Monday, April 4, 2011
Governmental approach to fight the poverty situation among children is disgustingly decreasing
John Eter, director of the Home of Hope orphanage in Kahale, on the mountains east of Beirut complains of decreasing governmental aid to institutions that help poverty-struck children.
Eter opened the Home of Hope orphanage, run through contributions to the Lebanese Evangelical Society (LES), in 1999.
The centre has accommodation for up to 150 boys and girls of any age - usually up to 18 - who sleep in dormitories, take three meals a day, play sports and receive schooling and counseling, including check-ups by a psychologist.
“These children are brought up in homes where it is normal for them to be beaten or even raped. Some have advanced drug addiction. We have a psychologist always here, but the best therapy for kids is other kids,” said Eter.
However, the Home of Hope is facing a drastic funding crisis. Eter said that since 2004 the government had reduced its support to the centre by 80 percent, meaning the budget of around US$500,000 has shrunk to around $30,000, just enough to feed and clothe the 64 children currently resident.
Two thirds of the teaching and support staff have already been laid off, with the remainder receiving letters announcing their dismissal by the end of August, when Eter said the centre would have to close in the absence of extra funds.
“I have made many appeals for money from the British and French embassies and from the European Union and USAID [US Agency for International Development], but they are not interested because the kids are not Lebanese. There is money for political activities but not for humanitarian,” said Eter.
Minister of Social Affairs Naila Mouawad, who herself runs a foundation which helps working children in Tripoli, north Lebanon, told IRIN that the Home of Hope had been awarded $200,000 from the government this year, but that payment had been severely delayed by the ongoing political deadlock.
IRIN. (2007, July). LEBANON: Government could do more to tackle child labour . Retrieved April 2011, from IRIN Middle East: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73288
Eter opened the Home of Hope orphanage, run through contributions to the Lebanese Evangelical Society (LES), in 1999.
The centre has accommodation for up to 150 boys and girls of any age - usually up to 18 - who sleep in dormitories, take three meals a day, play sports and receive schooling and counseling, including check-ups by a psychologist.
“These children are brought up in homes where it is normal for them to be beaten or even raped. Some have advanced drug addiction. We have a psychologist always here, but the best therapy for kids is other kids,” said Eter.
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| Image from IRIN Middle East: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73288 |
However, the Home of Hope is facing a drastic funding crisis. Eter said that since 2004 the government had reduced its support to the centre by 80 percent, meaning the budget of around US$500,000 has shrunk to around $30,000, just enough to feed and clothe the 64 children currently resident.
Two thirds of the teaching and support staff have already been laid off, with the remainder receiving letters announcing their dismissal by the end of August, when Eter said the centre would have to close in the absence of extra funds.
“I have made many appeals for money from the British and French embassies and from the European Union and USAID [US Agency for International Development], but they are not interested because the kids are not Lebanese. There is money for political activities but not for humanitarian,” said Eter.
Minister of Social Affairs Naila Mouawad, who herself runs a foundation which helps working children in Tripoli, north Lebanon, told IRIN that the Home of Hope had been awarded $200,000 from the government this year, but that payment had been severely delayed by the ongoing political deadlock.
IRIN. (2007, July). LEBANON: Government could do more to tackle child labour . Retrieved April 2011, from IRIN Middle East: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73288
International Labor Organization and Lebanese child beggars
According to Dr. Nabil Watfa of the International Labour Organization, there are roughly 100,000 children currently working in the country, including those on the streets.
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| Logo catched from ndphs.com |
Some of these children are the victims of coercion an organised crime. “Many children are forced to work as beggars, and even prostitutes, by organised gangs, which pay them with cigarettes or drugs,” said Jannot Sanah, a psychological supervisor at the Lebanese Evangelical Institute for Social Work and Development.
The institute is one of very few in Lebanon devoted to the issue of street children and the only one working in cooperation with the social affairs ministry.
According to statistics, the institute sheltered 239 children in 2004 and 172 last year. From the beginning of 2006, the centre has received around 90 children, 60 of whom have chosen to remain at the centre. Sanah attributed the drop to “the security situation and tightening security measures on the Syria-Lebanon border, where many of these children and gangs come from”.
Despite its good work, however, the institute – which is financed primarily through donations – is facing hard times. Promised monies from the social affairs ministry have been several months late, said Sanah, which has resulted in a major funding shortfall.
IRIN. (2006, July). LEBANON: Street children - victims of organised crime. Retrieved April 2011, from Web Archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20070214065729/http:/www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54357&SelectRegion=Middle_East
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