The State of the World's Children 2005

Childhood under Threat

By UNICEF
Produced by: United Nations (UN) Children's Fund (UNICEF) 2004

This year's report analyses the violations of children's rights, focusing on the three areas of childhood poverty; conflict; and HIV/AIDS.

The report finds that millions of children are severely deprived of nutrition, water, sanitation facilities, access to basic health-care services, shelter, education and information. Gender discrimination is both a visible outcome and an underlying factor of severe deprivation. Even in countries where absolute deprivation is low, relative deprivation in terms of family income and wealth implies unequal opportunities for children.

Children are orphaned, abducted or left with psychological and psychosocial distress from direct exposure to violence, dislocation, poverty or the loss of loved ones. Children may be forcibly recruited into combat and servitude, experience sexual violence or exploitation. Girls are especially vulnerable to sexual violence, abuse, exploitation and stigmatisation during and after conflict situations.

For children made orphaned or vulnerable by HIV/AIDs the loss of a parent pervades every aspect of a child's life: their emotional well-being, physical security, mental development and overall health. A child's right to an education is often jeopardised when caregivers become sick or die, as is the right to rest, play and recreation. The main recommendations from the report include:

• An integrated, multifaceted poverty reduction approach is required
• Poverty-reduction strategies should focus strongly on fulfilling children's rights, addressing key issues of deprivation and protection for children and their families
• Promote the family - families form the first line of defence for children: the further away children are from their families, the more vulnerable they are to violence, exploitation, poverty and abuse
• Eliminate gender discrimination by pursuing labour market and fiscal policies that address economic insecurity among women
• Strengthen the protective environment for children at every level
• Eradicate the culture of impunity and strengthen accountability
• Perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity must be brought to justice
• Restart education for children caught up in armed conflict as soon as possible
• Dedicate funds to support programmes for orphans and vulnerable children, which currently receive only a small proportion of overall HIV/AIDS funding
• Prolong the lives of parents and provide economic, psychosocial and other support
• Mobilise and support community-based responses to provide both immediate and long-term support to vulnerable households.