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Most SL children live in families struggling financially: UNICEF report

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20 November 2020 04:57 pm - 9     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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While the official poverty rate is very low, the majority of Sri Lanka’s children live in families that are struggling financially, and 36 per cent of children live in families with a per person expenditure of less than Rs. 278 a day, a new UNICEF report said.  

A statement from the UNICEF Sri Lanka said 74 per cent live in families with a per person expenditure of less than Rs. 506 per day.  

A new UNICEF Sri Lanka report recommends the establishment of a Universal Child Benefit (UCB) as a vital step to reduce the poverty and vulnerability faced by families and children in Sri Lanka, which for many has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Produced with support from the European Union (EU) the ‘Investing in the Future: A Universal Child Benefit for Sri Lanka’s children’ report has been released to mark the 31st anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), celebrated globally on November 20 as World Children’s Day. The report outlines options for providing all children with a monthly benefit at a relatively low cost to the country, thus making it financially feasible for Sri Lanka, while having a significant impact on child well-being and on the nation’s overall development.  

Among the findings, the report notes that while Sri Lanka has made considerable progress in improving the lives of its children over decades, there are still large disparities in how children are faring depending on where they live or their family conditions.  

For over 70 per cent of Sri Lankan households, food comprises more than 40 per cent of their total expenditure, limiting the capacity to invest in their children;  

Wasting affects 15 per cent of children under the age of five years, which places Sri Lanka in the ten worst countries on this indicator in the world. Stunting and wasting affect children across the welfare distribution, reflecting the fact that most families are living on limited incomes.  

The COVID-19 crisis has likely exacerbated these challenges, as many families have lost all or part of their income, cut down on the number and quality of meals, depleted their savings and resorted to pawning and selling assets to generate income. 


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  Comments - 9

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  • Sudu Friday, 20 November 2020 05:21 PM

    Rs. 278 meaning 1.5$... ??

    Lord Wolfstein Friday, 20 November 2020 05:41 PM

    It is not the quantity but the quality of the food which is important

    Ponniah Sivapalan Friday, 20 November 2020 06:17 PM

    Recent reports revealed that more people pawned their jewelry to cope with their living expenses / survive ?

    Mark Friday, 20 November 2020 06:45 PM

    SL still a poor poverty stricken country even after all these years. Shameful

    VJ Friday, 20 November 2020 07:07 PM

    Someone is trying to paint a grim picture of our country. This must be a foreign conspiracy. We don’t have poor people, no one is living on handouts or subsidies. No one is malnourished in this country? Have have abundance of Veges rotting in our markets.

    Resde Aswe Friday, 20 November 2020 07:45 PM

    Unicef should know we Sri Lankans likes to spend on Difference. Not on universel credit or Education.

    ram Friday, 20 November 2020 07:45 PM

    It is true. Most developing countries does not recognize child poverty and child abuse or child labor. When a child's education is deprived by the parents and forced to work in their farm, we do not call it as a child labor. In fact, it is a child labor. These parents should be punished because what they are doing is a child abuse. They are not doing it because they are poor. They are doing it because these parents don't have education and they do not want their children education.

    Tax payer Saturday, 21 November 2020 11:58 AM

    Only those who took to Politics and others who resorted to frauds and wrong doing are not poor in this country.

    Nihal Saturday, 21 November 2020 01:48 PM

    Those who are fortunate give some to the less fortunate.


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