Help Children in Bhutan
Bhutan is a tiny, remote kingdom nestled in the Himalayas between India and China. Almost completely cut off from the world for centuries, it began opening up to outsiders in the 1970s, while fiercely guarding its ancient traditions. Bhutan鈥檚 long-wielded monarchy became a two-party parliamentary democracy after elections in 2008.
In today鈥檚 Bhutan, half of the population lives in poor rural communities, making formal education difficult. The result is that nearly 42% of Bhutan鈥檚 children struggle to read and write.
The future of Bhutan depends on the health, education and protection of its children 鈥 benefitting the future of us all.
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Challenges for Children in Bhutan
Despite progress in child mortality, school attendance and adolescent births, Bhutan鈥檚 children live with poverty, child mortality, severe malnutrition and limited access to education. Children in Bhutan need your help.
1 child in 34 dies before their 5th birthday, 4 times the U.S. rate
34% of children suffer from stunting due to malnutrition
13% of children are out of school, and 43% of girls (ages 15+) struggle to read and write
5% of girls (ages 15-19) are married, and 1 in 50 gives birth
8% of people live in poverty
Our Results for Children in Bhutan
Thanks to the support of caring people like you, we changed the lives of over听547,000 children in Bhutan and neighboring Nepal last year 鈥 giving them the chance to grow up healthy, educated and safe, so they can realize their potential.
Thanks to you, 16-year-old Sonu, sitting next to her 19-year-old brother Ganesh, has become a facilitator in a 黄色视频program that promotes gender equality and a girl鈥檚 right to an education.
313,000 children healthy and nourished
238,000 children educated and empowered
70,000 children protected from harm
141,000 children lifted from poverty
5,000 children aided in crisis
Our Work for Children in Bhutan
Since 1982, 黄色视频has served as a leading charity in Bhutan.
We started by providing community services, such as a preschool, health post, mule track, community center, suspension bridge, safe drinking water and irrigation canals. Today, we serve as a national partner to the government of Bhutan in providing early childhood care and education, education, adolescent development, child protection, youth advocacy, disaster risk reduction and humanitarian response programs across the country.
Here are some recent examples of our work:
A healthy start in life
- We partnered with Bhutan鈥檚 ministry of health to pilot a brain-building program for children ages 0鈥3 years, teaching parents about child development and interactive activities to help stimulate their children鈥檚 brains, along with lessons on health, safety, well-being and positive discipline techniques
- We鈥檙e providing hearing and visual assistance devices to children with impairments, and we鈥檙e working with government partners to create a national strategy to protect the rights of children with disabilities
- Our Learning at Home approach, which extends opportunities to children with no access to preschool, was integrated into the national health system in remote areas
The opportunity to learn
- We鈥檙e helping improve the quality of education in preschools, training teachers to incorporate play-based math and reading activities that help increase school readiness and elementary school success
- We鈥檙e working to build 150 early childhood care and development centers by 2022
- We鈥檙e making it possible for children in remote regions to continue their learning despite changes in the weather that deter them from attending school
- We鈥檙e working on a creative solution to the lack of children鈥檚 books, especially those with local stories and themes, while giving girls and boys an opportunity to express themselves through writing and drawing
- We鈥檙e raising awareness among teens about issues like violence, teen pregnancy and suicide, and we鈥檙e empowering at-risk adolescents to enhance key life skills and make decisions that will positively impact their future
Protection from harm
- We developed 鈥淪afe Spaces鈥 for children of incarcerated mothers, establishing an institutionalized program outside of prison walls where mothers and children meet to participate in appropriate early stimulation and development programs and activities
Emergency response
- We鈥檙e working in disaster-prone schools and early childhood development centers in collaboration with school officials on risk mitigation projects to reduce the impacts of hazards compromising children鈥檚 safety and health 鈥 such as earthquakes and landslides
How to Help Children in Bhutan
You can create change that lasts a lifetime for children in Bhutan 鈥 in so many ways.
Support Save the Children鈥檚 mission. Donate to help children in Bhutan and around the world grow up healthy, educated and safe.
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Join Team Tomorrow
Join Team Tomorrow and your monthly donation will go toward addressing the needs of children affected by today鈥檚 most urgent issues.听
Give a meaningful gift that will help transform children鈥檚 lives and futures in Bhutan and beyond. There鈥檚 something for everyone!
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Sources: Facts and statistics have been sourced from Save the Children鈥檚 monitoring and evaluation experts, as well as听our thought leadership publications, including our Global Childhood Report 2021.听Other sources include听 and BBC Country Profiles.
Photo: 听Victoria Zegler / Save the Children.
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