---
title: "Archbishop Ulloa Urges Panama to Confront Child Poverty and Inequality"
date: 2026-04-12
author: ""
url: https://panamadaily.news/child-poverty-panama-ulloa-warning-2/
categories:
  - "Health"
  - "News"
  - "Politics"
tags:
  - "Archbishop Ulloa"
  - "children in poverty"
  - "inequality in Panama"
  - "MIDES"
  - "Panama child poverty"
  - "social justice"
---

# Archbishop Ulloa Urges Panama to Confront Child Poverty and Inequality

## What Happened

Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa used a major Eucharistic celebration to draw attention to child poverty in Panama, saying the country must respond with urgency to protect its youngest citizens. He cited figures indicating that more than 482,000 children in Panama live in poverty, including one in three Panamanian children and one in six in extreme poverty.

Ulloa said those numbers reflect real lives and warned against indifference to conditions that shape children’s futures. He emphasized that early childhood, from ages 0 to 6, is a decisive stage for integral development and that growing up in poverty can deepen inequality across generations.

## A Warning About Inequality

The archbishop argued that origin and geography should never determine a child’s future. His message placed child poverty at the center of a broader concern about social inequality, framing it as a national problem that affects long-term opportunity and cohesion.

He also linked the issue to corruption and impunity, saying those practices take resources away from vulnerable families and weaken the country’s future. In his view, a society that fails to care for children is sacrificing its own tomorrow.

## A Call for Shared Responsibility

Ulloa called on multiple sectors of society to work together in response to the problem. He urged action from state institutions, the private sector, civil society, universities, local governments, social organizations and faith communities.

That broad appeal reflects the scale of the challenge. Child poverty is not only a social welfare issue; it affects education, health, development and future productivity. In Panama, as in many countries, conditions in early childhood can have lasting effects on learning, opportunity and social mobility.

## Why It Matters

The archbishop’s remarks place pressure on leaders and institutions to treat child poverty as a priority rather than a background issue. The message also underscores how inequality can persist when children lack stable nutrition, safe environments and access to the support needed during their earliest years.

By speaking during a major religious gathering, Ulloa brought public moral weight to a problem often discussed in economic or policy terms. His warning cast child poverty as both a social emergency and a test of national responsibility.