One in three Brazilian children suffers extreme poverty

Brasilia, Oct 4 (Prensa Latina) One in three Brazilian children suffers extreme poverty, according to data presented at the 8th International Symposium on Early Childhood Development, which ends this Friday in Sao Paulo.

Inequality is accentuated with respect to gender or race. About 49.4 percent of the black or mixed race girls' population lives in places without basic sanitation, while this percentage drops to 32.2 percent for white infants.

Difference is also noted with other restrictions, such as social protection that affects approximately 16.2 percent of black or mestizo boys and homelessness, which is higher for this segment, reaching around 28.5 percent in all the country.

Statistics that revealed social disagreements also indicate that in northeastern Brazil, 28.4 percent of families with children from the ages of zero to six live in poverty.

This represents 1,500,000 children living in homes, in which the income does not exceed 150 reais per month (about 37 dollars).

Since yesterday, experts from the areas of education, economy and health discuss in the forum, grounded on scientific knowledge, the creation of practices that encourage the comprehensive development of children in the first years of life.

In addition to poverty, other issues such as racism and the lack of basic health, education and social care services make the child development scenario one of the main challenges that must be addressed through public policies at the State, municipal and federal levels.