Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 1

Children living in poverty are definitely one life condition that we want to decrease all around the world.  Our desire is to provide the best experiences for children, and educate the community on how to minimize the effects of living in poverty.  The website Childhood Research and Policy Centre (CHIP) aims to fill some of the gaps in knowledge about childhood poverty internationally and in partner countries, and to work with other to gain commitments to action.  The website also has general information about childhood poverty internationally, research about poverty in developing countries (China, India, ect) and the rationales for the CHIP program.

Some of the facts that I found very interesting while researching are the following

40 % of children in developing countries suffer from malnutrition. At current rates of improvement, 1 billion children's mental development will be affected by malnutrition by 2020 (UN James Commission).

121 million school-aged children in developing countries do not attend school at all, while one third do not complete four years of primary education, the minimum needed for basic numeracy and literacy. (CHIP briefing 5).

A 1% reduction in world military spending could provide primary schooling to all the world's children. A 10% reduction could eliminate illiteracy completely for a decade. If 0.5% of world military spending were diverted to immunisation, all children could be vaccinated against preventable diseases for the next 10 years (UNICEF, 2004)

References:

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (CHIP).  Retrieved from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=rationale

Early Childhood Care and Development (ECS)- An Innoculation Against Povertyh or a Daycare Reguge for the Very Poor? Retrived from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php/action=documentfeed/doctype=pdf/id=102/