BEIJING, Oct. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As China marks its second National Poverty Alleviation Day on 17 October, UNICEF calls for critical attention on child poverty and greater effort to tackle poverty in all its forms to avoid the irreversible impacts it has on a child's survival, growth and development.
A recent study on child poverty underscores the importance. The unique findings revealed that lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation and poor nutrition were the most serious deprivations that children experienced in four areas of Hubei Province that were surveyed. The youngest children and those left behind by migrating parents without regular, supportive and loving care were the most at risk.
China has had unprecedented success in lifting millions of people out of poverty, making a unique contribution to the global progress towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This included important gains for China's children, such as a reduction in the numbers of children dying before their fifth birthday, working to make sure every child has a chance to attend school and ensuring that families have better access to safe water and sanitation.
Despite this impressive progress, evidence demonstrates that disparity and inequality continue to adversely affect social development. Children, who are held back by poverty, sickness, violence, abuse, lack of an education and natural disasters, are denied a fair chance in life. Deprivation and unequal opportunity prevent them from achieving their goals and taking full part in the life of their communities and the world.
"Poverty is not just an economic measure, it tells us about a range of deprivations that families experience such as poor nutrition, limited access to clean water, school drop-out and so forth," said Rana Flowers, UNICEF China Representative. "While the largest costs of this are born by children, society also pays a high price -- through reduced productivity, untapped potential and the costs of responding to chronic poverty."
"If we want to reduce poverty, stimulate growth and promote equality, a focus on reaching the poorest boys and girls should be a priority," added Ms Flowers.
This year, nations enter a new phase of development, underpinned by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by 193 countries during the United Nations General Assembly. This new agenda presents a historic opportunity to advance the rights and well-being of every child, especially the most disadvantaged, and secure a healthy planet for today's children and future generations.
UNICEF welcomes this ambitious and universal 'plan of action for people, planet and prosperity' and commits to do all it can to achieve the goals. The organization will work in partnership with governments, civil society, business, academia and the United Nations family -- and especially children and young people -- to scale up what works, innovate for improved solutions and results, measure progress and share lessons learned.
"We are committed to working with the Government of China, to build on the legacy of the MDGs and support the strong leadership already demonstrated by putting investment in all children at the heart of China's national goals for growth, development and sustainability as well as to contribute to the global success of the Sustainable Development Goals," said Ms Flowers. "We welcome the anti-poverty target set by the Government of China to eliminate poverty by 2020."
Nearly a billion people worldwide live in extreme poverty. Nearly half of them are children. In China, around 70 million people live under the national poverty threshold.
The explicit mention of children and poverty and the call to end extreme poverty in all its forms, outlined in Goal 1 of the Sustainable Development Goals, are critical steps forward. The goal addresses poverty in all its dimensions -- a particular concern for children burdened by multiple and complex forms of deprivation.
To achieve the goal, high-quality, cost-effective early child development programmes are needed, along with integrated family support and stronger investment in health care, nutrition and the education system. Goal 1 also recognizes the importance of resilience and social protection systems, which are key to ending child poverty.
As outlined in the country's Ten-Year National Rural Poverty Reduction Strategy (2011-2020), China is already committed to addressing child poverty. This commitment, combined with the National Plan of Action for Children and increased investment in health, education and child protection services to promote early childhood development, will provide a strong platform for the national delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals, with children at the forefront of that agenda.
To support these efforts, UNICEF China, the Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development and the Hubei Poverty Alleviation Bureau collaborated on the child poverty analysis conducted in four areas of Hubei Province. In its measuring of child poverty, the study uniquely gathered the experiences of children.
Recognizing that for children, income poverty is only part of the story, the analysis measured well-being across eight dimensions: nutrition, drinking water, sanitation, health, shelter, education, social protection and access to information.
"The pioneering work in Hubei matters not only because of what we have learned about child poverty but also because it points to new ways to end poverty for children in all its forms, for example, by extending social services to the last mile in communities or coordinating programmes to better integrate care for children affected by migration," said Ms Flowers.
As UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake recently said, "Sustainable development is, by definition, development that can be carried on -- sustainably -- by future generations. Today's children hold 'tomorrow' in their hands. Ultimately they will be the ones who decide whether development is carried forward or whether it is not. We need to help them prepare."
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UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org
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