God's own children

Child labor is really becoming a concern for Indian society. We talk about how children are being exploited by various means. We all know the things concerning child labor in India but there are few areas in our world where things are very different.

Africa is one continent where child mortality rate is the highest in the world. According to UNICEF report, more than 9 million children die before they attain the age of 5. The average Infant Mortality Rate of Africa hover around 110 to 140 deaths per thousand children. About 29,000 children under the age of five – 21 each minute – die every day, mainly from preventable causes. 70 per cent of almost 11 million child deaths every year are attributable to six causes: diarrhoea, malaria, neonatal infection, pneumonia, preterm delivery, or lack of oxygen at birth.

Now come the turn of hunger and malnutrition. More than 300 million children go to bed without having food. 90% of them are suffering from long term malnourishment and macro nutrient deficiencies. Every year more than 20 million low-weight babies are born. These babies carry the risk of dying in infancy or other lifelong physical and cognitive disabilities.

To worsen the case a vast number of children across the world have become HIV infected and without treatment thousands die of AIDS. According to various health agencies at the end of 2007, there were 2 million children living with HIV around the world. An estimated 3,70,000 children became newly infected with HIV in 2007.Of the 2 million people who died of AIDS during 2007, more than one in seven were children. Every hour, around 31 children die as a result of AIDS.
Not only these other factors like clean & safe drinking water, access to education and health services, proper sanitation and a lack of good healthy life are equal contributors in worsening the condition of children in Africa.

More over in certain countries of Africa, particularly Somalia,Sudan,Congo And other politically in stable countries, children are being trained to fire AK47s, handle grenades and are often used in raids, arson and terrorist activities. Imagine children who should have pens,notebooks and study materials in their hand are actually getting AK47, grenades, and drugs. We often hear that children are a gift of god, I wonder is it a gift of god????????????????


Saurabh Das