Bhutan
Save the Children started its first program activities in Bhutan in 1982 in the remote community of Edi in southern Zhemgang. Today, we continue to work closely with children, their families and communities, the Royal Government of Bhutan and other partners in a sustainable manner to meet the ever-changing needs and ensure positive physical, cognitive and social-emotional development of all Bhutanese children.
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Challenges for Children
Some 20 percent of Bhutanese children have no access to education because they live in extremely poor or isolated areas, places difficult to reach because of geography, or because they belong to ethnic minorities or have physical or mental disabilities. Unemployment among older youth also is a concern, as youth migrate from rural to urban centers in search of employment. Bhutanese children and youth also are being increasingly exposed to the negative side of modernization: alcohol consumption, drug use, teen-age pregnancies and forced marriages, violence and youth-related crime.
Numbers at a Glance
- Infant mortality rate is close to 10 percent—98.41 deaths per 1,000 live births.
- Primary school education completion rate is 77 percent.
- The median age in Bhutan is 20 years old.
- Almost one-third (31.7 percent) of the 2.28 million population lives below the poverty line.
Our Response
Education: Save the Children has enhanced children's access to education by constructing and rehabilitating 42 community primary schools in remote areas; training teachers in classroom management and multi-grade and multi-ability teaching methodologies; and providing scholarships to the most disadvantaged children in Bhutan—those from poor families and remote communities, children in conflict with the law, children with physical and mental disabilities and children from ethnic minority communities.
Youth Programs: Save the Children has established youth centers in Thimphu, Phuntsholing and Zhemgang, where over 12,000 adolescents take part in youth forums, peer education and counseling services. We also provide youths with access to programs in life skills, career education and reproductive health. To increase young peoples’ knowledge of adolescent issues such as teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, forced marriage, child labor and domestic violence, Save the Children supports a street theater project that imparts important information to it audience members—over 45,000 people attended the show during its recent tour of 11 districts.
Plans for the Future
Save the Children will continue to work through its education and youth programs to improve the lives of more than 120,000 Bhutanese girls and boys.
Life in Bhutan—A Scholarship Paves the Road to Future Dreams
Seventeen-year old Sonam is a student at the Zhemgang Higher Secondary School and the eldest of four in his family. Sonam has never known his father and, when his mother died, he and his siblings moved in with his uncle.
To ease his uncle's burden of having to pay for their education, Sonam worked at road and construction sites during the winter holidays. The meager money from these jobs allowed Sonam to buy basic school supplies, but was not enough to help support his sister and brothers.
In 2005, Sonam was a recipient of a scholarship from Save the Children. With the scholarship, he is able to pay his school fees, buy stationery and school uniforms and, as a result, focus on his future: "Before, I used to worry about finding work during my winter vacations to pay my school fees for the following year, and could not fully concentrate on my studies. But with the scholarship support, I don't have to worry so much and I am able to concentrate on my studies. Now I want to fulfill my dream and become a lawyer."
