CHILDREN-LATAM/CARIBBEAN: UNICEF Survey - a Portrait of Pessimism
IGC News Desk
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 12-Jun-0* ***
Title: CHILDREN-LATAM/CARIBBEAN: UNICEF Survey - a Portrait of Pessimism
By Luis C¢rdova
CARACAS, Jun 12 (IPS) - Latin America's children are not
optimistic with respect to the future of their countries, have
little confidence in their leaders, and keenly feel the impact of
rising levels of crime, according to a survey whose results were
released Monday by the UN children's agency, UNICEF.
In this first edition of a new regionwide survey, 34 percent of
young respondents said things would not improve in their countries
in the future, while 33 percent predicted that the situation would
only get worse.
UNICEF interviewed 11,852 youngsters in the nine-to-18 year age
category in 20 countries, considered a representative sample of
the 103 million people in that age group in Latin America and the
Caribbean today.
The aim of the survey was to give children and teenagers an
opportunity to express themselves freely - a right that is often
overlooked, although it is guaranteed by the International
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The document, ''The Voice of the Children and Adolescents of
Latin America and the Caribbean'', will be distributed to
governments and institutions and submitted as a key document at
the next Ibero-American summit, slated for November in Panama.
UNICEF, an active participant in the preparations for that
gathering, the main theme of which will be children, acknowledged
the limitations of opinion polls, which it said could be less than
totally accurate or representative. It stressed, however, that the
survey provided a rare opportunity for the voices of children to
be heard.
The 67 percent of respondents who said they did not foresee a
better future for their countries represent 70 million youngsters
who display a ''marked pessimism,'' according to the UN agency's
analysis of the poll results.
However, 76 percent - representing 80 million people - believed
their living standards would be better in the future than their
parents'.
The results reflected the low level of confidence that youth in
the region has for government today, with 37 percent saying they
were only somewhat important to authorities in their countries,
and 25 percent saying they were largely or totally ignored.
Only two percent of the children and teenagers surveyed listed
politicians among the people they considered their leaders, a
category headed by singers and sports stars.
A proportion representing 50 million youngsters throughout the
region said they were not heard either at home or in school, while
barely eight percent said they enjoyed going to school.
The report also provided a portrait of living conditions among
families in Latin America and the Caribbean, based on the
information provided by the young interviewees.
For example, 26 percent - representing 20 million people in the
region - reported shouting or physical aggression in their homes,
with 16 percent saying they were mistreated when they misbehaved -
including 13 percent who complained of being hit and three percent
who said they were the target of insults.
The proportion of children who reported being beaten climbed to
40 percent in Haiti, 22 percent in Guyana and 20 percent in the
Dominican Republic.
The father figure was basically absent from the lives of 29
percent of respondents, while 22 percent lived only with their
mothers, and three percent only with their fathers.
UNICEF drew attention to the fact that 43 percent of
respondents - equivalent to 44 million children and teens - said
they lived in areas where the sensation of danger or a lack of
safety was ''very high''.
In other words, nearly half of nine to 18-year-olds in the
region live in constant fear of violent crime, stressed UNICEF.
Perceiving one's living space as threatening has a very negative
impact on a person's vision of the world, life, society and
citizenship, it added.
Half of those polled said they had been somehow involved in an
experience of robbery and one-third in an experience of violent
attack.
UNICEF carried out the survey in conjunction with Chile's Time
Research company and polling firms in the 20 participating
nations. The sample is statistically representative in terms of
gender, ethnic origin and socioeconomic status, and has an
estimated 1.2 percent margin of error, said the UN agency.
At the presentation of the report Monday in Caracas, UNICEF
representative in Venezuela Debora Comini underlined the
importance of ''getting used to listening to the voices of
children'' in order for societies ''to benefit from the
contribution of a new group of citizens.''
Among this important group of citizens, 30 million are ''only
happy some of the time'' (27 percent of those polled) or ''never
or almost never'' happy (5 percent), according to the report.
(END/IPS/tra-so/lc/mj/sw/00)
Origin: Montevideo/CHILDREN-LATAM/CARIBBEAN/
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