Well, I am very disappointed that the four or five people I contacted did not return my e-mails. It would have been so interesting to learn from them. However, I did go onto the UNICEF web site and looked around at the information discussed around Africa though there were many other countries to look at.
One story I read was about a 17 year old girl who was born in Benin, Africa, at home and so she has no birth certificate. This makes it impossible to go to a secondary school and onto a profitable job. In Benin, 4 out of every 10 children do not get a birth certificate within the first 10 days after their birth when it is free. They are born in their homes and most families either do not know about it or do not see the importance of having a birth certificate. Children without a birth certificate are often denied education and lack access to other services. This keeps the cycle of poverty always turning.
The next story comes from Agadez, Niger and discussed the children who live on the streets. One such boy left his home when his father died at 12 years of age. He collects tin from the dump to make some money. Some of this money he uses for food but for the most part is to buy glue for sniffing. The boy said it makes him feel nothing and he often gets beat up or robbed when he falls asleep. There is a child agency which can monitor about 50 children which is sometimes their only hope as well as their families'.
Another story from Africa is based around the internal conflict of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger where at one time it had 11 million children out of school. Now that the conflict has escalated there are an additional 1 million children also out of school. These children are going to grow up with no education and no means to support themselves.
By 2030 a short 13 years from now:
167 MILLION children will live in extreme poverty
69 MILLION children under the age of 5 will die between the years 2016 and 2030
60 MILLION children of primary school age will be out of school
We have to do something! NO child deserves to suffer like this.
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI feel your aggravation for not getting in touch with other early childhood educators from around the world as I sent multiple emails and only heard from one. I also found the story about children's birth certificates to be very intriguing and decided to do some research. In the city of Benin, they have an option to obtain two birth certificates, either a short birth certificate or a full birth certificate. “Birth not in a hospital or any other medical institution in Nigeria
• You should start by going to the Local Government authority where the child is born and obtain a sworn affidavit, this is obtained as proof of birth;
• Then take the sworn affidavit to a nearby National Population Commission registration office either at the local government headquarters, in a hospitals / health centre or any other designated place;
• At the registration office, present the affidavit to the registration officer and a birth certificate shall be issued” (Wikiprocedure, 2015)
While this may not seem like a lot of work to us Americans as many of us have way of transportation, this can be a hassle for many members in small communities. They also don’t understand the issues they may come across when their child technically doesn’t exist. Thanks for a great post and having me find some interesting facts about birth certificates
-Nicole
Reference
Wikiprocedure. (2015, November 16). Benin City - Obtain a Short Birth Certificate.
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