The State of Parentless Children Worldwide

Many people don’t like to link about the orphans of the world, the children who have to struggle through life without someone consistent to look over them or love them. However, the fact of the matter is that many children all over the world do have to live this harsh reality.

Africa

The situations in Africa are complex and I do not mean to diminish them in any way. But the fact of the matter is that thousands, perhaps millions of children in Africa are orphans. The high rate of orphaned children in Africa is due, in part, to the many conflicts and wars going on throughout the continent. Another contributing factor is the prevalence of HIV and AIDs. Entire villages in Africa are composed of children because of the high rate of death in the adults. There are many different organizations devoted to trying to alleviate the problem in Africa.

Eastern Europe

The situation in the orphanages in Eastern Europe has been given a bad reputation, but unfortunately, the situation hasn’t gotten much better. Children in Eastern Europe who have special needs (mental or physical) are treated even worse – many are left in their cribs for days on end, they are malnourished, and they receive little to no attention or love. There are many stories of children dying in these orphanages, and many of them are placed into mental asylums at the age of five. Many couples seek to adopt children specifically from these orphanages, and the children have been known to make full recoveries.

United States

The United States has abandoned the use of the term “orphanage”, and instead uses the terms residential facilities and group homes. The majority of parentless children in the United States are placed in foster care and are temporarily placed with families until they are adopted. Each state has its own requirements for foster parents – for example, New York foster homes might be substantially different than foster homes in California, because each state would have different qualifications. There is a lot of debate surrounding the foster care system, and there is a lot of controversy about children being abused in their foster homes and “falling through the cracks” of the system.

Asia

The number of orphans in Asia is absolutely staggering. There are over 68 million orphans throughout all of the countries that make up Asia. Laos, Cambodia, and Korea have the highest percentage of orphans, with 1 in 10 children being parentless. In other parts of Asia, the average percentage of orphans is 6%. Many children in Asia are either homeless or live in orphanages that are usually under-funded and not well-equipped.

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