Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, May 19 2008 (IPS) – The developing world is making significant progress in child survival despite the fact that nearly 2.2 billion children worldwide continue to battle poverty, sexual abuse, forced military conscription, labour exploitation and HIV/AIDS.
Of the 191 countries with available data, 129 are on track to meet target number four of the Millennium Development Goals: reducing the mortality rate among children under five by two-thirds by 2015.
And according to the U.N. children s agency UNICEF, almost one-third of the 50 least developed countries (LDCs) have reduced child mortality rates by 40 percent or more since 1990 proof that progress for children can be made in poor countries if political will and sound strategies are in place.
These 50 countries, described as the poorest of the world s poor, include the Maldives, East Timor, Bhutan, Nepal, Laos, Eritrea, Haiti, Malawi, Samoa, Cape Verde, Comoros, Mozambique, Ethiopia and the Solomon Islands.
UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman describes tackling child mortality as one of the key missions of the children s agency.
Andres Guerrero, partnerships manager at UNICEF s Geneva-based Civil Society Partnerships, points out that since 2002, fewer children under five are dying each year; more children are in school than ever before; and more educational opportunities are being equally extended to girls and boys.
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At the same time, he said, there are more medicines available for children, including those infected by HIV/AIDS, and more laws, policies and plans are in place to protect children from violence, abuse and exploitation.
Despite these achievements, still more work needs to be done, Guerrero told IPS.
For example, the number of children dying before their fifth birthday has been reduced to 9.7 million, yet this remains unacceptable, particularly when evidence shows that most of these deaths are preventable.
He said there should be renewed efforts to eradicate poverty, one of the biggest challenges in ensuring child survival and healthy development. Guerrero said achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is a powerful tool to create a better world for children.
Deepali Khanna of Plan International, a non-governmental organisation which advocates the cause of children worldwide, singles out some shining examples of progress .
For the first time in the modern era, she said, the number of children who die before their fifth birthday has fallen below 10 million.
In East Asia, the proportion of children under five who go hungry has been cut by almost two-thirds. And more children than ever before are completing a primary education.
Addressing the General Assembly last December, Khanna said that 19 out of every 20 primary school-age children in North Africa and Latin America are enrolled at school. And millions more in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia now receive an education children who would previously have never seen the inside of a classroom.
However, for every significant step forward there are similar and significant steps backward, she warned.
In countries where there is progress in a particular area, there is dismal failure in another. And inequality and inconsistency continues to hinder progress in every country, she warned.
In November 1989, the General Assembly adopted the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), described as a landmark treaty recognising and protecting the rights of children. The treaty came into force in September 1990. And virtually all of the countries have ratified it, with the exception of the United States and Somalia primarily for political reasons.
Khanna said the early years and adolescence of the UNCRC have seen governments create systems that promote children s best interests. Legislation has been passed to protect children from sexual exploitation, trafficking and abuse.
But again, legislation alone is not enough. In some countries, what is missing is not the systems or laws, but the implementation and the will to implement, she added.
UNICEF s Guerrero said the UNCRC has become a key reference and catalyst for governments to take action to improve children s lives.
It has established a series of common norms and expectations which have been adopted almost universally by governments, he said.
Guerrero said that a wide range of actors, such as parliamentarians, judges, civil society, religious leaders and faith-based organisations, together with parents and children themselves, have been working to make these rights a reality for children everywhere.
They can help to influence public opinion towards reaching results for children. They are in a unique position to be able to counteract stigma and discrimination, create opportunities for reconciliation and hope, prevention and care, he added.
He argued that ethics education, through interfaith learning, is a powerful tool to promote values of respect, empathy, reconciliation and responsibility which can ultimately help to prevent these problems and promote safe and healthy communities.
Since May 2004, UNICEF has been collaborating with the Tokyo-based Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) on a project titled Children in World Religions .
A joint study, which is expected to be released next week, will also assess how children and young people are portrayed in religious scriptures and cared for, ministered to, and treated in religious communities.
Guerrero said the upcoming meeting of the GNRC, in Hiroshima May 24-26, is a platform to bring together religious leaders, faith-based organisations, U.N. agencies, individuals and children committed to three primary goals: to ensure that no child lives in poverty; to end violence against children; and to protect mother earth.
It is my hope that participants will have the opportunity to share and learn from each other s experiences and renew their commitments for action, he said.
The use of the ethics education resource, Learning to live Together , produced by GNRC, should be promoted at country levels for its use by local communities to help improve the lives of children, Guerrero said.
He added that the GNRC forum can establish itself as a key gathering which brings together a unique constituency to contribute to the common goal of achieving results for children.