New study shows over one billion children severely deprived in
the developing world
A new study published today [Wednesday 22 October] for UNICEF by
the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the
Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research at the University
of Bristol has produced the first scientific measurements of child
poverty in the developing world.
Launched by Mary Robinson at LSE (on Tuesday 21 October) and by
senior figures at the House of Commons, it shows that over one
billion children (more than half of those living in developing
countries), suffer from severe deprivation and 674 million (over a
third) are living in conditions of absolute poverty. The
report's findings will be discussed at a conference at LSE today,
click here
for details.
Dave Gordon, professor of social justice at the University of
Bristol and one of the authors of the report, Child Poverty in
the Developing World, said: 'Many of the children surveyed
who were living in absolute poverty will have died or had their
health profoundly damaged by the time the report is published, as a
direct consequence of their appalling living conditions. Many others
will have had their development so severely impaired that they may
be unable to escape from a lifetime of grinding poverty.'
Based on a sample of nearly 1.2 million children from 46
developing countries - the largest and most accurate sample of
children ever assembled - the researchers found:
- Over six hundred million (34 per cent) children are living in
dwellings with more than five people per room or which have a mud
floor
- Over half a billion children (31 per cent) have no kind of
toilet facility
- Nearly 376 million (20 per cent) of children use unsafe water
sources or have more than a 15 minute walk to water
- 134 million children aged between seven and 18 (13 per cent)
have never been to school
- 91 million children under five (15 per cent) are severely
malnourished
- 265 million children (15 per cent) have never received any
immunisations or have chronic, untreated diarrhoea
- Nearly 450 million aged between three and 18 (25 per cent)
have no access to radio, television, telephone or newspapers at
home
The study found significant differences between regions, with
Sub-Saharan Africa having the highest rates of severe deprivation
with respect to four of the seven indicators - shelter, water,
education and health. There were also clear gender differences,
particularly with regards to education deprivation, with girls 60
per cent more likely to be severely educationally deprived. Girls in
the Middle East and North Africa region are three times more likely
than boys to be educationally deprived. Children in rural areas are
much more likely to be severely deprived than urban children,
particularly with regards to water, sanitation and education. In a
number of countries, absolute poverty rates among children in rural
areas are as high as 90 per cent.
The report concludes that anti-poverty strategies need to respond
to local conditions, and that blanket solutions to eradicating child
poverty will be unsuccessful. Considerably more emphasis needs to be
placed on improving basic infrastructure and social services for
families with children, particularly with regards to shelter and
sanitation in rural areas. An international investment fund for
payment towards national schemes of child benefit in cash or kind is
suggested as a means to provide the impetus for rapid fulfilment of
children's fundamental rights to social security and an adequate
standard of living.
Shailen Nandy at the University of Bristol and one of the
co-authors of the report, said: 'At this rate the UN Millennium
Development Goals are unlikely to be met, given declining
international commitment to development aid. The results of cutting
public spending on basic social services have been an increase in
poverty and inequality, a fact which organisations like the World
Bank need to acknowledge.'
The findings of the report will be discussed at a conference
at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) today.
For full details of this event, and details on attending the
conference, click here
Ends
To reserve a press seat for the conference, please contact
Jessica Winterstein, LSE Press Office, on 020 7955 7060 or email j.winterstein@lse.ac.uk
For further details about the report, please contact the
authors:
- Professor Dave Gordon, Townsend Centre for International
Poverty Research, University of Bristol, on 0117 954 6761
- Professor Peter Townsend, Centre for the Study of Human
Rights, LSE, on 020 7955 6632
- Christina Pantazis, Towensend Centre for International Poverty
Research, University of Bristol, on 0117 954 6766
Journalists with queries relating to UNICEF should contact Sarah
Vincent, UNICEF UK, on 07958 058106
To request a review copy of the report, please contact Helen
Bolton, Policy Press, on 0117 331 4097, email: helen.bolton@bristol.ac.uk
or Julia Mortimer on 0117 331 4098, email: julia.mortimer@bristol.ac.uk
Notes for editors:
Aim and background of study The study was commissioned
by UNICEF to provide a scientific measurement of the extent and
nature of child poverty in the developing world. The report,
Child Poverty in the Developing World, is a summary of
a much larger research project on child poverty and child rights. It
contributes to UNICEF's work on reducing child poverty around the
world.
Methods The analysis for the report was based on
Demographic and Health Survey and, for China, the China Health and
Nutrition Survey data, on nearly 1.2 million children in 46
countries collected mainly during the late 1990s. It is a
particularly good sample of African children (with interview data on
one child in every 650) although the number of children in the East
Asian and Pacific sample (123,400) represents a lower sampling
fraction (one child in every 4,500). The information about the
children's lives were reported by their mothers or main carers.
Definitions The report uses the definition of absolute
poverty agreed by the international community at the 1995 World
Summit on Social Development. Absolute poverty was defined as: '...a
condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs,
including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health,
shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income
but also on access to services.'
The study defines absolute poverty among children as suffering
from two or more severe deprivations of basic human need and severe
deprivation of at least one basic human need.
22 October 2003
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