What is a life worth, UNICEF asks in its State of the World’s Children 2008 report titled ‘Child Survival’ and released last month. In some countries, sadly, the answer would be “not much”. And worse yet, if the question were ‘what is a child’s life worth?’ the answer could well be “nothing”. The report assesses the state of children’s “survival, and primary health care for mothers, newborns and children today” and uses these as “barometers of a country’s development and wellbeing and as evidence of its priorities and values”.
The report focuses mainly on children’s health and rightly so. It notes that every day around the world some 26,000 children under the age of five die mostly from preventable illnesses; mostly in developing countries. Respiratory or diarrhoeal diseases and poor nutrition as a result of unsafe water, poor sanitation and inadequate hygiene, top the list, followed by other early childhood diseases that can be easily prevented through immunization.
Because of this, the State of the World’s Children report particularly looks at which countries and regions in the world are on track for achieving the fourth Millennium Development Goal, which aims to reduce the global under-five mortality rate by two thirds by 2015. It recognises that attaining that fourth goal would require attaining the first, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth of the eight goals set by UN member states in 1990. These involve reducing poverty and hunger, improving maternal health, combating HIV and AIDS, malaria and other major diseases and increasing the access to clean water and improved sanitation and providing affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis.
According to data gathered by UNICEF up to the end of 2006, the Latin America and the Caribbean region was on track for attaining goal four-there had been a reduction in the rate of under-five mortality-which would mean the region was also making strides in the other areas mentioned. However, while this is reason for optimism, the report cautions against advocates and stakeholders resting on their laurels and thinking that they have licked the problem. In many other regions in the world, countries are slipping farther and farther away from their targets and in several others, including some in this region, the situation is far too tenuous for any celebration.
Meanwhile, it has been long recognised that an investment in women, more specifically mothers, was also an investment in children. UNICEF refers to it as a human rights imperative and “one of the surest ways for a country to set its course towards a better future”. Healthy women are more likely to give birth to healthy babies and to be able to care for them, particularly during those crucial early childhood years.
While this is true enough, at the same time similar investments must be made in other areas of children’s lives. UNICEF also supports initiatives that provide children with adequate nutrition, sanitation, quality basic education and the protection from violence and exploitation. Therefore, even as countries are lauded for improving their health care systems, which are saving many children’s lives, they must also be admonished to ensure that their other basic rights are met. Protection from all forms of violence, including sexual violence and the provision of proper nutrition, a healthy environment and quality education are some of the more pressing needs.
