Children, indicators of a nation's progress<\/p>\n
By Rita A. Widiadana<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The progress of nations is usually measured by
\ntheir military or economic strength, or by the splendor of their
\ncapital cities and public buildings. There will be a day,
\nhowever, when a country's prosperity will be measured by the
\nwell-being of its people and by the protection it provides for
\nthe growing minds and bodies of its children.<\/p>\n
Despite the world's rapid economic progress, a large number of
\nbasic social and health problems still exists. Illiteracy,
\npoverty, high mortality rates among pregnant women and children
\nunder five, child malnutrition, etc. continue to haunt many
\ncountries in the world at the close of the 20th century.<\/p>\n
It will indeed take a long time to reach the day when
\nprosperity is measured by the individual well-being, but the
\ncurrent trends indicate that countries around the globe are
\nmaking their efforts to shorten this time.<\/p>\n
A huge leap was made during the World Children Summit, in
\n1990, which came out with an important document, the Convention
\non Children Rights.<\/p>\n
As of late February, l996, the Convention has been ratified by
\n187 out of 193 governments. When countries ratify this document,
\nchildren rights become a state responsibility. These rights
\ninclude economic rights such as the right to health care,
\nnutrition and education.<\/p>\n
Countries, which have ratified the Convention, are translating
\nthe principles of the Convention into their constitutions or
\npassing new laws to conform with the Convention. In l994,
\nIndonesia passed its new Education Bill which increased the
\nlength of compulsory education from six to nine years. The
\nPhilippines has taken measures to define and penalize child
\nprostitution and trafficking.<\/p>\n
The United Nation Children Fund (Unicef) records specific
\nadvance and regression in some key areas of human well-being and
\nthe overall future investment that countries made. Thus, in its
\nannual report entitled The Progress of Nations l996, it monitors
\nthe practical effects of the Convention around the globe.<\/p>\n
The Progress of Nations consists of essays, tables, charts and
\nnews stories that illustrate the progress made by different
\ncountries in the world.<\/p>\n
The chapter on nutrition presents the research of three Unicef
\nexperts in child health and nutrition, all currently working in
\nAsia.<\/p>\n
Malnutrition<\/p>\n
In a chapter on malnutrition, the three experts -- Vulimiri
\nRamalingaswami, Urban Jonsson, and Jon Rohde -- reveal that half
\nof the world's malnourished children are to be found in just
\nthree countries - Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Unicef estimates that in developing countries around 200
\nmillion children are still malnourished, 30 percent of them do
\nnot complete their elementary schools and 20 percent do not have
\naccess to basic medical care.<\/p>\n
The experts have discovered that malnutrition is not just
\ncaused by shortage of food, but runs deep into societal concepts.<\/p>\n
The report shows that the first major reason for child
\nmalnutrition is poor care for women in patriarchal societies. In
\nSouth Asia the tradition factor plays a particularly important
\npart in the issue.<\/p>\n
"Girls and women in South Asia seem to be generally less well
\ncared for by their families, their partners and their societies,"
\nthe report said.<\/p>\n
"In patriarchal South Asian societies, demands made on the
\ntime and energies of women are visibly more excessive and unfair
\nthan in other regions of the world," it continued.<\/p>\n
As a result, South Asian women are particularly undernourished
\nduring pregnancy which is damaging for the fetus. In Bangladesh,
\nfor example, half of the babies born are with low birth weight.<\/p>\n
Besides tradition, the second major reason for child
\nmalnutrition is illness, caused by poor hygiene standards.<\/p>\n
The report suggested that the first step towards improvement
\nshould include provision of better health, education and
\nnutrition for women.<\/p>\n
It also stressed the necessity to move the issue of
\nmalnutrition from the agenda on welfare to the agenda on rights.<\/p>\n
Health<\/p>\n
Health conditions of children in the developing world has also
\nbecome a concern. In a chapter on health, Monica Sharma, Senior
\nAdviser for Child Health at Unicef headquarters in New York, and
\nJames Tulloch, Director of the Division of Child Health and
\nDevelopment at WHO headquarters in Geneva, disclose depressing
\nfacts which they deem international shame.<\/p>\n
As the 20th century draws to an end, over eight million
\nchildren in poor countries are allowed to die each year from
\neasily preventable diseases during childhood such as measles,
\ndiarrhea, malaria, pneumonia and malnutrition.<\/p>\n
The writers complained that report on an earthquake that
\nclaims 1,000 victims, or a plane crash which kills 100 people,
\nwould often get a wide coverage from the world media. But the
\ndeaths of almost 25,000 children every day, caused by the above
\nmentioned diseases, are hardly ever noticed.<\/p>\n
The research also reveals that about half of all deaths among
\nchildren are associated with malnutrition. "A child suffering
\nfrom serious diarrhea may survive if he or she is well-fed," the
\nresearch concludes.<\/p>\n
The Progress of Nations also stresses the importance of
\neducating boys and girls in poor countries. Unicef sees millions
\nof poor girls in Asian and African countries withdrawn from
\nschools because of poverty. Many forces combine to spell an early
\nend to education for girls. The cost of books, uniforms and other
\nexpenses can make education burdensome for their families.<\/p>\n
Unicef records various approaches that might encourage
\nfamilies to enroll their girls in schools. The common strands in
\nthe experiments to date are building schools or classrooms closer
\nto local communities; involvement of communities and parents in
\nparticular in running the schools; training of female teachers;
\nproviding cash incentives for families who keep their daughters
\nin school up to a specified grade, etc.<\/p>\n
These attempts are urgently needed since education of girls is
\none of the best investments available in developing countries.
\nIt can increase their financial freedom and overall independence.
\nIt can also lead to better child health and nutrition and it also
\nmeans latter marriage and lower birth rates, the report said.<\/p>\n
Rich<\/p>\n
The worsening situation of children around the world is not
\noccurring only in poor countries. Millions of kids in developed
\ncountries like the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany and
\nFrance face the risks of poverty.<\/p>\n
A chapter on the industrialized world tries to take a look at
\nchild poverty in the developed countries. The steep rise in
\nsingle parent families reflects major changes in the social and
\neconomic life in the industrialized world. Unicef records as a
\nmost obvious result of that phenomenon the rising number of
\nmothers and children living in poverty.<\/p>\n
In the United States, a child living in a single mother family
\nis five times as likely to live below the national poverty
\nstandard. Separation and divorce are associated with poorer
\nschool performance, greater risk of teen pregnancy, higher rates
\nof delinquency and worsening of mental health of both mothers and
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
From the number of white children born since l980 in the
\ncountry, about 50 percent will spend some part of their childhood
\nin a single parent family. For black children the proportion is
\nabout 80 percent.<\/p>\n
A report from the World Health Organization says that same
\nnumbers of young males and females commit suicide in the
\nindustrialized nations. Japan and the West European Nations have
\nrelatively low rates of youth suicide, about 15 cases a year for
\nevery 100,000 youngsters. The highest rates -- more than 30 cases
\nper 100,000 are found in Finland, New Zealand and the Russian
\nFederation.<\/p>\n
The report links suicide among young people to sexual and
\nemotional abuse, stress, unplanned pregnancy, problems concerning
\nsexual preference and escape from home.<\/p>\n
Health behavior among children and youngsters in developed
\ncountries has been deteriorating. About 12 percent of the
\n15-year-olds smoke cigarettes everyday. Finland has the largest
\npercent of them.<\/p>\n
The new statistics also show a rise in the numbers of girls
\nwho smoke cigarettes. Among the 15-year-olds, now more girls than
\nboys smoke in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Scotland, Spain and
\nSweden. The report also said that over the next 55 years, death
\ncaused by tobacco among young smokers will be triple the number
\nof total deaths from murder, suicide, drug abuse, alcohol,
\ntraffic accidents and AIDS.<\/p>\n
All these grim portrayals recorded in The Progress of Nations
\nare disheartening. All goals and endeavors to improve the world's
\nchildren are still less than half completed. Support from
\ninternational agencies and governments is urgently required. No
\nless important is increasing the level of political commitment in
\nall countries in order to prepare our children for entering the
\n21th century.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/children-indicators-of-a-nations-progress-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}