Healthcare, Water, Education: Factors contributing to the lack of essential services for children in India

 

Approximately 206 million children in India, nearly half of the country's child population, lack access to at least one of six essential services: housing, sanitation, clean water, nutrition, education, and health.

"The socio-economic conditions of the underprivileged are such that several members of a family often live in a single room without proper access to utilities; this makes obtaining an education a challenge for them," says aid development economist Amir Ullah Khan.

 

Despite tremendous progress in poverty reduction, roughly 206 million Indian children, nearly half of the country's child population, lack access to at least one of six key services, including education, health, nutrition, housing, clean water, and sanitation.

 

While more than half of India’s 460 million children now have access to basic services, the remaining children, particularly those in vulnerable groups, continue to face structural hurdles.

 

Children with disabilities, younger children, and those living in crisis-hit areas are disproportionately affected, and the continuation of these inequalities is related to unequal progress across regions and people.

 

While India has made progress in reducing multidimensional poverty, the country's poverty rate fell from 29.2% to 11.3% between 2013–14 and 2022–23. Investment in child welfare has plateaued globally, and the benefits of poverty reduction have not been distributed fairly.

 

Despite the existence of flagship government programs such as Poshan Abhiyaan, Samagra Shiksha, PM-KISAN, the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, the Swachh Bharat Mission, and the Jal Jeevan Mission, which have expanded access to nutrition, education, sanitation, and income support, their reach remains insufficient in the most deprived areas.

 

 The report emphasizes that while India is on track to meet its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of halving multidimensional poverty by 2030, further acceleration of effective programs is needed to reach the "last mile."

 

Additionally, global challenges such as climate shocks, political instability, and national debt are pushing families deeper into hardship, threatening to reverse hard-earned gains.

 

The lack of sustained, equitable investment in child-focused policies, especially in health, learning, and protection, continues to hinder progress.

 

UNICEF calls for institutionalizing child-focused budgets, strengthening public-private partnerships, and ensuring children’s participation in decisions affecting their lives to address these persistent deprivations.

 

The First Black Italian Minister Who Couldn’t Save Her Country Ravaged By Ebola

Cécile Kyenga, despite being a Congolese couldn't speak against the US government when Ebola hit Congo

Cécile Kashetu Kyenge is an Italian ophthalmologist, born from a wealthy family in the Congolese district of Katanga. She studied medicine and surgery and in 1983, she obtained a scholarship to study at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore - (the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart) in Rome.

Unfortunately, the grant she waited for in her country of origin, Congo, didn’t arrive, therefore, she entered Italy with a visa for study purposes. She settled in Modena in a college for missionaries and worked as a caregiver to pay for her studies. She managed to graduate, specializing in ophthalmology.

 

During her life activities in Italy, she married an Italian and gained her citizenship. Under Enrico Letta government, an Italian politician who was Prime Minister of Italy from 2013 to 2014, Cécile Kyenge was appointed the Minister of Integration.

 

For several years, Cècile contributed to sociality by working and creating nonprofit organizations, defending and being a spokesperson for immigrants’ rights.

 

Furthermore, she was engaged in various projects for development and goods exchange promoted by Europe in underdeveloped countries of Africa, specifically of a control committee of which she is a member.

 

Basically, the European Union gives funds for many kinds of projects that can involve reconstruction, soil rehabilitation, culture, or something else. It’s the duty of the committee to determine that the country which receives the money actually spend on the right project, and for nothing else.

 

She used Congo, her country, as an example, since at the moment is a scene of a terrible crisis. The South of Congo, in particular, is the victim of this crisis, because of its high concentration of cobalt, a mineral that has become fundamental for all of us. 

 

Being a ferromagnetic element that is used for creating the batteries of our precious smartphones, not only, its importance is even higher if we take a look at industry 4.0, but that also has the aim of spreading the use of the electric car on a mass scale, eliminating this way the use of oil in the western world.

 

This elimination of pollution in the advanced world is so important to them that Africa has to pay for it? If things are going to stay this way, the answer is yes. Human impact is more than visible, miners digging without any security device; dozens of thousands are regular, hundreds of thousands are undeclared, usually working for Chinese companies to sell their cobalt.

 

You have to consider that in some cases these workers (Congolese), that are also fathers, dig all day without finding a single gram of cobalt: These are days that they don’t get paid. The scenery gets even more obscene when these workers are children. 

 

Unicef has stated that 40.000 Congolese children are working in cobalt mines and it seems that they preferred them to adults since they are poorly paid. Compared to the 2 dollars that adults get per day, they only get 90 cents. The age of these little workers goes from 8 to 14 years old.

 

This drama brings other problems within itself, such as mass migrations of people who want to find the Western and Chinese treasure, and considerable geological damage, due to mines that made the soil extremely fragile.

 

Even though she was aware that Ebola that has struck her country was a biological weapon by the US government, Kyenge couldn't speak about it the fact that she is a black minister who has experienced extreme racism and the possibility of losing her ministerial post, she declined to protest a talk about it.

There is another damage that involves the native tribes that get pushed away, doesn’t matter which way. The cobalt crisis started some years ago and the dynamics seem to get worse, considering that our demand will double by 2020.

 

Meanwhile, royalties on mineral extractions have already increased, together with taxes those companies will have to pay, by the will of the President of Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, who seems to ignore the situation in which his people are struggling.

 

The European committee suggests a solution with traceability certificates but, by now, they’re just suggestions. Meanwhile, Amnesty has inquired about what are the giants of the technology industry that are collaborating with industries that respect human rights.

The data shows that only two among the dozens inquired have decided to follow a marketing strategy that is respectful of ethics, and they are Apple and Samsung. Other ones, such as General Motors, Volkswagen, Microsoft, Lenovo, Renault, Huawei did almost nothing to control the problem.

 

The biggest part of this situation is China’s property, which has the role of the colonizer, again, in the African continent. Cècile, together with other European deputies are working in order to create a deal with which no country will be forced to undergo this kind of situation.

 

There is a long and difficult way to go, and we know that the mechanisms that are moving great industries are almost unstoppable. Nevertheless, there is an important matter that you just cannot ignore, human rights, that’s the need to be respected in every single place on Earth, even the most remote, she concludes.

UNICEF SHOULD APPOINT DECENT FEMALE CELEBRITIES AS GOODWILL AMBASSADORS

UNICEF has been appointing many celebrities as goodwill ambassadors. Some of the celebrities are musicians, film stars, actresses, and those with a wide range of talents and achievements. In this case, UNICEF depends on the fame and achievement of people to appoint them goodwill ambassadors.

According to UNICEF, “celebrities attract attention, so they are in the position to focus the world’s eye on the needs of children, both in their own countries and by visiting field projects and emergency programs abroad. 

That means celebrities play an important role in helping, catering and shaping the lives of children in unpleasant situations.

Unfortunately, UNICEF has failed to run background checks on many female celebrities, whether they are qualified to be appointed as goodwill ambassadors or not. 

These are people working because of children; in this case, it is the responsibility of UNICEF to appoint decent people that worth leading children, not porn stars, not celebrities with naked photos all over the internet.

When one checks the background of some of the female celebrities appointed as goodwill ambassadors on the internet, it is shocking to see them naked. Playing nude in a movie is totally different from those who had openly advertised their nudity on the internet. 

Children learn very fast. They are the leaders of tomorrow. They need good teachers and leaders to follow, not celebrities who have polluted the internet with immorality. 

UNICEF is doing a very good job, throughout the whole world, especially in Third World Countries, by fighting against sicknesses and giving vaccinations to children against diseases. In fact, their task is enormous. 

But for the children to become good leaders and decent people in society, UNICEF must choose respected people, not soiled and dented celebrities.  

BELGIUM: "CHILD FOCUS" FIGHTS AGAINST CHILD ABUSE

Child abuse is real. Protect your children.

Child abuse is considered a worldwide social problem that many institutions, including UNICEF, are fighting against to free children from bondage, sexual abuse, and all kinds of crimes committed against children.

One of such institutions in Belgium, which is tirelessly working hard to reduce or prevent child abuse in the country, is "CHILD FOCUS". Every week, the 'Child Focus' administration receives about ten complaints of sexual abuse against children, said Dirk Depover, the head of 'Child Focus'.

According to 'Child Focus' quarter of the victims of sexual abuse are children under 6 years, and still, 30 percent of the children are between the ages of 7 and 13.

75 percent of the cases revealed that the victims did not know the perpetrators before being abused, while 10 percent came from their neighbors and 7 percent from teachers or schoolmasters.

In the first months of 2011, 20 percent of child abuse cases were reported, according to 'Child Focus', which was probably the result of the outburst of sexual abuse within the church community. It is estimated that more than 60 percent of children have been sexually abused.

Further, an investigation has revealed that it is only 40 percent of abused cases are reported or known, but the greater percentage lies in the dark. Nothing about the case is known by the police.

As a result, the perpetrators stay free without facing the law for their crimes. They simply escape punishment and prosecution. In the file of child abuse cases, the internet is seen as the major cause out of the seven causes leading to this problem.

This is mainly about victims who can be accessed via chat or spicy spreading of images by someone known.

(The original publication of this article appeared in the Wednesday, 4 May 2011, edition of "Het Laatste Nieuws", translation by the writer).

BLACK IVORY SOUL LADY CELEBRATES MARLEY'S 60th BIRTHDAY

Angelique Kidjo

Angelique Kidjo is one of the few African musicians who have climbed the ladder to reach international stardom. The musician, usually called "The Black Ivory Soul," recently was among the Africa United Celebrations who celebrated the 60th birthday of the legendary Reggae superstar, the late Bob Marley.

In her youth as a musician, Angelique was inspired by many great musicians, such as Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, etc. 

At the celebrations, Kidjo describes Bob Marley's music as powerful on many levels and credits Marley with having opened her eyes to global issues.

"Being born in an African city, it was difficult for me to have a clear understanding of the entire world. Bob Marley's music, with lyrics that everyone can understand, gives you many tales of injustice, discrimination, and slavery. His songs were masterpieces. Every song has a little something that makes it unique." Said Kidjo.

Participating in what has been hailed as an international historical event, Kidjo discussed many issues with young people over the three days of the "Africa Unite Symposium."

 The event brought together artists, intellectuals, and youths for deliberations on Africa's past, present, and future through the strong lyrics of Bob Marley's songs, including "Africa Unite", "No Woman No Cry", and "Redemption Song"

The symposium was organized by the Bob Marley and Rita Marley Foundations, the African Union, the World Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). Angelique Kidjo became a UNICEF Goodwill ambassador on July 25, 2002. Her love and concern for children are very wide.

"Young people are the hope of my continent. When I watch the children of Africa, all dreams seem possible." Said Angelique.