The IIJD is an independent, not-for-profit international organization that actively advocates tackling the root causes of poverty by addressing systemic weaknesses, reforming institutions of governance, building capacity and empowering communities. With programs and initiatives based on participation, empowerment and sustainability, we treat not just the symptoms of poverty, underdevelopment, and insecurity, but confront their underlying causes. Read more....
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News and Publications
The IIJD Newsletter:
   
Survey of Child Poverty in Nigeria
By Hannah Coache
February 22, 2008
Last week the Nigerian government announced its plans to conduct a census of vulnerable and impoverished children living within the country [1]. The nationwide survey is designed to shed light on the lives of children in poverty in a way that will allow the government to address the fundamental causes of child poverty and child labor in the country. Many children who are born in poverty, throughout Africa, are often put to work at a very young age by parents or guardians. The government says it needs to know more about this situation. The survey has been met with opposition from many parents who fear that the government will come after them if their children are working [2]. For the many families who depend on their children’s labor for survival, this fear is a very real one.
While specific information regarding the details of the survey is scarce, government officials and census takers say that the questions being asked to the children are very simple in nature, and that they are surveying children as young as three and four[3]. The census takers are also asking questions of the children's parents and guardians, but the conclusions of the survey will be drawn primarily from the children’s responses. Many parents and guardians feel that, if the government truly wanted to help the children, they would first focus on helping their parents out of poverty. They also question the value of such a survey and insist that young children are not capable of giving meaningful answers about their lives [4]. However, the government refutes this idea and maintains that the survey will provide them with valuable insights and a better picture of child poverty in the country, which they say could lead to more financial aid from government and international donors [5].
 
 
Nigeria is not the only country preoccupied with the issue of vulnerable children and child poverty. Across Africa, there are an estimated 80 million child workers, a number that could rise to 100 million by 2015[6]. The roots of this issue are inextricably linked to the continent's poverty, and can only be eliminated with increases in family incomes and educational opportunities for children. In 2003, in Nigeria alone, there were approximately 7 million orphans and vulnerable children living in poverty, and it is estimated that by 2010 that number could rise to 10 million. In recent years, many African governments have shown renewed initiative in tackling the issue of child poverty and labor on the continent. Last February, the Cameroonian government held a two-day workshop to evaluate the activities of the National Programme on the Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OEV), a program that targets both the causes and symptoms of this endemic problem [7]. Organized by the National Committee on the Fight against AIDS under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Affairs, this workshop brought together stakeholders in the health and social affairs sectors in the country for the purpose of outlining new aid projects and policy objectives for 2008[8]. It is hoped that the survey in Nigeria will prompt the initiation of programs such as this, that bring together workers, volunteers, and policy-makers from all sectors to tackle the social and political factors that form the roots of child poverty in Africa.
 
 
Though the IIJD admires any attempt on the part of the Nigerian government to gain a greater understanding of child poverty within the country, we also look with great skepticism upon the project as a whole and would like to call into question the true purpose behind the Nigerian survey. Is this survey a genuine attempt on the part of the Nigerian government to address the root causes of poverty within the country, or rather a political move to stimulate greater inflows of international aid money? Will those funds go to address the causational factors and resulting symptoms of the issue, or will they just be siphoned off by the graft and corruption that is rampant within Nigerian government institutions? The IIJD believes that, if the goal of the survey is to truly gain a comprehensive assessment of child poverty within the country, the Nigerian government must first be willing to address the root causes of poverty and underdevelopment within the country. As one of the world’s largest exporters of petroleum, Nigeria is one of the wealthiest countries in Africa. However, it is also one of the most corrupt: The vast oil revenues in Nigeria have not benefited those in the country who need it most. Instead, these revenues have, oftentimes, ended up lining the coffers of corrupt government officials. The IIJD believes that in order for there to be a resolution to the severe and persistent inequality that has plagued Nigerian society, there must first be comprehensive institutional reform. The IIJD believes that independent, transparent political institutions play a central role in remedying issues of poverty and inequality in Africa as well as in the rest of the developing world: Institutions and accountability are paramount. Therefore, we feel that, before the Nigerian government can exact change within the sphere of child poverty, it must first address the issues of the rampant corruption and graft that currently abounds in all levels of government.
 
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