Poverty and Sri Lankan Children

Poverty and Sri Lankan Children Abstract Sri Lanka, after a three decade civil war, has dramatically changed and acquired desirable development in number of domains. Yet, poverty remains as one of the country’s major problem. Poverty is a multi dimensional issue and each issue should be addressed in a profound manner. Poverty, undoubtedly, one of the major problems in the country and it has a close relationship with the children of Sri Lanka. In this report, our group members have taken an effort to examine how the problem of poverty is connected with children of Sri Lanka. Introduction Sri Lanka is still a developing country but has changed dramatically in the fields of education, economy and scientific development. Yet, there are issues which are not directly addressed to bring about desirable socio economic development. We need to acknowledge the fact that a developing country has to face many problems and changes cannot be brought about without addressing the roots. One of the most severe problems that Sri Lanka faces is poverty. This status of being poor has close relationships with lot of other problems in the country. Poverty and children is one of the major problems and it has directly affected the Sri Lankan children in numerous ways. We examined poverty at different dimensions and its tremendous impact on children. Children are deprived of intellectual, social and emotional development as a consequence of poverty. Unemployment and poverty rates have declined to a considerable rate due to economic growth of the country. However, Sri Lanka is making a slow progression on the aims related to irradiate poverty among children. On the one hand, child malnutrition and mortality rates increase at a higher rate especially in the rural and the estate sector. On the other hand, children are subjected to torture, sexual harassments and drug trafficking. The government aims to shift the economy to ensure growth and improvement, living standards and social security; however, it is a social responsibility to safeguard the rights of children by providing emotional security. The issues related to poverty should be addressed by implementing proper steps to eradicate poverty among children. Eradication of poverty is vital in uplifting not only socio economic standards but also intellectual and emotional development of Sri Lankan children. Simply poverty means the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor. According to the Oxford University Dictionary poverty is the "state of being extremely poor" or "the state of being insufficient in amount" (www.dictionary.com). Poverty has several categories. Extreme poverty is also called penury. Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the one who lacks basic human needs, which commonly include clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter (Gunn & Duncan, 1997). About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live in absolute poverty today (international Bureau for Children’s Rights, 2010). Relative poverty refers to lacking a usual or socially acceptable level of resources or income as compared with others within a society or country (Gunn & Duncan, 1997). Poverty affects a country in multiple ways: health problems, education problems, hunger problems, housing problems, violence problems, street children problem are all related to poverty. Poverty directly affects children as they are the most sensitive and vulnerable subjects to the situation. In Sri Lanka, this situation is serious. Poverty related with children is called child poverty. According to the UN General Assembly Definition of Child Poverty, child poverty means, “Children living in poverty are deprived of nutrition, water and sanitation facilities, access to basic health‐care services, shelter, education, participation and protection and that while a severe lack of goods and services hurts every human being, it is most threatening and harmful to children, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, to reach their full potential and to participate as full members of the society” (UN General Assembly Definition of Child Poverty, 2006). Poverty and Hunger Food is a basic need to all living beings. Today most of the Sri Lanka children have to face this problem. According to the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition, “In Sri Lanka, the average per capita energy intake per day is 2,078 kilo calories. The average per capita energy intake per day for households identified as ‘poor’ is reported as 1,778 kilo calories, while that for ‘non-poor’ households is 2,185 kilo calories. ‘Poor’ households in the urban sector have the lowest per capita energy intake. The recommended per capita energy intake is 2,200 kilo calories per day.” (Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition 2007: 7). Over one-fourth of pre-school children still suffer from under nutrition and between one quarter to a third of the population experienced income poverty in the mid 1990s. (Ibarguen, 2010). This data emphasizes the severity of the problem. The Demographic and Health Survey 2009/2010, a draft which was released by the Health and Nutrition Ministry and the Census and Statistics Department, shows that 22 percent of Sri Lankan children are underweight, 18 percent are stunted and 15 percent show signs of wasting (Jayawardena, 1998). At the top of the categories, 41 percent of children in Nuwara Eliya District were stunted, while height-for-weight measurements showed that wasting was highest in Trincomalee - 28 percent. In Badulla 32 percent of the children were underweight. According to the research done by Kegalle, De Silva et al. in 2002, in the Central Zone the main food is jak or yams. One focused group member of that research says, “Sometimes we only eat jak for days. Our children cry refusing to eat jak because they have been eating it for so long and can’t see it anymore” (Kegalle et al. 2002: 23). These statistics and research studies clearly show the severity of poverty in Sri Lanka and how it has affected to the physical health of children. Poverty and Education Not only poverty affects the child's well being, but has a profound impact on their education. In general, children from poor home backgrounds living under the poverty line exhibit significantly poor academic performances. Such performances have also been linked as far back as cognitive and emotional development which is lower in poverty stricken children than that of the children whose income is above the poverty line. In the same way, poverty also affects the emotional or behavioral outcomes and it also affects the children’s brains. United Nations Children’s Fund estimated that, in Sri Lanka, 80,000 to 100,000 children between 5-14 years do not attend school (UNICEF, 2001). The children who fail to complete schooling and mainly from poor and marginalized homes in poor geographical areas, including the rural sector, conflict-affected areas, and the estate sector. Despite the provision of free education, poor households may not be able to pay for the extra essentials for school, such as, exercise books, bus fares, sufficient meals, etc. Additionally, vulnerable groups include children who suffer from disability and children left behind by migrant mothers where care givers may not be managing the household income well enough to include adequate access to education. Education and learning levels are comparatively lower in the conflict-affected areas, which have been seriously affected by damage to the infrastructure as well as lack of skilled teachers. These facts clearly show the uncertain future of Sri Lankan children. Poverty and Street Children Poverty and street children go hand in hand and have become a key problem to produce a socially desirable, healthy child to society. Simply a street child means a boy or a girl below 18 who lives in street (Ibarguen, 2004.). According to Wickepedia.com “Street child” is a term for a homeless child residing primarily in the streets of a city (typically in a developing country) (Retrieved from 05.18.1012). According to the International Bureau for Children’s Rights (2010), there are estimated 100 million children living in the streets in the world today. As the “’Daily News’’ paper reports in Colombo and Pettah, nearly 1, 500 people use the streets as their ‘home’ (Tuesday, 12 April 2011). Out of these 29 are children: 17 male and 12 female. Around 17 out of this number had never attended school (Daily News, Tuesday, 12 April 2011). There are 2000 street-living and street-working children in Colombo city and 2,500 outside Colombo (Daily News, Tuesday, 12 April 2011). It had been calculated that the number is substantial and on the rise. According to Sunday Times news paper, there are thousands of street children in the Western Province of Sri Lanka alone (10.12. 2010). A British Charity, Christian Aid, (2011) estimates that over 10,000 children aged 6-14 are enslaved in brothels and 10,000 to 12,000 children are trafficked and prostituted by organized crime groups. NGOs estimate that there are 2000 street-living and street-working children in Colombo city (with 5000 children at risk) and 2, 500 outside Colombo (with 5000 at risk) (Hettige, & Mayer 2011). Accurate statistical data is limited, but it had been calculated that the number is substantial and on the increase. Most of the street children can be found near overpopulated areas like Colombo, Kandy and Kurunegala. Some are abandoned by their parents while others are orphans. Some are runaways. In addition, there are children who live with parents but do not get the care and protection they deserve due to acute poverty. Essentially these children do not have proper shelter: Junk boxes, shop fronts, outdoor compounds, parks or the streets are their dwelling. Their chief means of living is begging. Some children engage in petty, odd jobs like pushing carts, carrying goods, working at small eating joints or scavenging. Most of them are forced into trafficking, criminal activities and other forms of labor exploitation by older peer group members. Shockingly, many thugs employ these children in illegal businesses such as selling drugs, liquor or as chaperons to prostitutes. The children are sexually abused and are subjected to venereal diseases. Some are victims of sex trade in the coastal areas of the country like Hikkkaduwa, Trincomalee etc. They also suffer from illnesses like asthma and other diseases. Strikingly, World War II has a direct impact on displacement; terrorism existedfor nearly three decades, and tsunami which left thousands of children orphaned or separated from their beloved families. Unemployment, parental death, illness and acute poverty are deeply connected with street children. These factors have paved the way for these children to leave their homes in search of jobs in risky and unknown areas. Poverty and Child Labor As a consequence of poverty children are deprived of their fundamental needs; they fail even to obtain their primary needs. In order to satisfy their needs they tend to find some form of employment. They plunge headlong into to find any form of employment mainly to fulfill their needs. Children in Sri Lanka engage in various employments. Among those employments, some are risky and some are unbearable for children. Poverty at the household level is considered as one of the primary reasons for the prevalence of child labor in Sri Lanka (Department of Census and Statistics, 2010). It is estimated that about one-fifth of the population lives below the poverty line (Department of Census and Statistics, 2010). According to the National Survey on Child Labour, conducted in 2010, 926,037 children living in Sri Lanka are economically active (Department of Census and Statistics, 2010 ). However, this number includes children who are involved in some form of economic activity while also attending school or some other educational institution. Nearly, 234,618 of them (nearly 26 per cent) are engaged in an economic activity while not attending school or any other educational institution. The majority of children engaged in economic activities are boys (62.3 per cent). (Department of Census and Statistics, 2010). Furthermore, 95 percent of all working children reside in rural areas (Department of Census and Statistics, 2010). On the one hand, exploitation at its maximum level; the work those children engage in pave the way for physical and mental exploitation. On the other hand, children are keen to contribute to their household income situation, and sometimes display willingness to undertake such work. These tasks are economically unrewarding, unstable and these children are likely, therefore, to remain in poverty. Child laborers suffer multiple deprivations; they are overworked and have little leisure. They are deprived of compulsory education, encounter unfavorable rather threatening working conditions. Pathetically, the children are subjected to cruel treatments, sexual harassments of the employers. The child labour is not valued positively, and employers demand much work and offer fewer wages. The authorities violate the rights of children. Often children are not provided with the stimulation for proper physical and mental development and full-time child labor in particular affects the health and personal development of the child. Poverty and Heath A child’s health is vital in gaining both the intellectual and the physical development. Poor health can impair a child’s ability to fulfill their capabilities. The characteristics which have an impact on a child’s health include; parental income, education and health levels, economic or social exclusion from key services or infrastructure, and geographical location (spatial disadvantage and vulnerability). A child who is suffering from ill health is not be able to develop their maximum capacity to fulfill tasks, and in turn vulnerable to perpetuate the same disadvantages in the next generation. Despite Sri Lanka’s positive indicators, malnutrition in children, leading to low weight and stunting, is still a significant problem, and safe drinking water, and adequate sanitation are still not accessible to all children. The three principal causes of infant mortality remain respiratory illness, diarrheal infection and accidental death (DCS, 2002). The reasons for mortality rates can be linked to mother’s health and nutritional levels during pregnancy and her access to quality prenatal care and post-natal care. The socio- economic background of parents, especially the educational attainment of mothers, has also been found to affect infant and child mortality to a great extent. Living environment and accessibility to primary health care facilities are also key factors influencing mortality levels. Mother’s age is also an important factor; children born to women under the age of 20 or over the age of 35 years of age are at a higher risk of dying within the first month of life (DCS, 2000). Considering above facts it is clear that because of the existing poverty in Sri Lanka, our children do not get sufficient health support. Poverty and Mentality of Children Poverty can create various mental problems in people. People become physically and mentally ill when they are poor. People commit suicide when they are unable to pay debts. This directly affects children’s physical and mental wellbeing. Sri Lanka has much lower infant mortality and maternal mortality rates. The infant mortality rate has declined from 22% in 1985- 1990 to 13.5% in the period 1995-2000. Infant mortality is highest in the estate sector 47.5 % ( based on fewer than 500 cases) compared to 15% in urban and 17.5% in rural areas (excluding the North and East) (Department of Census and Statistics, 2000). Children have been both directly and indirectly affected by the conflict with destruction to their support networks and threats to their familiar environment. Children have lost their childhood as a result of being faced with fears, worries, frustrations and insecurities (Amarakoon, 2002). A conflict situation destroys children’s support structures, such as, family and community, and changes the manner in which children perceive such stability. In the same way, child abuse is a wide term which covers a range of ‘deliberate’ actions which impact negatively on a child’s wellbeing. These actions can range from verbal bullying at school, in the community or at home, to commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. Some types of abuse, commercial exploitation for example, are more prevalent in poorer communities, but children from a range of different socio-economic environments are vulnerable to abuse. Children who are institutionalized because of victims of abuse, child labor, extreme poverty, family break-up or death and judiciary factors also suffer mentally and physically. Sometimes the homes for children are very crucial and they are sexually abused in those institutions. Recently, newspapers reported a considerable amount of such incidents. Apart from that, poverty also paves the way to prostitution, criminals, stealing etc. Such circumstances directly affect their mental wellbeing; sometimes they become mentally ill people or they end up their lives. Thus, a great deal of attention and consideration should be given to above mentioned problems as they are rooted in poverty. To resolve such problems the authorities must address the root cause than giving a temporal solution. As physicians say ‘if there is pus, let it out”. Thus, pus should be removed permanently to achieve a stable, long lasting solution. Eradication of Poverty among Children According to statistics, “A million children –one in three- are currently living in poverty in the UK- one of the highest rates in the industrial world” ( Nieuwenhuys, p.45 ). This shocking figure reveals that the issue of poverty is not only prevailing in developing countries but also in developed countries. Sri Lanka is a developing country and we need to take necessary steps to overcome poverty among children. We need to particularly pay attention to eradicate poverty of children because it has a profound impact on the entire society. The government should give maximum attention to eradicate poverty among children, since most of the crucial fields have to be implemented by the government. The authorities should take actions to uplift the economic conditions of poor people. If the poor people’s life conditions are healthy and favorable, children might not fall to streets and do odd jobs. The government can support poor families with the help of other private donators. The role of education in poverty eradication is crucial to bring forth desirable intellectually and socially sound individuals. Not only education is vital in reducing poverty, but also it is key to accumulate wealth and higher standards of living. To break the vicious circle of poverty education should be equally provided and the facilities should be equally distributed without creating disparities. The education system should be urged to ensure quality education for all children; the poor children and the numerous disadvantaged should be given priority to compete with their better–off counterparts. The curriculum should cater to produce self directed, independent, skillful children than dependent, passive learners. The trade union action of the university lecturers’ main demand is to allocate 6% for free education. This covers primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education. In the present context education has become the privilege of the richest and economically sound population. Secondary level education is mainly based on private tuition classes. The people who can afford such expenses send their children to a number of individual and group classes to get through mainly Advanced Level Examination. Thus, the poor have to compete with those children and finally fail to acquire their aims. On the one hand, it is a battle between the rich and the poor. On the other, it is a conflict between the intelligent and the less intelligent. One could argue that the present education system paves the way to privilege people to get into higher jobs and universities. The brainy rural sector students cannot compete with the rich. Education has become a money thriving business. Thus, the brainy, poor children will end up engaging in odd, or illegal jobs, because for them life is a matter of survival. Therefore, all should provide equal opportunities to develop their skills. Even if they fail to enter universities then they can engage in self employment. Special attention should be paid to the children of the rural and estate sector. The government can get the support of NGOS and other well-wishers to promote education of the rural sector to gain socio economic development to eradicate poverty. Children should be given a full knowledge about sexual knowledge and sexually transmitted diseases etc., because some of the incidents prove that children do engage in sexual intercourses without much consideration. If these suggestions can be implemented or handled in a meticulous manner, it will help to promote balanced socially desirable individuals to lead healthy life styles. Similarly, rigid actions should be taken against the people who direct children to do jobs. High judiciary punishments should be given to them. Not only that but also, to prevent family breakups and other social problems a good counseling system should be started. It is evident, in Sri Lanka, even for minute matters, people commit massive damage to their lives. Ultimately children become helpless victims of such tragedies. If there is a favorable counseling system in the country we can save children. Government should not promote married women, particularly mothers, to go abroad to do jobs leaving young children behind. Recently, the government posed a rule that a mother who has a child under 16 should not go abroad considering this sorrowful state of children. People should be motivated to engage in employments within the country and employment facilities should be promoted. Moreover, the government should pay meticulous attention toward the institutionalized children. Their life conditions, health problems etc. should be supervised regularly. Apart from proper education and mental satisfaction, considerable attention should be given to ensure whether they are physically and sexually abused in those institutions. Furthermore, necessary actions should be taken to prevent child abuse in the coastal areas. At a media conference the Deputy Minister of Economy has said that, “to strengthen the poverty elevation program, the Samurdhi program has extended benefits to more families” (Colombo Page). It is happy to hear that new beneficiaries from the war-torn areas have been added to strengthen standards of life of the Samurdhi recipients. But the authorities should pay adequate attention to make sure the right persons should get the payments to uplift standards of life The government assumes that Sri Lanka is the only country that offers free health care facilities among developing countries. It is apparent that the preventive and curative health services are available free of charge, and the country’s health outcomes are among the best in South Asia. But the government should promote health services in rural areas by increasing emergency health services to meet high quality life standards. This will enable to reduce the high infant mortality rates, and pregnant mothers’ lives can be guaranteed. Some other proposals to eradicate or control poverty that affects the Sri Lankan children: Establishing ‘Nenasala’ and such other technological centers for selected schools in poverty stricken areas.  Building new buildings, play grounds and fulfilling other infrastructure needs of rural schools.  Supplying equipment for schools like library books and necessary sports items.  Providing talented students with local and foreign scholarships and economic support necessary for their education.  Conducting free educational seminars and other supplementary programmes via schools that are aimed at poor school children who cannot afford to go to private tuition classes.  Encouraging the students to learn English as a compulsory subject.  Leading children towards vocational training programmes that facilitate them with a variety of job opportunities. ( Such a procedure was carried out for the t-sunami and war victims of Sri-Lanka by the government.)  Immediate legal actions should be taken against those who employ such children as underage employees such as domestic servants or child labourers in working sites.  The public should be made well-informed via media and other methods so that their awareness would safeguard the children from abuses and such other difficulties.  Awareness programmes should be conducted with the support of police and other legal authorities, especially in the poverty stricken coastal and upcountry state sector areas.  When the parents go to prison small children in pre-school ages lose both protection and education. Therefore, government should take legal measures to secure the future of such poor children. Furthermore, both the government and the authorities such as financial companies and NGO’s can contribute to the controlling of poverty as follows:  Hereby the improvement of the living conditions of the poor families can uplift the poor Sri-Lankan children from poverty. In order to do so, unemployed poor people should be involved in the economic procedures of the country.  The government can offer subsidiaries for the poor self-entrepreneurs who are self-employed.  The government can cut down the high interest rates and offer interest free loans for such self- entrepreneurs.  Unemployed poor people should be made involved in the economic process by providing them suitable job opportunities.  NGOs can also facilitate the poor by offering them the access to their basic needs.  The under-employees among the poor should be provided with suitable job opportunities.  The financial companies can also contribute to uplift the position of female employees. Further, poor women should be encouraged to become career women rather than house wives for they can provide a great economic support. It will positively affect the poor Sri-Lankan children. For instance, the HSBC bank as a corporate social responsibility helped the women who had lost their bureau lace making career due to the t-sunami attack. These kinds of microfinance projects help to control the emerging poverty to a greater extent. Furthermore, another microfinance project called ‘Empowering Women Entrepreneurs’ was conducted in order to raise the income levels of women living in under-privileged urban areas of Colombo.  Also, when the foreigners invest in Sri-Lanka (ex: tourism) it opens a variety of micro-job opportunities for the poor people as well. In the same way,  The government can arrange a foster-parent project for poor Sri-Lankan children in order to support them with their education and living situations  NGOs can arrange programmes to improve the education level of poor children.  Foreign aids should be directly used for the poor children. For instance, the HSBC bank launched a ‘Future First’ programme collaborating with SOS Children’s Villages-the largest NGO for orphans and other charitable organizations to provide education and health care to street children, children in care and foster children. Its aim was to provide entrepreneurship education to 1000 street children and children at risk of becoming street children. We would be able to eradicate poverty if the authorities willing to consider and implement the above mentioned suggestions. In the long run that will enable not only to save our children but also to stand as a proud healthy nation. Conclusion In our group assignment, we endeavored to give an overview of poverty among children in the Sri Lankan context. According to available statics, it is apparent that poverty is a crucial issue among the children. This multidimensional issue should be handled and addressed appropriately to bring about desirable solutions to the less privileged people. Our group work enabled us to understand the severity of the problem, and undoubtedly it will serve as an eye opener. We pointed out possible implementations to eradicate poverty. We further understand that it is each and every individual’s responsibility to support the needy to gain upward social mobility, and to produce physically, emotionally and socially balanced future generation to face future challenges in life. References Department of Census and Statistics, (1999), Child activity survey, (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Finance and Planning: Colombo. Department of Census and Statistics (2002b). 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