save the life

Systematic discrimination against girls and women in the world’s poorest countries will prevent the United Nations from meeting its goals to reduce poverty. Girls and women were more likely to be poor, hungry, illiterate or sick than boys and men. According to Action Aid which produced the report in South Asia women are getting a shrinking share of income as the economy grows. Amid growing concern that the millennium development goals set by UN for 2015 will not be met, Action Aid said a focus on women was vital to put the international community back on track.

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When the constitution of India outlawed untouchability in 1950 many national leaders believed that a centuries old practice had been brought to an end. But now nearly 60 years later there is no total success of the statutory measure. Millions of Dalits across the country who account for roughly 1/5th of the population continue to suffer birth-based discrimination and humiliation. In states like Tamil Nadu which boasts a long history of reformist movements is no exception.Infact untouchability has not only survived the constitutional ban but taken new avatars in many parts of the state. Caste-based discrimination has often led to violence, leaving hundreds of the disadvantaged people in distress particularly in the 1990s.

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Wars, earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding: these and other emergencies wreak havoc on society and affect children deeply. The right to education is most at risk during emergencies and during the transition period following a crisis. In conflict-affected countries, 28 million children of primary school age were out of school in 2011 – 42 per cent of the world total. Only 79 per cent of young people are literate in conflict-affected poor countries, compared with 93 per cent in other poor countries. Moreover, children living in conflict are twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday as children in other poor countries.

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