Getting
to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1
Every three seconds one of the world's
children dies from a preventable cause - dehydration, hunger, disease, violence
- more than ten million a year. (Grow Up Free from Poverty Coalition). My
grandma always said “be thankful for what you consider your little, as some
people are dying to get that little”. The extent of poverty worldwide is heart
rending.
Poverty
denies opportunities to people of all ages. Lost opportunities in childhood
cannot always be regained later - childhood is a one-off window of opportunity
and development. Poverty experienced by children, even over short periods, can
affect the rest of their lives. Malnutrition in early childhood, for example,
can lead to life-long learning difficulties and poor health.
The
international community has committed itself to meeting the Millennium
Development Goals by 2015. This includes halving poverty rates, cutting by
two-thirds the deaths of children under five and ensuring that all children in
the world complete at least primary education. Already progress is slower than
is needed - only substantial investment in children now will enable this vital
reduction in different forms of childhood poverty to be achieved.
CHINA
The
world's most populous country with a population of 1.27 billion in 2001, China
has made major strides in poverty reduction in recent years. By 2001 5 per cent
of China's population lived below the national poverty line. Rural poverty is
estimated to have fallen from 250 million in 1978 to 35 million in 2000 and
from 30.7 per cent of the population to 3.7 per cent according to official
statistics. Between 4 and 8 per cent of the urban population, somewhere between
15 and 31 million people live in poverty. Much of this decline in
poverty is due to far-reaching processes of economic and social transition.
However, economic growth has been slower in Western China, leading to higher
poverty rates.
4.2
million Chinese children live in absolute poverty and 8.7 million live in
disadvantaged conditions.
A
Minimum Living Standards (dibao) system has been developed since 1997 and by
2002 covered 23 per cent of poor urban households. Though this is the main form
of social relief in urban China, there are concerns that the amounts allocated
are too small to meet people's basic needs for food, clothing shelter, health
and education and in particular, aren't enough to allow families to pay the
compulsory education fee. Furthermore, large numbers of vulnerable people are
excluded because they are unregistered migrants, or are disqualified by local
administrations.
The
most vulnerable groups in rural parts of China are women, children and the
elderly, as well as ethnic minorities who live in remote mountainous areas. The
increasing migration of rural male labourers to urban and eastern coastal areas
has sharply extended the feminization of rural labour and agriculture.
Now
China is the fourth largest country in the world and home to more than 1.3
billion people. China is the first
developing country to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of
reducing by half the number of its people living in extreme poverty and hunger.
Its reform-driven economic growth, together with a well-funded national poverty
reduction programme, has brought about a major reduction in rural poverty.
Let
us all try to make a difference one person at a time!!!!!!!!!
References
Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/)
Hi Kerrian,
ReplyDeleteGood Post! I have to honest and tell you that I was in tears after reading your first sentence. It saddens me to read about the deaths of people, especially children. I am one of the many people who wish that poverty does not exist. I wish I had the money and power to end poverty all over the world, but I know that will not happen. On the bright side, I can advocate for change and help as many people in need as I possibly can. Volunteering is where I will begin. I am looking forward it. I read where you wrote about how the most vulnerable groups in China are women, children, and the elderly. This seems to be the case in many other countries as well. I wrote about India and women and children are the most vulnerable there too.
Hi Kerrian,
ReplyDeleteThank you for such an informative post. Is is so heart wrenching to hear of children dieing in such tormenting ways. The death of a child is always sad however to die an agonizing death from not enough food or water is horrible. What the parents must go through I can not even imagine. When I read accounts such as your post I am humbled by the blessings God has given me. I see so many living various levels of poverty all around me however we are all rich by comparison to the many starving children all around the world. I am so grateful to the many organizations in my community who helped me and my children live through our years of poverty and break the cycle of an uneducated poverty lifestyle. We were some of the more fortunate and I praise God for the opportunities we were given. I think many of us will be much more thankful for what we have after what we learn from this weeks lessons. Thank you again for sharing this information from your post.
Hello Kerrian
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that it is sad to know that every three seconds a child dies from things that could have been preventive. Poverty is a harsh thing for every one that has experienced it or will. As growing professionals I hope that this is an area that we gain much knowledge to be of help to children and families if this issue ever comes up. Thank you for sharing this information with us. Also with 4.2 million Chinese children live in absolute poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantaged conditions. But it is sad that most of them are women, children, and older people. It is good that China has a program that is helping to reduce poverty there. May be we can learn from their efforts later and change poverty all over the world.
Pam