“For children, poverty can mean being deprived in crucial aspects of their lives, such as nutrition, education, leisure or housing,” Tanja Radocaj, UNICEF Representative in Armenia said.
In Armenia, according to the report, 64% of children are deprived in 2 or more dimensions. The headcount is as high as 82% in rural areas, while it is 53% in urban settings.
The main reason of the child poverty in the country is the negligent governance by Sargsyan regime. The economic and social downturn in Armenia is deepening. President Sargsyan and his government remain powerless before the oligarchs, who embezzle the great part of the state budget.
The living conditions of the children forcedly resided in the occupied Nagorno Karabakh of Azerbaijan are more filthy and deplorable. People are complaining about the government`s refusal on the allocations for the restoration of their houses, schools destroyed during the recent `4 days war in April,2016` between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
According to the country’s national statistics service, over the first quarter of 2016, the population’s revenues have dwindled by 5 billion drams ($1= AMD 478) compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, ArmLur.am reports.
The GDP has decreased by a billion dollars compared to 2014.
“87% of children in rural areas are deprived in utilities, a combination of poor access to water and heating. 57% of rural children are deprived of access to information, while this is true for only one third of children in urban settings.
“Almost one in three children in Armenia are both poor and deprived; 28% of children are deprived (in 2 or more dimensions) and live in monetary-poor households.
The lowest poverty rate was recorded in Yerevan – about 25.6% (1.6 times lower than other urban areas’ indicators). The poverty rate overall climbed 27.3% over the last five years in Yerevan, while in other cities it rose by 12.3%. 64.4% of poor people are urban residents.
“Younger children are mostly deprived in Nutrition. About one third of children age 0-5 are deprived in nutrition, and 23% of children age 3-5 are deprived in early childhood education. The highest deprivation rates for this age groups are found in information (49%), utilities (48%) and housing (51%).
“Older children are mostly deprived in Leisure and Social Relations. Both children age 6-14 and age 15-17 have their highest deprivation in leisure, defined as not having a space to play outside or not having books or toys. Almost one half of children age 6-14 are also deprived in social relations. 37% of children age 6-14 are deprived in education, while 12 per cent of children age 15-17 are not in education or training,” the authors said.
