Adolescents Neglected and Vulnerable Group - UNICEF (Report)

(HN, February 25, 2011) - While the world has seen impressive gains for young children, there have been too few gains in areas critically affecting adolescents.'The State of the World's Children 2011,' which is dedicated to investing in the development of adolescents to help break the cycles of poverty and inequity

More than seventy million adolescents of lower secondary age are currently out of school, and on a global level girls still lag behind boys in secondary school participation.

The findings are contained in the State of the World's Children Report (SOWC) - the flagship publication of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) released today. There are currently 1.2-billion adolescents - which the UN defines as anyone 10-19 years old - in the world today, and most are in Africa.

The demographic group has become much more visible due to the "youth bulge" in most regions - especially the Middle East and North Africa. Many find that by the time they reach working age, there are no jobs or few opportunities for waiting for them.

In fact, the continent has the largest proportion of children, adolescents and young people in the world. Almost half its population is younger than 18 years and almost two-thirds are younger than 25 years.

In Nairobi, UNICEF's regional director for eastern and southern Africa, Elhadj As Sy, said: "As the gap between rich and poor, men and women, urban and rural keeps widening, and inequality generates a 'nothing to lose' generation, paying more attention to adolescents and young people is especially critical for the African nations. ."

The report argues that without education, adolescents cannot develop the knowledge and skills they need to navigate the risks of exploitation, abuse and violence that are at height during the second decade of life.

In Brazil for example, UNICEF says the lives of 26,000 children under one were saved between 1998 and 2008, leading to a sharp decrease in infant mortality. In the same decade 81,000 Brazilian adolescents aged 15-19 were murdered.

“We need to focus more attention now on reaching adolescents -- especially adolescent girls -- investing in education, health and other measures to engage them in the process of improving their own lives," said UNICEF Executive Director Tony Lake.

The vast majority of today’s adolescents (88 per cent) live in developing countries. Many face a unique set of challenges. Although adolescents around the world are generally healthier today than in the past, many  health risks remain significant, including injuries, eating disorders, substance abuse and mental health issues; it is estimated that around 1 in every 5 adolescents suffers from a mental health or behavioural problem, according to the SOWC.

With 81 million young people out of work globally in 2009, youth unemployment remains a concern in almost every country. An increasingly technological labour market requires skills that many young people do not possess. This not only results in a waste of young people’s talents, but also in a lost opportunity for the communities in which they live, UNICEF says. In many countries large teenage populations are a unique demographic asset that is often overlooked. By investing in adolescent education and training, countries can reap a large and productive workforce, contributing significantly to the growth of national economies.

Adolescents face numerous global challenges both today and in the future, among them the current bout of economic turmoil, climate change and environmental degradation, explosive urbanization and migration, aging societies, the rising costs of healthcare, and escalating humanitarian crises.

“Adolescence is a pivot point – an opportunity to consolidate the gains we have made in early childhood or risk seeing those gains wiped out,” said Lake.

The choice of adolescents for this year's SOWC is a departue from UNICEF's long-standing focus on child survival - child and maternal health. UNICEF argues impressive gains have been made in that phase of the life cycle. UNICEF says there has been a 33% drop in the global under-five mortality rate.

"This shows that many more young lives have been saved, in most of the world ‘s regions girls are almost as likely as boys to go to primary school, and millions of children now benefit from improved access to safe water and critical medicines such as routine vaccinations."

Adolescents face numerous global challenges both today and in the future, UNICEF says, among them the current bout of economic turmoil, climate change and environmental degradation, explosive urbanization and migration, aging societies, the rising costs of healthcare, and escalating humanitarian crises.

To enable adolescents to effectively deal with these challenges, targeted investments in the following key areas are necessary:

• Improving data collection to increase the understanding of adolescents’ situation and meet their rights;
• Investing in education and training so that adolescents have the means to lift themselves out of poverty and contribute to their national economies;
• Expanding opportunities for youth to participate and voice their opinion, for example in national youth councils, youth forums, community service initiatives, online activism and other avenues which enable adolescents to make their voices heard.
• Promoting laws, policies and programs that protect the rights of  adolescents and enable them to overcome barriers  to essential services;
• Stepping up the fight again poverty and inequity through child sensitive programs to prevent adolescents from being prematurely catapulted into adulthood.

- HUMNEWS staff, UNICEF

Mixed Progress in Africa on Eve of MDG Summit

On the eve of a major United Nations review of the Millennium Development Goals, a new review says Africa has made considerable progress in the past half decade but that the continent’s governments and the international community still had a ways to go.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa - which includes nine prominent Africans such as Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa - reported on the weekend in a report called “Still or Common Interest” said the majority of Africans have yet to experience the benefit of economic growth.

The 17 commissioners revealed their findings five years after the publication of the landmark report, “Our Common Interest.”

The new reports says: “Africa has seen average growth rates of over 6 percent from 2003-2008 and a quadrupling of trade and foreign investment.

This was largely driven by African governments’ efforts to make it easier to do business in their countries supported by increased African and international investment in infrastructure - as well as record levels of demand for African goods. 

The Commission noted that this demand for Africa’s natural resources, particularly from emerging economies, has transformed the continent’s relationships with the outside world. Relief for debt valued at $100 billion and a 46% increase in aid to Africa since 2004 have helped African countries increase their spending on health, education and other social sectors. Governance has improved in many countries, and though some existing conflicts remain intractable, there have been no major new conflicts on the continent.Source: Commission for Africa

“Some countries in Africa are on track to meet some of the MDGs, reflecting the progress made since the last report....However the majority of Africans have yet to experience the benefit of economic growth, and progress towards the MDGs needs to be broader and faster if the continent as a whole is to make significant progress towards meeting the MDGs.

For example, Lesotho and Swaziland are not on track to achieve several key goals - including reducing child mortality and improving maternal health.

The Commission credited African governments with doing more than ever before to ease business and investment on the continent. “Donors have supported this by boosting their support to infrastructure and providing the aid and debt relief that has allowed African governments to increase their expenditure in key areas such as health, education and agriculture.

“But there remains much to be done. Progress on reforming international trade rules has been dismal; donors are providing less in aid than their commitments; and African governments are still not investing as much as they had promised in key areas.”

Indeed, in South Africa, considered the strongest economy on the continent, massive slashes inn the health budget has creted a severe shortage of nurses and denied critical patients of life saving care. Many African governments are still far short of commiting the promised 15% of their annual budgets to health care as part of the so-called Abuja Declaration.

Increasingly, African economies are being boosted by private capital. According to Nile Capital, stock markets and public companies represent approximately $1 trillion in market capitalization. Of 53 African countries, 23 have active stock markets with a total of 1,500 companies listed. With returns stronger than in the US and elsewhere, the offshore portfolio exposures of large institution and hedge funds to the continent are increasing.

The MDGs are a set of eight development targets agreed upon in 2000 at a UN summit that are aimed to slash poverty, reduce hunger, improve health and education.

While many countries in Africa will achieve MDG targets, many will not. Recently, UNICEF Executive Director Tony Lake pointed out that while a strong focus has been made over the years to meet MDG targets, in the process, millions have been left behind - in inequality gaps that hides their plight. The organization is making a push to utilize desegregated data to reveal these widening disparities.

"Even in many countries making progress toward the MDGs, we see gaps between the richest and poorest children widening," Lake said. "It is hard to reach the very poor. They often live in remote areas. Even those in urban areas find themselves marginalized by weak transportation links and limited physical infrastructure."