UNICEF: Economic disparities a threat to children and teens
As Belizeans observe Youth Week and Children’s Day, the United Nations Children’s Fund has released its latest situational analysis called “The Belizean Child.” The report covers a broad range of topics from health and education to economic and sanitary conditions. It is structured around the Millennium Development Goals and points to serious concerns about the large social disparities threatening thousands of children and adolescents across the country.
According to the report, two out of every five Belizean children do not have their basic needs met; many do not have access to education, safe water or sanitation, birth registration and health care. Only one in three Belizean children complete primary school in the prescribed eight years. Only one in four adolescents who are poor attend secondary school. Poverty rates for children are highest in rural areas with significant poverty pockets in all communities. In terms of gender disparities, abuse and neglect is far worse for girls, with three out of four victims of child abuse being female. The report says significant numbers of adolescent girls surrender to sex for financial assistance in order to remain in school; often with parental consent. This even extends to the primary school level and increases their risk for HIV/AIDS and STD’s and teenage pregnancy. One in every five babies born in Belize is to a teen mother, and the girls are frequently discriminated against by church based schools who refuse to allow them re-enrolment after a pregnancy. According to the new Country Representative for Belize, Rana Flowers, there is a direct link between education and poverty. And while there are many areas that need attention in Belize, the issues seem to transcend partisan politics and she finds that promising.
Rana Flowers, Country Representative UNICEF
?The evidence is clear: you want to break the cycle of poverty, you invest in quality education. And it?s not just about getting kids into schools, it?s about keeping them there and not rewarding schools for marvellous pass rates, but rewarding schools for attention to every child. That is the focus that we need to bring. You know, I don?t want to get into politics either and I think one of the nice things about Belize is that you have two political parties who have both indicated that children are a priority and are on their agenda. And we can sit with both, and do sit with both parties and talk about keeping children on the agenda and that yields more successes at times than others. But it is a characteristic that is not the case in all countries and I think it is one of the wonderful things about Belize, that you do have a commitment from both the political parties to children and we have to build on that.?
The UNICEF Situational Analysis of Children and Adolescents in Belize noted that since signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990 Belize has developed the Families and Children’s Act and supplemental legislation for reforms in areas of child abuse, juvenile justice, and child care. Public institutions have been created to promote and fulfil children’s rights, a national plan of action for children and adolescents has been endorses, and there has been progress in the areas of pre and post-natal care, infant vaccinations, standards for day care facilities, reproductive health policy, and more accessible health care.
