Italy: In south 410,000 children live in 'absolute poverty'

Naples, 2 Aug. (AKI) - Italy's south is the home to more 410 thousand children who live in "absolute poverty," representing about 10 percent of the that region's youth in Europe's fourth richest nation, according to organisation Save the Children.

Of Italy's 10.23 million children younger than 18 years old, almost 4 million live in the country's south where industry and employment are dwarfed by the north were company's like carmaker Fiat are located.

"The situation is aggravated by a fragmented educational system, child worker exploitation and the involvement of minors in criminal networks, and limited spending on child programmes and educational services," said Italy's Save the Children.

The economic production in Southern Italy - colloquially called Il Mezzogiorno, or Midday - in 2009 was worth 242 billion euros, compared with 480 billion euros in Italy's northwest where Turin and Milan are located, according to national statistics agency Istat.

That same year, according to Istat, almost 23 percent Italy's south was living in poverty, compared with almost 5 percent in the north.

"I can't just stand back and watch, year after year, inequality for children's rights reach unacceptable levels," said Raffaela Milano, who directs the Save the Children's Italy-Europe programmes, in the statement, ahead of a three-day conference on children in Italy's south, scheduled to open on 30 September in Naples.