Saturday, May 24, 2014

Exploring Childhood Poverty in Nepal

     This week I chose to look at the childhood poverty issues in Nepal.  I found many interesting facts about this topic, however I am just going to share a few with you.  First, lets start out with some basic facts regarding Nepal:

  • Children under the age of 15 make up about 40% of Nepal's population
  • More than 1/3 of the population lives in poverty
  • There are approximately 75,000 neo-natal and post-natal deaths every year
  • Majority of children are not provided with any education
A couple of interesting insights I found while perusing the website are as follows:

  1. Nepal was plagued with violence for nearly a decade over political rule and rebel fighters.  This has led to unrest and numerous deaths.  The people of Nepal are beginning to see some political stability which should help address issues of poverty and childhood fatality and hopefully begin to bring awareness to the people.
  2. The growing health concerns include increased prevalence of STD's and the fight against HIV and AIDS.  There is a commercial sex trade that has been identified as a direct cause of the disease growing.
  3. Poor and marginalized women are the focus of education initiatives. Many of the primary school programs are focused on girls and the underprivileged.  By creating awareness for all women, they are more capable of making the most of what learning opportunities they do have access to.  

A brief overview of Nepal's history was retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12499391

3 comments:

  1. That is interesting about Nepal. I did not realize just how high the death rate was for babies. The information that you shared is really interesting. Thank you for sharing the information that you did.

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  2. Thanks for such important information about Nepal. I have student whose parents are from Nepal/Tibet and I was able to gain some insight about this country, prior to this course. Arranged marriages are also still common as these parents' marriage was arranged.

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  3. Thankyou for the information. I know Nepal is a poor country but do not realise it is so worse. 40% of population is under 15. Wow, it is really almost impossible to have sufficient adults to support the children there. It is a country of mysterious to me. It is a country with a lot of natural scenery for tourism. It is a place i really want to visit. Now i want to visit and help too. Do you know any volunteer organisation there that we can join to help.
    thankyou for the information. The more research we do on poverty, the more heart touching we are, the more fortunate we are.....

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