Within the region, the numbers of those living in poverty are more than 12 times what they were 10 years ago. The Trust, an international development organisation, warns that with winter approaching, the situation threatens to reach crisis proportions. The Trust says more than 168 million people were living below the bread line in 1993 to 1995, the latest available figure. Children have been hit hard by the crisis That's an increase from 14 million at the collapse of communism. The Trust believes the situation is now far worse.
Children become 'orphans' The report, called The Silent Crisis, highlights the plight of children.
It warns that poverty is driving social breakdown with many families having to leave their children in state orphanages to ward off malnutrition. The Trust says a crisis has been building since the old communist system disappeared. It claims a sudden relaxation of price controls, coupled with widespread privatisation of industry produced economic meltdown. Production fell, inflation soared and the safety nets provided by the old regime simply evaporated. The Trust suggests that rather than direct aid, the West should help the expansion of services preventing family breakdown.