For most children in Australia, being in school, getting an education and choosing career options is just the way it is – part of childhood, part of growing up. But for children in the poorest countries, these things are not automatic.
For children living with a disability, it can be even harder. Some have to fight for their rights to be allowed to study, tackling attitudes and physical barriers.
For many people, living with a disability means living in the cycle of poverty and disability. Because of poverty, people are more likely to acquire a disability, and living with a disability, people are more likely to be poor, for example, because they do not have access to education.
ChildFund has previously spoken out about this exclusion and poverty faced by children with disabilities here. They’ve also partnered with End the Cycle, a campaign to raise awareness about the cycle of poverty and disability, and how this can be broken when people with disabilities are empowered to enjoy their human rights.
End the Cycle has seen first-hand how this cycle of poverty and disability is created, and also how it can be ended. Recently, we went to Bangladesh and collected some amazing stories from people with disabilities, told in their own words.
That’s when we met Ruma. When Ruma was a child, she experienced exclusion and prejudice. Her neighbours and the teachers said that she should not be allowed to go to school because she couldn’t walk. You can see her story for yourself in the video below:
In Ruma’s case, when she got into school she excelled. She is now in college, she is teaching other children and she is advocating for the rights of people with disability through a local organisation.
ChildFund Australia is an endorsing partner of End the Cycle and together we are sharing the message that the cycle of poverty and disability can be ended by working towards development that includes everyone. To see more stories like Ruma’s, add your voice to the campaign and sign our pledge, visit www.endthecycle.org.au
Nine out of 10 Australian children (87%) say it is important for people in Australia to try and do something to reduce the number of children overseas who grow up in poverty, with the number-one reason being ‘because no child anywhere should grow up in poverty’. These findings come from the latest ChildFund Australia survey, Perceptions of Child Poverty and Aid Effectiveness 2012.
The vast majority of Australian children also recognise how lucky they are to live in Australia, with 89% saying they think the lives of children in developing countries are ‘a lot worse’ than their life.
At the same time, most Australian children do not believe that current aid efforts are improving the lives of their peers overseas. Only a quarter (25%) think aid is ‘effective’ in reducing poverty for children in overseas countries, while almost two-thirds (63%) say it is ‘ineffective’.
Asked whether they believe the lives of children in poor countries are getting better or worse, or has there been no real change, only 12% say ‘better’, while 38% say there has been ‘no real change’ and a third (33%) say that the lives of children in poor countries are getting ‘worse’.
Despite their concerns about the effectiveness of aid, 42% of Australian children say ‘Australians should give more money to help children in poor countries’.
There is also considerable support among Australian children to learn more about developing countries and international aid at school, with 50% of Australian children saying they should be taught ‘more’, 40% ‘the same’ and just 3% ‘less’.
“As a child-focused agency, ChildFund recognises children as active citizens with important perspectives and opinions to offer. Additionally, Australian children are the next generation of opinion-shapers on aid and development issues,” said Mr. Spence.
“It is reassuring that Australian children show empathy and compassion for their peers overseas and are keen to learn more about global issues. However, they do show a more pessimistic view than adults about the progress being made. We hope through global education initiatives, such as our ChildFund Connect program, over time we’ll see a more positive outlook from young Australians.”
The full 2012 Perceptions of Child Poverty and Aid Effectiveness survey report is available for download here.
