004 with the mission of “transforming the lives of the most impoverished, marginalized and neglected children in Cambodia through high-quality education, leadership training and direct support programs.” The Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) works on the ground directly with children who are the most affected by poverty most effects and its programs have positively impacted the education of many impoverished Cambodian children.

In 2019, 1,855 children enrolled in programs that the CCF offered. The pass rate for students taking their grade 12 exams who had involvement with the organization was 84% in comparison to the nation’s 67%. The program also saw 33 university graduates in 2019, marking a total of 84 CCF graduates who have moved on from the program as successful young adults.

Sophy’s Story

Sophy Ron is one of the many people the Cambodian Children’s Fund has helped. Sophy was 11 years old when the organization found her. She did not go to school and made a living selling items she could salvage from a landfill site. After the Cambodian Children’s Fund took her in and sponsored her, Sophy was able to pursue an education. In 2019, Sophy completed her first year of university after earning a scholarship to Trinity College at the University of Melbourne in Australia and gave the valedictorian speech for the graduating class of 2019.

While education is a key factor to help children like Sophy rise out of poverty, without the opportunities and resources available to impoverished families, education remains out of reach. Organizations like the Cambodian Children’s Fund and the Cambodia International Charity Organization make education for children in Cambodia a priority, ensuring that the cycle of poverty can break.

– Celia Brocker
Photo: Flickr

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How Solar Tablets Are Educating Communities in Mozambique

Solar TabletsMozambique, a country of more than 30 million people, is stepping up to conquer the digital division they face from the rest of the world through the use of solar tablets.

Mozambique, a primarily rural country, faces a vast digital divide from the rest of the world. In fact, nearly 65% of the country consists of rural communities. That is to say, within these areas, poverty rates are high and resources for education are low. However, one Mozambican man is here to bridge the digital and educational gaps with solar tablets.

Community Tablet

In response to his country’s digital deficit, Dayn Amade, a father and entrepreneur, created a solution to the problem. Thus he began Community Tablet, the first Mozambican digital school powered by solar tablets.

These solar tablets are an innovative collaboration of community awareness and emerging technology. Pulled by trucks or donkeys, the four to six solar-powered LCD screens can travel just about anywhere throughout Mozambique. Each screen is an interactive smart board connected to cameras and one larger community screen, allowing all to play and watch. The tablet connects to the internet through satellite and the Global System for Mobile Communications. Whatsmore, inside the base, a cold chain chamber provides a fridge for storing and transporting items such as vaccines. This compartment plays a vital role in Amade’s education as he can distribute medicines after educating communities about the need for them.

Amade’s inspiration came from seeing his children’s eagerness towards and success learning on their tablets. Additionally, after watching various organizations visit his community to teach, he realized they left no lasting impact. These groups often hand out educational pamphlets that many villagers can not read due to a low literacy rate. Furthermore, unrelatable images within the lessons make it much harder to connect with the locals. As Amade sees it, “Aid efforts are being hampered by a failure to educate people on the question of why prevention is needed, and by organizations’ ability to tailor messages to local communities.”

Solar Tablet Solutions

Though his solar tablets and educational courses have seen success, there have been bumps along the way. To create a tool that translates well into curated animations and instructional lessons, Amade sought partnerships with anthropologists from top universities in Mozambique. Together, they carefully customize informative lessons relatable to the local communities they visit.

As a result, they have created their programs with relevant images, local fashion and local dialect. With these lessons, students take a quiz after to help solidify their understanding of concepts.

Community Tablet Impact

As Amade provides solar solutions to off-grid communities who have never connected to the world beyond their own, the successes speak for themself.

Amade has been on the road for three years, speaking on mobile banking, HIV prevention, contraceptives, local politics and more. The results from his campaigns are growing.

So far, Community Tablet’s impact shows:

  • 31 districts visited
  • 1,900 people reached
  • 45% voter increase
  • 27% increase in family planning contraceptives
  • 68% newly opened bank accounts

Beyond these numbers, using solar tablets for e-learning breaks educational boundaries and brings hope to communities. With tablets, accessibility is no issue. Tablets are bigger and better for learning than a phone. With a tablet’s size and sturdiness, it is far easier to read, type and watch learning modules. Moreover, solar tablets are low-carbon learning tools that use lower amounts of energy and produce fewer emissions. Additionally, tablets mean less use of printers, litter and minimize costs of learning.

Lastly, incorporating tablets into education allows towns to learn together without feeling like their privacy is being invaded. The tablets are strictly for learning, meaning no one has to share their phone and no distractions. Finally, there is a way for off-grid populations to connect and learn, hone skills and build a new way of life.

As can be seen, these solar tablets and the push for digital literacy is helping these rural communities step into the 21st century.

– Sallie Blackmon
Photo: Tablet Comunitario

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Closing the Skills Gap in Pakistan’s Youth Workforce

Youth Workforce
Pakistan is looking to bridge the skills gap between Pakistan’s youth workforce and the upcoming demands of its rising technology and automation markets. Structural change is necessary for Pakistan as the growing youth population faces challenges such as a rising unemployment rate and socioeconomic and gender disparities that keep students out of the classroom. In 2020, youth in Pakistan faced an unemployment rate as high as 8.5%; today, approximately 44% of children and teenagers are out of school. With 64% of the population younger than 30, Pakistan has more young people than ever who have the power to revolutionize its workforce by becoming re-skilled in relevant and desirable industries.

Pakistan’s Fourth Industrial Revolution

Pakistan is ushering in its fourth industrial revolution with a big challenge to overcome: enrolling more youth in schools where they can begin working with technology at an early age. This is especially critical as countries are growing increasingly dependent on online learning and employment during the worldwide COVID-19 crisis.

Pakistan’s rising investments in automation, e-commerce, digital payment systems and more requires the youth workforce to keep pace with new technologies. Such growth poses many new opportunities for the nation, including modernizing technology and making tasks such as digital banking and online learning easier.

According to Parwaaz, a reskilling initiative that the World Economic Forum supports, the top 10 skills of 2025 include:

  • Technology Use & Monitoring
  • Technology Design
  • Critical Thinking & Analysis
  • Active Learning & Learning Strategies
  • Reasoning, Problem Solving & Ideation
  • Analytical Thinking & Innovation
  • Resilience & Stress Tolerance
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Leadership & Social Influence
  • Creativity & Originality

These skills can take the Pakistani youth beyond their current capabilities by smoothing their transition into the workforce while giving existing employees opportunities for career advancement.

A Multistakeholder Approach to Success

Pakistan’s largest skills development fund, the Punjab Skills and Development Fund (PSDF), is partnering with the World Economic Forum to join the “Reskilling Revolution.” According to Managing Director Saadia Zahidi, the goal of the revolution is to bring better work, skills and education to over 1 billion people by 2030. Challenges to reskilling include high costs, disconnects between training and relevant skills and few private training opportunities. However, with the launch of Parwaaz, a more structured form of reskilling is underway.

A multi-stakeholder public and private skills training initiative, Parwaaz has pinpointed six sectors that require trained workers in order to accommodate future market demands. These sectors include:

  • ICT
  • Financial Services
  • Textile
  • Hospitality
  • Retail and Services
  • Manufacturing & Light Engineering
  • Agriculture & Livestock

Parwaaz is expecting to change the core skills of 40% of workers in the country, raise the rate of automation from 33% in 2020 to 47% by 2025 and give two out of three employers returns on human capital investment. It plans to achieve this by creating incubators that will train 1,000 young people by June 2021 in market-relevant skills. Parwaaz will continue to function with financial and policy support from the Pakistani government and support from other stakeholders such as educational institutions and industry experts.

Integrating Pakistan’s youth workforce into new, more advanced markets is a nationwide effort that will result in high-performing companies, skilled employees, increased innovation and a stable structure for the future. Ultimately, investments in technology, automation and the growing youth workforce will lead to a brighter future for everyone while helping lift vulnerable populations of poverty.

– Julia Ditmar
Photo: Flickr

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5 Facts About Child Poverty in Nigeria 

Child Poverty in Nigeria
Settled on the western coast of Africa is the country of Nigeria. Despite being Africa’s wealthiest country, Nigeria is home to nearly 83 million people living in poverty. With half the country’s population comprising of people under the age of 15, poverty in Nigeria disproportionately affects children. Extreme poverty has disturbed nearly every aspect of child development including education, nutrition, safety and hygiene. These five facts about child poverty in Nigeria offer insight into the struggles that plague children living in poverty and highlight the humanitarian efforts to come in 2021.

5 Facts About Child Poverty in Nigeria

  1. The majority of children in Nigeria live in poverty. According to the Harmonized Nigeria Living Standard Survey (HNLSS) in 2010, 70.3% of Nigerian children lived in poverty while 23.2% lived in extreme poverty. Those living in poverty live under the national poverty line. In Nigeria, the poverty line sits at just $381.75 USD. Despite living on such a small income, people living in poverty often still have access to government facilities for shelter, food and hygiene needs. Children living in extreme poverty, on the other hand, are not able to satisfy basic human needs like food, shelter and safety.
  2.  Only 26.5% of the country uses improved drinking water sources and sanitation facilities. Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene are extremely necessary elements to life, as they directly affect one’s health and safety. Nigeria’s small amount of sanitation facilities are predominantly located in urban areas, making them accessible to a limited amount of people. Most Nigerians live in rural areas and do not have access to these government facilities. Like most poverty-related issues, this disproportionately affects children and their health. Contaminated drinking water and unsanitary living conditions are the prime contributors to the 70,000 annual deaths of children under the age of 5 due to waterborne illnesses.
  3. Nigerian children have poor access to education. Despite a national mandate for compulsory education, 10.5 million children do not receive formal schooling. Many children do not attend school because they work to support their families. Meanwhile, other children do not go to school because armed conflict has severely affected or destroyed their schools. Poor funding, lack of teachers and long commutes are among other reasons so many children do not attend school in Nigeria. Out of the 10 million mentioned, 60% of those without access to education are girls. This, unfortunately, frequently subjects young girls to child marriage, poverty and gendered roles that limit their potential as citizens.
  4. Millions are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. In 2020, UNICEF estimated that 2 million children in Nigeria suffer from severe acute malnutrition, making 32% of children under 5 stunted or severely impaired. Currently, only about two out of every 10 malnourished children receive medical treatment.
  5. Only 16% of children in rural areas have full immunizations. Routine immunization continues to be a struggle for the children of Nigeria, specifically in inaccessible rural areas. Immunization efforts have decreased significantly over the years, and unfortunately, diseases that had previously undergone eradication have returned to the country.

UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children Appeal

With the COVID-19 pandemic devastating developing countries like Nigeria, the child poverty rates are only increasing. In response to this worsening crisis, UNICEF has created a comprehensive plan of humanitarian efforts in Nigeria and a list of goals for 2021.

Malnutrition and Disease

Malnutrition continues to be one of the leading causes of death for children in Nigeria. Food insecurity plagues rural regions of the country where government facilities are not accessible. To combat this crisis, by the end of 2021, UNICEF plans to admit 386,926 children under the age of 5 to UNICEF health facilities for severe acute malnutrition treatment.

Due to the worsening disease rates, UNICEF will be working with the Nigerian government to implement routine immunization efforts. These efforts will focus on rural areas as these are the regions that have the lowest percentage of vaccinations and see the least amount of service aid from the government. UNICEF projects this plan will result in 385,196 children receiving vaccinations against measles.

Sanitation

Contaminated water and unsanitary living conditions have been major contributors to child deaths in Nigeria. In 2021, UNICEF will focus on improving sanitary conditions and access to clean water in rural areas. UNICEF plans to focus these efforts on gender and disability sensitivity. In 2021, an estimated 850,000 people will receive access to clean water and sanitation facilities that are gender-specific and disability-friendly. In more rural, inaccessible areas, an additional 1.9 million people will obtain education on hygiene practices and receive hygiene tools and/or money for hygiene tools.

Education

As for education, UNICEF’s 2021 action plan accounts for access to formal or non-formal schooling for 1,345,145 children. In addition, 1,000 schools will implement infection prevention protocols and almost 700,000 children will receive individual learning materials. Education is vital to the UNICEF plan as it is the greatest resource for long-term progress and gives children the greatest chance to leave poverty later in life.

This comprehensive plan has the potential to bring essential humanitarian aid to 4.3 million people, including over 2 million Nigerian children that until now, have seen little to no aid due to the region where they live.

– Kendall Couture
Photo: Flickr