Cape Verde enjoys economic and
political stability, however its ten main islands have few natural resources and
are prone to drought driving many abroad to the extent that today more Cape
Verdeans live elsewhere than on the islands; in the last decade alone 200,000
have died during drought conditions leaving the population at just over half a
million people. Those who live and work abroad tend to send money home to their
families increasing its foreign currency reserves and ability to import much
needed foodstuffs. Just 7% of the population live
under the poverty line of 60p a day, however many children in Cape Verde have
poor access to clean water and sanitation and they also suffer from regular
outbreaks of cholera and there are few doctors on the islands to assist when
these outbreaks occur.
Currently 20% of the child population in Cape Verde lack
access to regular supplies of drinking water and 14% of all children are under
nourished; 82% of all food has to be imported to meet the country's needs.
There are 221,000 children under the age of 18 in Cape Verde and whilst
primary school enrolment is pretty much universal only 27% of all children
attend secondary school. Many miss out on school to engage in child labour;
working in agriculture and often exposed to dangerous machinery or in
domestic servitude or simply washing cars and street vending to supplement
the meagre family income. During the 1980s many moved into
the capital of Praia putting pressure on already limited resources where housing
was already of poor quality resulting in some children being abandoned, however
there has, of late, been a tendency for many to migrate back into rural areas
where there is poor access to basic amenities such as sanitation which is
available to just 39% of the rural child population.
Child
sponsor programs in Cape Verde concentrate on ensuring each
child in Cape Verde has access to basic necessities such as
food and education, whilst other work include the expensive
extraction of the islands' underground water reserves and
educating the population about the dangers of deforestation
and sustainable environmental issues however, unlike many other countries in
Africa, there are few child sponsor programs in Cape Verde. You can help when you sponsor a
child in Cape Verde.
Child Sponsor Cape Verde: SOS Children's Villages
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Child Sponsor Cape Verde: Volunteer in Cape Verde
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