Initially I contacted Ms. Michele Berthelot, a regional specialist in education, from the Santiago, Chile office of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. She responded within a few days informing me that she worked with adult education. She forwarded my contact information to her colleague and told me I could contact her. I wrote to Mrs. Rosa Blanco, the regional specialist in Inclusive and Early Childhood education, concerning the issue of poverty and how it impacts the work she does for the UNESCO and its population but I did not hear back from her yet. I am still holding out hope that I will be able to establish this contact and use it for future assignments.
I examined the website of the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s page (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/) and read about the child poverty in Kyrgyzstan. I learned:
· The funding for CHIP has been depleted but the website is still available for use by organizations and individuals for policy and advocacy purposes.
· CHIP also coordinated with the Save the Children organization to help eradicate childhood poverty.
· “Over 600 million children world-wide live in absolute poverty - an estimated 1 in 4. In many countries, rates are much higher with over 60 percent of children living in households with incomes below international poverty lines. Over 10 million children under five still die every year from preventable diseases - the vast majority of them in developing countries” (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/)
· The CHIP website includes a photo gallery, case studies, and video clips of the four countries highlighted on the website.
Poverty, especially for young children, is far reaching. The statistical information given on the website is shocking. The fact that so many children suffer from being poor which contributes to malnourishment, lack of vaccinations, and low educational attainment is sad. One thing that I have taken away from exploring the websites is how important advocacy is and policy changes are needed in order to protect the youngest population.
To me the numbers are overwhelming. In a world that provides so much we still have so far to go. As mentioned on the website, http://www.childrensdefense.org/policy-priorities/ending-child-poverty/, today's poor children are likely to become tomorrow's poor parents. The pattern will continue repeating itself if we don't focus on ways to educate and help families today.
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