Dr Rani Mughal
principalgdcskt@gmail.com
‘Our children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation.’ – Nelson Mandela.
But the nations of today’s world that we live in do not think so, it seems. The world has not been successful in nurturing this asset even to the extent of providing basic nutritious food to the entire child population living on this planet. This “greatest asset” of all the nations can be found in abundance, hungry and malnourished, in the towns and villages of Asia and Africa and even in the lanes and bylanes of the so-called developed nations of the world. Ironically, this happens while tonnes of food are wasted daily across the globe, highlighting the tragic imbalance between abundance and hunger.
According to an article published on the website of Children Incorporated (a non-profit 501(c)(3) international child sponsorship and child assistance organization based in North Chesterfield, Virginia, USA) by Shelley Callahan on February 19, 2020, the following facts regarding problems related to child hunger are stated:
* Every year, 3.1 million children (8,500 children per day) die due to poor nutrition.
(It comes to around one child every 10 seconds.)
* Today, there are 815 million people in the world who do not have enough to eat.
* Approximately 28% of all children in developing countries are considered to be underweight, or have had their growth stunted as a result of malnutrition.
* Worldwide, malnutrition contributes to almost half of the deaths of kids under the age of 5, claiming the lives of over 3 million children per year.
A UNICEF press release dated 27 July 2020 says that an additional 6.7 million children under 5 could suffer from wasting, and therefore become dangerously undernourished, in 2020 as a result of the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our children are going through this pain and will continue to go through the residual pain, as the economic aftereffects of the nearly three years of the pandemic are going to last much longer than the disease itself. So, what are we doing now, and what do we need to do in the future? To be honest, what we are doing now is not sufficient by any standard. But there are a few things that can and should be done now and in the future.
To begin with, the privileged of the world must see in the eyes of a suffering child an image of their own child, their own flesh and blood. Furthermore, the illusion that the governments and UNICEF are capable of doing this alone while the rest of the population can focus on making money must be shed. Everyone must do their bit. Moreover, prioritizing child welfare should become a way of thinking, and people must take it upon themselves as their duty to help any child who is suffering, especially for economic reasons and also because of any other reason, near them, wherever they are. Finally, every government in every country should be made to give an account of their performance in taking care of children who are vulnerable. Child welfare must and should become an electoral issue in every country, in every election. The media must make it a point to hold the government of the day to account on their performance on child hunger and child welfare.
Yes, it can be done, provided the humanity at large apply its will to get it done. Provided the world understands that children are not only the greatest asset, but the shared asset and the shared future of the human race. If the world decided today that they will not tolerate that tear depicting pain, pain of any kind, of any nature, in the eyes of any child, it can be done. The day the world decides to protect its future, it will be done.
In conclusion, as a proud Indian citizen, let me remind all that if we are truly committed to building a Viksit Bharat, we must remember that a nation cannot be truly Viksit if even one child sleeps hungry.
The Principal GDC Surankote, on the occasion of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (17 October).
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