Poverty and African Children

Poverty in Africa is very prevelant but the effects are no different on African children than children amy where else. Poverty has causes and effects. The causes are many but in Africa, most are culturally influenced. Poverty in Africa is caused by lack of education, women who are segregated and not allowed to earn livings as men do, and cultural norms. The effects are poor treatment, lack of education, high crime rates, social exclusion, poor health conditions, and high stress home lives. Poverty creates a domino effect where almost every aspect of the family's life is affected. Over 62% of African children do not complete their education. This makes the cycle impossible to break....without education there is no way out. Statistics vary from site to site but one thing is certain.....the incidence of poverty in Africa has something in common with poverty in America and it is alarming. In both countries, the rate of children living in poverty has increased each year for the last 11 years. This is scary. In the Sudan, 90 of every 1000 children die by age 5. In Ethiopia the figure is 164 per 1000, compared with a norm of 4-6 per thousand in industrialized nations. For adults, lack of food and money means lack of health care, made even more dangerous by living conditions marked by lack of clean water and adequate sanitation.  1 out if every 3 African children suffer from starvation. This is alarming and unnecessary. THE CYCLE MUST BE BROKEN! The children are suffering.