MANY TO MANY 66 – THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S CHILDREN

Issue 66
December 1998
THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S CHILDREN

THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S CHILDREN
UNICEF 1998 Report

Calling it "the silent emergency" the Report makes it chillingly clear to the reader how malnutrition, this non--infectious and often not very noticeable malaise, is implicated. in more than half of all child death in the world – a proportion unmatched by any infectious disease since the Black Death.

Of the nearly 12 million children under 5 who. die each year in developing countries, mainly from preventable causes, about 6 million of these deaths are attributable to malnutrition. This "invisible crisis" violates children's rights in profound ways, not merely in the developing world, but also in some industrialised countries where a widening income disparity, together with reduction in social protection, have a serious effect on child nutrition. For instance in the united states over 20% of children live in poverty and over 13 million children there – more than one in every four under the age of 12 – have difficulties getting the food they need.

The UNICEF report points out that: "malnutrition has long been recognised as a consequence of poverty. It is increasingly clear that it is also a cause", and adds that, in spite of some significant gains in reducing malnutrition, especially in Latin America and East Asia, the overall number of malnourished children has increased. Malnutrition, affecting one out of three of the world's children, compromises the mental as well as the physical growth and development of the child which consequently contributes to the lowering of the productivity and abilities of entire societies.

This preventable depletion of human intelligence and skills is a profligate, even criminal waste", the Report insists. "Robbed of their mental as well as physical potential, malnourished children who live past childhood face diminished future. They will become adults with lower physical and intellectual abilities, lower levels of productivity." When the losses that occur in the microcosm of the family are repeated millions of times at the societal level, the drain of global development is staggering, says the Report. Therefore UNICEF thinks it is hard to understand that more attention is lavished 'on the gyrations of world stock markets than on malnutrition's vast destructive potential – or on the powerful benefits of sound nutrition.

Under the heading The Power of Good Nutrition, the redeeming effect of good nutrition is explained and many examples highlight the vital role it plays in the overcoming of some of the greatest health challenges facing the world, such as chronic and degenerative diseases, maternal mortality, malaria – even AIDS.

Increasing emphasis is given to supplying children and mothers worldwide with vitamins and minerals to help reducing, even reversing, the devastating effects of malnutrition, and much is already being achieved. "12 million children every year are spared irreversible mental impairment from iodine deficiency because of iodised salt", says the Report, and "more than 60% of young children around the world are receiving vitamin A supplements".

We are reminded that since 1924 (in the so called Geneva Declaration), nutrition has been declared "a human right". While declarations are non-binding, conventions and covenants are treaties which carry the force of law, The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by 191 states in 1997, except the USA and Somalia, specifies the commitments made by these States to the rights of all children to "the highest attainable standard of health, to facilities for the treatment of illness and for rehabilitation of health – specifically including the right to good nutrition and its three vital components: food, health and care."

Therefore, on the basis of international law, scientific knowledge, practical experience and basic morality, the world is obligated to ease child malnutrition.

"The ravages caused by malnutrition on individuals, families and societies are preventable", stresses this UNICEF report, and "the measures needed to reduce and end it are increasingly understood".

The gains for the whole society are immeasurable.

The State of the World's Children published by Oxford University Press (ISBN 0-19-829401-8) can be obtained from UNICEF Headquarters, 3 UN Plaza, New York, NY. 10017, USA or from local UNICEF offices. Price: US$12.95.

CHILDREN WITHOUT NAME OR NATION

In another annual report, published by UNICEF, called The Progress of Nations 1998, Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF'.- points, among other urgent issues, to what 'She describes as "one of the major unreported stories of our time."

According to the report, the lack of registration at birth leaves an estimated 40 million babies each year without an official name or nationality – although Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees the right to a name and a nationality.

A child who lacks proof of identity is in the eyes of officials a non-person, and such absence of proof is particularly serious for those who are displaced by war, famine or national disaster.

In many countries certificates are necessary for enrolment in schools, for health treatment or vaccination. Carol Bellamy urges that all governments "assess their registration procedures and make sure their citizens see the value of a birth certificate - and that they can get one easily."

Contact: Helene Martin, Division of Communication, UNICEF, Palais des Nations, CH-1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland. Fax: +41-22/909 5907, website www.unicef.org/pon98

Plight of Children discussed in Security Council

On 29 June, 1998, the UN Security Council issued a statement resulting from its first-ever meeting on children in conflict. In this statement the council expressed its intent. to give this matter serious attention in the future and maintain contact with Olara Otunnu, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Children in Armed Conflict.

The statement addressed the question of the impact of economic and other sanctions imposed by the Security Council on the welfare of children, It was recognised that "whenever measures are adopted under Article 4 (re the use of sanctions) of the UN Charter, consideration should be given to their impact on -the civilian population bearing in mind the needs of children, in order to consider appropriate humanitarian exemptions."

Mr Otunnu urged the international community to take concrete initiatives to prevent or mitigate the suffering of children in armed conflict, including to insist on access to populations in distress. School and playgrounds should be considered "free zones", Children must not be used in war, and the flow of arms, especially small arms, must be stopped.

Mr Otunnu also stressed that any plans for post-conflict peace-building should make the needs of children a central focus including demobilisation, return of displaced and refugee children, education and vocational training.

Source: Go Between 70, Aug.-Sept, 1998. Copies of Statement available from United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS), Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, or look for information on UN website www.un.org/News/Press/.

Many to Many
a quarterly publication issued by
Operation Peace through Unity
An accredited NGO in association with the UN Dept of Public Information

Anthony Brooke and Gita Brooke, co-founders
Te Rangi, 4 Allison Street, Wanganui 5001, New Zealand
phone/fax: +64-6-345-5714 ~ e-mail: larrym@clear.net.nz

Many to Many
under the aegis of
Operation Peace Through Unity
is a communicating link between
'we, the peoples' of all nations, races, creeds and ideologies offering in the spirit of the preamble of the United Nations Charter an instrument for the furthering of better relationships based on deepening mutual understanding and the aspiration to promote unity and cooperation beyond all differences.