newspaper El Tiempo today gives -On the front page, the necessary importance to one of the most dramatic indicators of the inability of Colombia to provide security INTEGRAL who are part of it. We talk about child suicide . newspaper says that "suicide every two days, a child in Colombia."
According to the news, since 2005 there have been 929 cases of suicide among children and adolescents in Colombia. The figure may not seem very alarming when compared, for example, with the huge number of murders, kidnappings, disappearances and other attacks on life are presented annually in the country ( 17,717 homicides in 2009, 14.81% from the previous year) , but is an indicator of serious deficiencies emotional suffering of a generation.
Since the Institute of Legal Medicine published its report Forensis 2009, we were struck by the 'curve' of suicides in the country, and the amount of suicide among children and adolescents between 5 and 19 years and general suicides of young people in our country.
Forensis Report 2010, which for some reason has not been published on the internet (or that I could not find) shows that in terms of the owner of El Tiempo said it at the time, "Almost half of suicides in 2009 had not completed 30 years."
In developing a couple of consultants I had the opportunity to perform in 2009, advanced the Joint Ecosystem Integration and Adaptation to Climate Change coordinated by UNDP, the concept of Homeland Security and what it means to Colombia.
And in a document entitled "Running the Fence - Inclusion of the rights of children and youth in water policy and climate change adaptation and related issues " I had the opportunity to develop with UNICEF, explicitly include emotional security and emotional as a component of Homeland Security which, in turn, is one of the "nails" core, which depends on the network or web of factors and interactions is called a safe territory.
In that document we highlight the importance of this 'micro-territory insurance' should be the family, which charge and recharge the batteries of affection and security emotional and through which we tend our first approaches to culture and society.
In the news The weather, the teacher quote ZubirÃa Miguel, president of the Colombian League Against Child Suicide and one of the people most contributions being made on the issue when he says that " Our children are very unhappy. They have everything do not need (luxury, comfort), but they lack the love and companionship of the parents."
And of course, the problem of emotional insecurity emotional and not exclusive of the most economically affluent classes, where children and adolescents receive all the material they need , but extends to the poorest families and especially those where the survival is a challenge that must be confronted on a daily basis amid the uncertainties of unemployment, actual or potential displacement and violence that threaten so many that there is a growing number of communities nationwide.
The destination of more than 48 million hectares of national territory to mining and oil extraction, will face thousands of families forced displacement or "voluntary" and thus to a very high uncertainty. That is one of the impacts of mining, invisible to those who only care about the "Dutch disease"
cited in the text (GW-Ch / UNICEF, 2009) we note the following:
" Other possible indicators emotional maladjustment and emotional various sectors of Colombian society, we call particular attention to the figures on depression and suicide. Both individual and social pathologies are not only insecurity indicators or appropriate emotional and affective, but also show the quality of many of the environments in which children are born and grow up, girls and adolescents .
of emotional security and affective give us, first, the family, and secondly, the community to which we belong, come and feed many of our capabilities, especially that segment of the child population under consideration in these pages ( remember that Amartya Sen defines poverty as "lack of capacity"). Many of these capabilities have to do with our real ability to adapt to climate change. In a recent psychiatric conference held in the country reported the finding that " increasingly Colombians feel more sad, lonely, hopeless, stressed, anxious and fearful. The excitement generated by the economic crisis, high unemployment, violence and feelings of insecurity that permeates the streets of cities large and small are seriously affecting the mental health of the population "and that "Colombia is the fourth country with more mental health problems in the world" . [1] .
Moreover, an article by a researcher at the Universidad Industrial de Santander reports "from the point of view public health and clinical suicide is a major cause of death in the world, considered as the third leading cause of death in adolescents and seventh in adults " [2]
L to same source indicates that globally "has reported that in 1950 40% of suicides among those under 45, while by 2000 this proportion increased to 55%. In most countries shows two peaks of frequency of suicides, the first people between 15 and 35, and the second in over 60 years. "
On this last segment of the population, notes Forensis 2009:
"It is highlight the increased rate of suicide in older than 70, a phenomenon that is showing up for several years, both in the population of men as in women. In 2008, there was not only an increase in the rate of that range, but also exceeded the rate of adolescence, which was generally the highest. "
"The growth rate in the elderly (70 years and older) can be viewed from two perspectives: biological factors - genetic factors social. With respect to the first is that older people have decreased dopamine production is, which is related to depression, and as social factors has been observed that when people reach a certain age, her family offered the same ties, nor did receive attention at a time of their lives, consequently feelings of loneliness and misunderstanding can take you to stop to find meaning in life and wanting to die. "
In a note entitled "poverty" I uploaded to this blog (May 3, 2010), recalled that h ust a few years ( 2003), demonstrated that the shocking number of deaths (more of 52,000!) occurred during a heat wave that affected Europe , accounted for much older people who had been alone in their homes, while the rest of the family was out of town vacation. It became clear that what was attributed to the increase in temperature, it was really lack of human warmth.
And what does all this climate change?
Humanity today is facing a challenge that had already had to face life on previous occasions, and which has emerged triumphant (we are testing.) Is the challenge of 'adapt' to the new demands of a changing planet. In this case, the challenge of learning to live in this new world that is turning the Earth as a result of climate change. However, although in the past life as a whole was successful (because he knew 'coevolve' with the dynamics of nature), many species that could not be transformed, simply disappeared. The challenge of the human species is not to swell the list of species to disappear by not being able to 'co-evolve. "
requires profound changes our conception of development, the many 'sacrifices' that we humans do if we leave out the condition of "plague" against which Earth is rebelling, require deep cultural changes that only going to be able to assume, as we have a full load of batteries emotional love and affection. View: "The inevitability of a recession planned" .
So-called 'new generation' will have to bear the environmental and social bills more expensive, than the generations that have gone before we are leaving without paying. But judging by the indicators, go, go bad.
