Asia urged to ensure children thrive

Asia urged to ensure children thrive

Agence France-Presse, Bangkok

Asian nations must commit themselves to developing the potential of their 600 million children, ensuring they thrive and not just survive, delegates at a Unicef conference said on Sunday.

The three-day meeting focused on early childhood which concluded in Bangkok last week heard that of the 150 million Asian under-fives almost 35 million suffer from stunted growth and that in some places child mortality is rising.

"Child survival comes first but survival isn't enough, said Patrice Engle, a Unicef early child development specialist. "Too often children are seen as a welfare liability rather than as the future of their societies and countries".

"Children must thrive, not simply survive, and that means looking not just at their health and nutrition but at their psycho-social and cognitive development," she added.

Regional Unicef deputy director Richard Bridle urged delegates to champion the cause of children, and to remind their governments and societies that human capital was vital to economic growth and poverty reduction.

"At the end of this forum we are clear that improving the survival, growth and development of the youngest children is not a question of charity or welfare. It is absolutely central to all development in all countries."

Delegates from 27 East Asian and Pacific countries attended the conference, the first regional review of a new strategy on early childhood development which was adopted as one of Unicef's top-five priorities in 2002.

The other headline issues were girls' education, immunization, fighting HIV/AIDS and protecting children from exploitation, abuse and discrimination.