Extreme poverty killing children in Colombia

World Today

colombia

The Colombian region of Chocó is rich in natural resources, but citizens living in this northwestern province have been neglected for centuries. Colombian officials, backed by the United Nations, are calling on the government to confront the extreme poverty that is killing children in this region. CCTV’s Michelle Begue went to Colombia and filed this report.

Highlights:

  • Twenty children in the Colombian municipality of Riosucio have died from extreme poverty.
  • Potable water is an issue. Columbia’s Ombudsman says that the way they have been cleaning water is causing permanent and grave infections.
  •  The health ministry has promised to adopt new methods to confront the sanitary situation and attention to health.
  • According to national statistics, 78.5 percent of the population in Chocó lives below the poverty line and almost half of the population lives in extreme poverty.
  •  In a report published in 2014, 81 percent of Colombians in Chocó have unmet basic needs such as access to drinking water or primary education.