KIDS IN CRISIS

A U.N. Report Looks at the Status of Children Worldwide.

For years, Himal never saw the inside of a classroom. As one of eight children growing up in a poor family in Udayapur, Nepal, the boy had to go to work to help make ends meet. He labored alongside his father as a porter, carrying baggage through the treacherous passages of the Himalaya Mountains. When Himal turned 14, his parents sent him away so that he wouldn’t be forced to serve in a rebel army. In the city of Biratnagar, Himal became a domestic worker. He took care of cows and cleaned his employer’s house for the equivalent of $7 a month.
     Fortunately, Himal’s employer agreed to allow him to attend classes. Himal, now 16, has learned to read and write. He hopes to become a banker.
     Himal was lucky. Many children around the world don’t have the opportunity to escape extreme poverty. More than 1 billion people worldwide survive on less than a dollar a day, and 238 million of them are young people. In 2000, world leaders took steps to change that situation. The United Nations adopted eight Millennium Development Goals. The goals include cutting extreme poverty by half, reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other major diseases, and making sure every child gets at least a primary education—all by 2015.
      A report published by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) explores some of the obstacles to achieving those goals. The report, The State of the World’s Children 2006, focuses on kids who are in danger of being forgotten by the world. “There cannot be lasting progress if we continue to overlook the children most in need—the poorest and most vulnerable, the exploited and the abused,” says Ann Veneman, UNICEF executive director.
      In order to make their voices heard, hundreds of  young leaders from around the globe recently met at the United Nations in New York City. They discussed ways to combat poverty and examined some of the problems facing kids throughout the world.

Off to work
Like Himal, many kids are forced to go to work rather than attend school.
An estimated 246 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 are engaged in child labor, according to the International Labour Organization. Of those, nearly 70 percent face hazardous situations or conditions—working in mines, handling chemicals and pesticides in agriculture, or using dangerous machinery.
     In Jordan, 16-year-old Ali works long hours at a falafel restaurant to
help support his family. Two years ago, Ali nearly lost his hand when he dozed off while grinding chickpeas. Fortunately, he was rushed to the hospital, where doctors managed to save his hand.
     Ali’s story was told in a recent documentary about the problem of child labor in Jordan, where more than 40,000 kids between the ages of 7 and 18 work to help support their families.  
     “This documentary is a personal scream,” Ali says. His life is hard, he adds, “but what’s even tougher is having young people my age pass by and stare because I am not doing the same things that they are doing.”

Growing up in a war zone
For children in war zones, life is short. In many countries embroiled in armed conflict, such as Afghanistan, Chad, and Somalia, one in five children dies before reaching the age of 5. Kids who grow up amid the violence are often orphaned or recruited as soldiers.
     In Sierra Leone, a long civil war (1991–2002) has had lasting effects on kids. More than 10,000 children were victims of random violence, abducted, or separated from their families. Martha, 15, was separated from her father when rebels overtook their village. She later learned that her father had been killed.
      “The whole world stopped for me,” recalls Martha, whose mother died when the girl was a toddler. “For the first time in my life I felt alone. I realized I was an orphan.”
     Many families try to escape conflict by moving to refugee camps. Kalma Camp in Sudan is home to more than 70,000 people who have fled militia attacks in Darfur. Many children in the overcrowded camp
suffer from malnourishment and diseases such as cholera.
      Sumaya, 15, lives at Kalma Camp with her parents and seven siblings. She runs the household while her parents work.
     “The food here is not nutritious,” says Sumaya. “In our village we used to eat lots of vegetables and fruits, but we can’t grow anything here.”

Working for change
Young people all over the world are working to address these problems. Last month, more than 350 youth leaders from 180 countries met at the United Nations for the Global Youth Leadership Summit. They brainstormed solutions to the issues affecting young people in their countries. Ousman Jarju, 24, of Gambia shared creative ways to educate people about HIV/AIDS. In his country, where the epidemic is on the rise, Jarju helped organize a carnival that used music and drama to raise AIDS awareness. He’s hoping that the U.N. meeting will lead to the creation of a youth network so that people around the world can trade ideas. “Many young people aren’t a part of decision making,” Jarju says. “There’s a need to encourage more young people to help in making decisions.”
     Sahar Othman, who represented the Palestinian territories, believes that young people can make a difference now. “I always hear that we’re hoping for a better future,” she says. “When is this future? Why not work for a better today?”