'Global Child' likely to be Asian, risks poverty, ill-health
'Global Child' likely to be Asian, risks poverty, ill-health
Agencies, Johannesburg, South Africa
The child of the new millennium is likely to be Asian and faces a major risk of starting life without proper nutrition, sanitation or vaccination against disease, the United Nations Children Fund Unicef said here on Sunday.
The statistical portrait of the "Global Child," unveiled at the Earth Summit, found that of every 100 children born in 2000, 53 were born in Asia.
India accounted for 19 of the births and China 15. Nineteen were born in sub-Saharan Africa, but only seven in the rich industrialized world.
"If social conditions remain unchanged (...), 19 (of the 100) will have no access to clean drinking water, and 40 will live without adequate sanitation," Unicef said.
Thirty will suffer from malnutrition in their first five years of life, and more than a quarter will not be immunized against any disease.
As for education, on present trends 17 percent of children born in 2000 will never go to school, and of those who do get some education, a quarter will leave to enter the workforce by the time they are 11.
A child born in 2000 has a statistical life expectancy of 63 years.
But the variation is huge, depending on where he or she had the luck to be born.
"In the industrialized world, they will live 78 years. In the 45 countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, their average life expectancy is 58 years.
"In Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, life expectancy is less than 43 years."
There are 2.1 billion in the world today, accounting for 36 percent of the total population. Some 132 million children are born each year, but one in 12 dies before the age of five.
Officials at the World Summit expressed optimism on Sunday that agreement could be reached on a final action plan addressing contentious issues involving climate change, world trade and enriching the world's poor.
"We have absolutely no choice. We must deliver," Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said.
Negotiators who worked until 3 a.m. on Sunday were back in closed-door meetings a few hours later to settle differences over the conference's action plan before world leaders arrive Monday.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and South African President Thabo Mbeki prepared on Sunday to travel to the Sterkfontein Caves, an archaeological site where a fossil of a 3.5 million year old human ancestor was discovered.
The 10-day conference that started last Monday hoped to reach concrete agreements to bring development to poor countries while reaching new commitments to protect the environment.
"We are progressing, we are taking up issues one by one ... and we are moving forward," said Danish Environment Minister Hans Christian Schmidt, whose country holds the EU presidency.
Negotiators agreed Saturday evening to how the summit would address the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which the United States has refused to sign, diplomats said.
The agreed upon text says nations that have ratified Kyoto "strongly urge" states that have not done so to ratify it in "a timely manner."