Prevailing Concern: Child Abandonment
- 14 Homes
Our first homes were in Vietnam where poverty is the major contributing factor to child abandonment. Child poverty in Vietnam is more prevalent than traditional poverty statistics reveal.
Other contributing factors include the cultural unacceptability of pregnant unwed mothers, young women with HIV and mental disorders, poor single mothers, and tribal traditions that encourage abandoning a child due to the death of one parent or divorce.
About Vietnam
1.5 million orphans. Of this number...
- 69,000 have AIDS
- 16,000 live on the street
- 14,600 live in institutions
- 4,600-12,200 use drugs
- 15,000-20,000 are forced to engage
in commercial sex work
Sources: Unicef, Save the Children, SOS Children's Village, InPartnership, PBS, "Research Situation Analysis: Vietnam Country Brief" by Boston University in collaboration with Hanoi School of Public Health, Amnesty International, Irish Medical Times, World Volunteer Web, Village of Hope, CIA:The World Factbook, and Africacheck.org.
