Ethnic minority children are among the most vulnerable
and marginalized groups in the world and global action is urgently needed to
protect their survival and rights, says a new report from the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Approximately half the world’s ethnic minority people
live in Asia, including some 70 million in East Asia, 50 million in South
Asia and 30 million in Southeast Asia.
“When indigenous children are allowed to live in peace
and security and free from discrimination, they have an enormous potential
to contribute not only to their own communities but to national and global
society,” said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. “If we are to
achieve goals such as poverty reduction, education for all and an end to the
HIV/AIDS epidemic, we must put all children, especially the most vulnerable
children such as those in indigenous communities, at the center of our
efforts.”
The report, titled “Ensuring the rights of indigenous
children”, details how the rights of ethnic minority children are often
compromised or denied. In Asian countries, governments often deny ethnic
minority status and associated rights, and only the Philippines, Malaysia
and Cambodia have legislation concerning ethnic minority peoples.
The report cites specific areas for action, including the
rights to birth registration and citizenship. Registration and citizenship
are critical issues and a prerequisite for claiming other rights, such as
education and judicial protection. In this region, however, where many
ethnic minority groups cannot understand, afford or access registration
processes, significant numbers are left stateless, in contravention of
international law.
Their rights to survival also include development and
good health. In the Mekong sub-region, hill tribe children have the highest
infant mortality rates, as well as the lowest family incomes, nutrition and
access to healthcare. In Ratanakiri, Cambodia, ethnic minority children are
more than twice as likely to die during delivery as the average child. In
Vietnam, access to healthcare ranges from 90 percent in urban areas to 20
percent in the rural highlands that are home to most ethnic minority groups
and where maternal mortality rates are four times the national average. In
both countries, fewer than half of ethnic minority households have access to
safe water.
They have the right to education that respects cultural
identity. Ethnic minorities children generally have lower rates of school
enrolment and higher rates of grade repetition and school dropout. It is
difficult to train and retain qualified teachers in inaccessible rural and
mountainous areas, while the seasonal demands of agriculture frequently
conflict with rigid term and class times leading to the temporary
abandonment of schools.
In Vietnam, where around half of all teachers in the
highlands are not fully trained, 83 percent of Hmong men and 97 percent of
Hmong women are illiterate.
They have the right to protection from abuse, violence
and exploitation. Ethnic minority children generally have lower and
inadequate protection in formal justice systems despite being at higher risk
of abuse. In Southeast Asia, where 200,000-225,000 women and children are
trafficked annually, often into exploitative forms of child labor, ethnic
minority children are targeted by criminal networks because they are less
aware of the dangers of being trafficked, including the risk of HIV/AIDS.
The report says that governments must devote resources
and enact legislation, policies and services to support ethnic minority
families, and highlights four strategic areas where it has been demonstrated
that investment, particularly when it builds on the strengths of ethnic
minority communities, can pay off for children:
Health and nutrition - understand and utilize traditional
heath practices and community figures, including traditional healers and
birth attendants; improve access to health services, especially in distant
and remote locations.
Education - develop pre-school education programs and
offer bilingual education, especially during the first few years of
schooling when ethnic minority children are not fully fluent in the majority
language. Make education relevant and compatible through using elders as
resources in schools and adapting class schedules to the daily and seasonal
rhythms of community life.
Protection and support - build capacity among ethnic
minority families, kinship networks and communities to protect and support
themselves. Focus on ethnic minority children in urban and peri-urban
situations where they are often isolated from traditional support networks
and institutions. Ensure the justice system demonstrates cultural awareness
and sensitivity.
Participation in decision-making - take steps to overcome
obstacles to registration, including issues of awareness and access. Empower
indigenous children to participate in community, national and international
discussions.
