Asian govts pledge to reduce disparities to help children

Asian govts pledge to reduce disparities to help children

Agencies, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Twenty-six Asian governments pledged on Friday to work towards
reducing disparities within their countries in a bid to improve
the lives of the region's 600 million children.

In a declaration, the countries pledged to "find ways to
guarantee free or affordable services to all members of society.
We recognize that the survival, growth and development of our
children is a national public good that will guarantee the future
success of our societies."

"We are concerned that in many countries wide gaps exist
between different groups in society and/or regions in the country
which exacerbate the vulnerability of children to malnutrition,
ill health, exclusion from education, neglect and all forms of
exploitation," the nations said.

The Siem Reap-Angkor Declaration followed three days of talks
by representatives from across East Asia and the Pacific,
focussing on disparities, adolescents and child survival, growth
and development.

The declaration acknowledged that prolonged disparities and
inequities can make children more vulnerable to trafficking and
other forms of exploitation.

But regional countries must turn their pledges into "urgent
action" to benefit the millions of children who remain at risk of
exploitation or trafficking, said Anupama Rao Singh, UNICEF's
director for East Asia and the Pacific.

Rapid economic and social changes in the region have resulted
in inequitable progress and contributed to increasing disparities
that have exacerbated risks facing children, the declaration
acknowledged.

Figures distributed at the talks showed that for instance in
Indonesia, under-five mortality rates among the poorest were 110
per 1,000 live births compared to 28 per 1,000 among the richest
quintile.

In host Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, under-five mortality
was 50 per 1,000 live births compared to 229 per 1,000 in the
northern provinces.

At the start of the talks the head of the UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF) Carol Bellamy called for greater spending in health and
education especially targeted towards communities where
disparities are high.

The region spends less on average on public health per capita
than any other region in the world.

According to UNICEF, Cambodia, China, Vietnam and Indonesia
all appear to be experiencing growing economic and social
inequalities.

Countries also pledged innovative strategies to help
adolescents, a fast-growing segment of the region's population.

Lina Laigo, executive director of the Philippines' Council for
the Welfare of Children, told AFP that the talks and declaration
were "very substantive".

"The agenda that they have agreed on and what they have
identified is quite important for all the countries... in the
sense that we are looking at things we have neglected before,"
she said.

"These new things that they have identified, adolescents and
disparities, are really something that we need to address."

During the talks, an alliance of non-government organizations
also urged the region's governments to address the issue of
violence against children.

Young people from 19 of the participating countries meanwhile
held their own three-day forum and called for a larger role in
decisions affecting their welfare.

The ministerial talks were held in the northwestern Cambodian
town of Siem Reap, gateway to the famed Angkor temple complex.
They have been held every second year since being initiated at
the 1990 World Summit for Children in New York.