Apart of this assignment is to write about a country listed from the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre's (CHIP) page and a few ideas or insights learned from the review. After reviewing the site I chose to review information for Mongolia. Not knowing much about the country as is, I figured it doesn't hurt to expand knowledge on a topic I am passionate about with a country I know nothing about.
I learned that in 1990 Mongolia went through a major change in government. They went from a one-part state to a multi-party democratic state. Through the changes like with most governments the people suffered. The economy dropped, causing unemployment and inflation in prices. Although things have slowly gotten better they aren't where they need to be.
In 1998, it was reported that 36% of the population was living below the poverty line. And it seems to have gotten worse. There seems to be a huge gap between the poor and rich. As one example is given, the social services in the country use to provide for all. As it stands many poor people in the country are unable to get health care. There are now fees associated as well as restrictions whereas before none of that applied to anyone. Those who can get to clinics also notice a great deal in difference between the care they receive and those who are rich.
It seems that overall the conditions are getting better, but there is so much work to be done. Below I have listed a few key points from the site about the country that I learned.
1. I was surprised to read through all this the birth rate has dropped and more children are surviving these hard times. That seems total opposite to what normally happens in most countries. In addition, less children are getting sick and catching diseases. This is great news. However, malnutrition is now a high concern. Many children are under weight and don't have safe drinking water.
2. Mongolia is a country of migration and it seems many families are choosing to move from rural to urban areas to provide better services and living conditions for their families. However it seems that many children are suffering from the migration. Many children's education has suffered. We know that with lack of education comes so many other negative factors. CHIP is currently conducting a study on the effects of migration on Mongolian children.
3. I was happy to learn that there are policies in action to assist the Mongolian families and the issue of poverty. There are other organizations involved to help their government. I was really happy to go on to read about how involved CHIP has been in researching and providing information about poverty in Mongolia. This will surely aid in illustrating how bad the problem is and perhaps how to effectively to help the people who live there. I think it will be important to be sensitive to their culture, their current government and current state.
Shayla,
ReplyDeleteGood post. It is sad that a government could do things to hurt their own people, particularly their most prized possession, the children. I wonder if access to education is available to all. Is there any gender discrimination?
Shayla,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your informative post. I also knew nothing about Mongolia, now I do. I love the UNICEF website, and they have a lot of information about Mongolia. There is a real problem with what they call "street children".The chidlren are homeless and some even live in the sewers! UNICEF is also involved in supporting policies in Mongolia relating to children.
Thank you for sharing what you learned about poverty in Mongolia!Mongolia seems to be experiencing some of the same problems as the United States in terms of health care disparities and unemployment. We also see families leaving rural areas to move to bigger cities to receive more help. I had never heard of the Mongolian Street Children. I wonder if they have orphaneges to help.
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