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LONDON/SARAJEVO, May 29 (FENA) - Save the Children International, on the eve of the International Children's Day (June 1), published the End of Childhood Index that states that at least 280 million children in the world today have a better chance of growing up healthy, educated and safe than it was the case at any point during the last two decades.
“Yet, one in four children is still deprived of a safe and happy childhood. Children living in areas affected by conflicts or children who are forced to leave their homes due to conflict are among the most affected and disenfranchised,” it is said in the Report.
The End of Childhood Index ranks Bosnia and Herzegovina at 38th, Serbia at 46th and Montenegro at 50th place.
“According to this year’s End of Childhood Index, Bosnia and Herzegovina takes up 38th place, and compared to last year, it has advanced one place. Serbia is ranked 46th, the same place as in 2018. Montenegro has also made progress by three places, and this year it is on the 50th place. The worst positioned country in the region is Albania, which is in the 61st place, but it has made the most progress in the region in comparison with last year's 77th place. For the past two years, Slovenia has shared the first place, while this year it shares the third with Norway,” it is said in the Report.
But one in four children still denied right to a safe and healthy childhood, with children living in or fleeing conflict zones among the most disadvantaged.
At least 280 million children have a better chance to grow up healthy, educated and safe than at any time in the past two decades, a new report by Save the Children has found. The annual report evaluates 176 countries on children’s access to health care, education, nutrition and protection from harmful practices like child labor and child marriage.
Save the Children’s 2019 Global Childhood Report shows the world has made remarkable progress in protecting childhoods, thanks to strong political leadership, social investments, and the success of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
In the year 2000, an estimated 970 million children were robbed of their childhoods due to ‘childhood enders’ – life-changing events like child marriage, early pregnancy, exclusion from education, sickness, malnutrition and violent deaths. That number today has been reduced to 690 million – meaning that at least 280 million children are better off today than they would have been two decades ago. Together, China and India account for more than half of the global decline in stunting alone.
Launched ahead of International Children’s Day on June 1st, Save the Children’s Global Childhood Report includes the annual End of Childhood Index, which finds that circumstances for children have improved in 173 out of 176 countries since 2000. This means today there are:
· 4.4 million fewer child deaths per year
· 49 million fewer stunted children
· 130 million more children in school
· 94 million fewer child laborers
· 11 million fewer girls forced into marriage or married early
· 3 million fewer teen births per year
· 12,000 fewer child homicides per year
Of the eight ‘childhood enders’ examined in the report, displacement due to conflict is the only one on the rise, with 30.5 million more forcibly displaced people now than there were in 2000, an 80 percent increase.
Singapore tops the rankings as the country that best protects and provides for its children, with eight Western European countries and South Korea also ranking in the top 10. The most dramatic progress was among some of the world’s poorest countries, with Sierra Leone making the biggest improvements since 2000, followed by Rwanda, Ethiopia and Niger. The Central African Republic ranks last, with Niger – despite recent progress - and Chad rounding out the bottom three countries where childhoods are most threatened.
(FENA) S. R.
