The slumdog effect: ActionAid reports surge in child sponsorship enquiries about Indian children
02 March 2009
With Slumdog mania sweeping the country, the charity ActionAid is having to rush the contact details of scores of Indian children to its offices in the UK.
ActionAid’s fundraising director, Richard Turner confirmed that the unprecedented surge in demand to sponsor children from India had taken the charity by surprise. He said: “We’re calling it the slumdog effect. We haven’t seen such a high level of interest in one country for a long time.”
On average, ActionAid will field just over 500 enquiries a week for child sponsorship.
But the week following the film’s success at the BAFTAS saw the number of enquires rocket to a staggering 1,400 with many specifically asking about children in India.
And since sweeping the board at the Oscars, the film’s effect has continued with ActionAid receiving more and more enquiries about Indian children every day.
Richard Turner continued: “Child sponsorship has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and is one of the most rewarding ways of giving.
“Sponsors’ money helps towards securing a decent education, better health care and economic security for children and the communities in which they live.”
Child poverty in India
- A child is born every 2 seconds in India which records 30% of the world’s births, 20% of the world’s maternal deaths and 25% of the world’s child deaths.
- India has some of the highest number of poor children in the world and more than half of India's children are malnourished.
- There are no recordable statistics for how many street children there are, but they are estimated to number in the many millions and it is thought at least half of them will sleep in the open every night.
- One in every three street children works for 10 to 12 hours a day while one in every 10 has to work for 13 hours a day.
ActionAid also has over 4,500 children awaiting sponsorship in Afghanistan, Brazil and Haiti and in many countries across Africa.
Get involved with ActionAid's Indian street children Priority Project
Real lives: Birjesh's story
Two years ago, 14-year-old Brijesh was living on a railway platform, addicted to solvents.
Get involved with ActionAid's Indian street children Priority Project
Contact us
Jane Moyo, Head of Media Relations, ActionAid UK on 020 7561 7614 or out of hours on 07734 023347
Latest tweets
YouTube
240 views
192 views
127 views