Investing in the most disadvantaged children is an economically sound and strategic decision, says UNICEF
06 July 2016
- HA NOI (Viet Nam), 6 July 2016 – The latest UNICEF annual flagship report The State Of the World's Children 2016 - A Fair Chance for Every Child points to evidence that investing in the most vulnerable children can yield immediate and long-term benefits for the country. For instance, each additional year of schooling completed, on national average, can reduce a country's poverty rates by 9 per cent. Each additional year of education a child receives increases his or her adult earnings by about 10 per cent. Solutions such as cash transfers can help children stay in school longer and advance to higher levels of education which will benefit the whole country.
The State of the World's Children paints a stark picture of what is in store for the world's poorest children if governments, donors, businesses and international organizations do not accelerate efforts to address their needs.
"Denying millions of children a fair chance in life fuels the intergenerational cycles of disadvantage, it imperils the future of the society," said UNICEF Representative Youssouf Abdel-Jelil. "Viet Nam has the choice to invest now to give a fair chance to every child and to make the country more equal and inclusive."
The report notes that significant progress has been made in saving children's lives, getting children into school and lifting people out of poverty. In Viet Nam, poverty rates declined from 58 per cent to 10 per cent between 1993 and 2014. The child mortality rate fell from 36 per 1,000 live births in 1990, down to 10/1,000 in 2014.
But this progress has been neither even nor fair, the report says. Due to poor nutrition, the stunting rate among children in rural areas in Viet Nam is twice as high as the stunting rate among their peers in urban areas, which can explain why the infant mortality rates have worsened among ethnic minority groups in contrast to the overall improvement. Maternal mortality remains four times higher in mountain areas than that of the lowland areas. . More than 60 per cent of ethnic minority households do not have access to adequate sanitation.
Education plays a unique role in breaking the intergenerational cycle of vulnerability. The percentage of children who have never attended school is relatively high in Viet Nam especially among some ethnic minority groups. For example almost one quarter of school aged Mong children have never attended school or received any form of formal education.
Inequity is neither inevitable, nor insurmountable, the report argues. Better data on the most vulnerable children, integrated solutions to the challenges children face, innovative ways to address old problems, more equitable investment and increased involvement by communities can help level the playing field for children.
Download a PDF of the report and multimedia content at: http://weshare.unicef.org/Package/2AMZIFFS4KH
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UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
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