Youth play a role in hunger and poverty

A girl at the WAY booth gave me a pamphlet about hunger and poverty. She was at the Independence Memorial in Melaka to participate in the Youth Day celebration for 2016.

Poverty has deprived many people from a decent life; and they are facing problems in getting the essential living needs.

The United Nations defines poverty as : A denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. The denial could happen within a family, in education and healthcare, work opportunities and in the work place. Discrimination could have take place in situations like those to the people who has been marginalized.

If money income to buy basic household food is not enough, the poverty line is clear to be an obstacle for development, and its manifestations affected many youth issues.

Many families have children who do not want to continue classes because of poverty and even if they do go to classes, they may not concentrate to learn what the teacher teaches. They will add the number to the youth illiteracy rate and foreign supply of workers has to take up their domestic job vacancies. A child is supposed to attend a school nearest to his home but some of those denied child has to learn knowledge from a school far away. Poor child who has to travel far to attend classed further add the cost of education.

Having not enough to eat at home and in school could make them less attentive in what they are learning and in addition, might face weak immune system and easily get ill.

People usually suffer from social discrimination when they are poor to live in unfit housing and polluted environment.

If you spend RM1,500 to RM2,400 from your salary of RM3,000 per month, then you are a poor person. Out of the RM2,400, you can only feed for 24 days on a RM100 a day a family and on hunger for the next six days.

Would believe that …

A child dies from hunger every 10 seconds.