Orphan Count Increases by 24% on Chinese Mainland; Jet Li’s Organization Assists New System Count
” The China Children Welfare Policy Report 2011, jointly launched by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the One Foundation Philanthropy Research Institute of Beijing Normal University and UNICEF, revealed that in 2010 the number of orphans on the Chinese mainland had reached 712,000, about 24 percent higher than 2005’s figure of 574,000.”
We will link to the report when it becomes available.
This report focuses on child welfare and appropriately counting children in need. The increase does not appear to have anything to do with adoption efforts, intercountry adoption efforts or the one-child policy. It has to do with finally counting rural children. It is most interesting that this effort is being initiated by China. The US adoption industry and the Congressional Coalition on Adoption have been pushing the Family for Orphans Act (FFOA) for years now-an effort that would line the industry’s pockets while forcing sending countries to allow the US (presumably adoption agencies or their puppets) to count children. Yes, China actually can count their own children. They don’t need the FFOA to do so.
” By the end of 2008, there were about 5.04 million handicapped children under 17 years of age and 58 million children of “left-behind” status. The number of children affected with HIV/AIDS is also expected to have grown from 496,000 in 2008 to 894,000 at the end of 2010, according to the report.
The report also advises the government to take measures to guarantee treatment for sick children, living expenses for disabled kids, and more extensive pre-school education.
It is estimated that 60 billion yuan ($9.26 billion) would suffice to defray the costs of the above-mentioned services.”
It’s About Identifying Children in Need
“Since its launch last year, the Child China Welfare Modelling Project (2010-2015) has benefited more than 80,000 children from 120 villages in 12 counties in five provinces, especially Sichuan, Henan, Xinjiang, Yunnan and Shanxi.
Under the plan, each of the project-covered communities will establish a Youth Center at the grassroots level and there will be specially appointed child welfare director to supervise the children’s well-being.
In these areas, some of the children’s births were never registered for various reasons, and their existence was never known.
Other children, who have lost one parent, don’t fall into the category of orphans, so they don’t enjoy the benefits strictly given to parentless children, and they are left uncared for, according to Wang Zhenyao, dean of One Foundation Philanthropy Research Institute at Beijing Normal University.
The child welfare directors’ first priority will be to register all the children in the community, to make their existence known, so that they will have an identity. Only then, could the children start to enjoy the most basic rights as well as benefits.
“I am glad to see that lots of orphans have been registered in the remote villages, and now they eventually can start to enjoy the government’s welfare,” said Maggie Cheung, film star and UNICEF ambassador in China, sharing her experience of a recent visit to Liangshan Yi Minority Autonomous Prefectures in Sichuan, a UNICEF project-covered area.
“But we also need to show our concerns to the de-facto unattended children, though they aren’t orphans. We need to ensure they also get care and help,” Maggie Cheung said, adding that the top priority at present is to have people claiming the benefits for them.
UNICEF acknowledged China’s progress in poverty alleviation and advancing social protection, said Gillian Mellsop, UNICEF representative in China.
But rapid economic growth and urbanization has led to wide-scale migration, and this has exposed children to new risks and vulnerabilities, such as separation from families, the lack of parental care, HIV/AIDS, child trafficking, and other forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, Mellsop added.
In addressing these challenges with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, academic circles such as Beijing Normal University, the UNICEF in China calls on efforts from various stake holders to develop new strategies for supporting underprivileged children. The annual China Child Welfare Week is a representation of such efforts.”
Philanthropy in China
This effort has been helped by none other than martial artist/actor turned philanthropist Jet Li.
Jet Li is the One Foundation founder and BNU One Foundation Philanthropy Research Institute chairman.
The Beijing Normal University One Foundation Philanthropy Research Institute is the first in China that harbors cooperation between an institute for higher education and a non-profit foundation.
The One Foundation website says, “The “Red Cross Society of China Jet Li One Foundation Project” (Jet Li One Foundation) was founded by Red Cross ambassador Jet Li, under a strategic partnership with the Red Cross Society of China. The Jet Li One Foundation Project works independently to pursue its charitable mission and agenda.
The foundation believes that: “1 person + 1 dollar/yuan + 1 month = 1 big family”. If each person donates at least one dollar/yuan each month, our individual donations can be transformed into a much greater fund. When we combine our charitable strength, we can make sure that the most vulnerable members of our global family will receive the help they need.”
Also, “The foundation’s four pillars of focus are: education, health, environment, and poverty (in no particular order). To promote the professional development of social sector and social enterprise work in China, we will launch an annual China Philanthropy Awards. The awards will find the top foundations and charities in China and provide grants for them to continue their work and scale their operations. We will provide a transparent process so that grant seekers will know exactly why an award was given.”
His organization has MAJOR sponsorships not only from Chinese companies, but also from Microsoft, Disney, Google and even the NBA and more.
Orphans Increase 24% on Chinese Mainland
[Global Times 6/2/11]
Child welfare in China on fast track
[Global Times 5/31/11 by Pierre Chen]
Jet Li becomes 1st guest speaker at Philanthropy Research Institute[One Foundation]
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