Poverty and Exclusion among Urban Children

Poverty and Exclusion among Urban Children

Published: 2003 Innocenti Digest
The cities of the world are often regarded as hubs of wealth and privilege, but they are also home to hundreds of millions of children for whom poverty and exclusion are a daily reality. Some of these children live on the street; many more live in dangerous, insanitary housing which often lacks the most basic amenities, including clean water and satisfactory sanitation. These urban children rarely have access to adequate services, including schooling, or to safe areas for play and recreation. The imperative of economic survival can mean not only that parents are unable to dedicate sufficient time to childcare, but also that children themselves are forced to work, often in hazardous conditions. Yet all this need not be the case: this Digest examines the potential of good urban governance founded upon human rights principles to promote positive change for and with children. The key to eradicating urban poverty and exclusion lies in the development of child-friendly cities where children’s rights are made a priority in budgeting, planning and resource allocation and where children’s voices inform the democratic process.
L'infanzia urbana tra povertà ed esclusione sociale

L'infanzia urbana tra povertà ed esclusione sociale

Published: 2003 Innocenti Digest
Le città del mondo sono spesso considerate luoghi in cui abbonda la ricchezza e il privilegio. Esse ospitano però centinaia di milioni di bambini per i quali la povertà e l'esclusione sono una realtà quotidiana. Alcuni di questi bambini vivono nelle strade; molti altri vivono in alloggi pericolosi e insalubri che spesso sono privi dei più basilari servizi igienici, come una fonte di acqua pulita. I bambini urbani hanno raramente accesso a strutture adeguate, come scuole o luoghi sicuri dove giocare. L'imperativo della sopravvivenza economica può significare non solo che i genitori non sono in grado di dedicare loro il tempo sufficiente, ma anche che gli stessi bambini sono costretti a lavorare, spesso in condizioni pericolose. Eppure tutto questo sarebbe evitabile: questo Digest prende in esame le potenzialità di un buon governo, fondato sui princìpi dei diritti umani, nel promuovere un cambiamento positivo per e con i bambini. La povertà e l'esclusione urbana possono essere eliminate in città che siano amiche dei bambini, dove i diritti dell’infanzia siano una priorità nella pianificazione di bilancio, nella progettazione e nell'attribuzione delle risorse, e dove i bambini possano far sentire la loro voce nel processo democratico.
Tableau de classement des décès d'enfants par suite de maltraitance dans les nations riches

Tableau de classement des décès d'enfants par suite de maltraitance dans les nations riches

Published: 2003 Innocenti Report Card
Près de 3500 enfants de moins de 15 ans (don’t plus de 1000 rien qu'au Mexique) succombent chaque année par suite de négligence et de sévices physiques. La maltraitance tue chaque semaine deux enfants en Allemagne et au Royaume-Uni, trois en France, près de quatre au Japon, et 27 aux Etats-Unis. Globalement, environ un tiers de ces décès entre dans la catégorie " cause indéterminée ". On ne possède encore de donées internationalement comparables pour ventiler ces 3500 décès annuels en décès dus à la violence physique et décès par négligence. Mais au sein même des divers nations, des tentatives ont été faites pour évaluer l'importance relative de ces deux catégories. Des divergences dans la classification et un manque de définitionis et de méthodes de recherches communes font que l'on a peu de donées internationalement comparables, et que l'ampleur de la maltraitance des enfants est presque certainement plus forte que ne l'indiquent les statistiques.
Jim Grant - UNICEF Visionary

Jim Grant - UNICEF Visionary

AUTHOR(S)
Richard Jolly

Published: 2001 Innocenti Publications
This book glimpses the leadership and achievements of Jim Grant during his period as Executive Director of UNICEF (1980-1995). Each chapter is written by one of his close colleagues - one of those who was privileged to share in the excitement of the efforts and victories for children during those intense years. Jim Grant was a professional and a visionary, an analyst with vast experience and an activist of almost unlimited commitment. At the time of his death it was estimated that, because of his influence, at least 25 million children were alive who would otherwise have died in early life.
Protection in Practice: The protection of children's rights in situations of armed conflict. UNICEF experience in Burundi

Protection in Practice: The protection of children's rights in situations of armed conflict. UNICEF experience in Burundi

AUTHOR(S)
Ben Majekodunmi

Published: 1999 Innocenti Publications
In 1997, UNICEF’s first international Child Protection Officer, Ben Majekodunmi, took up his post in Burundi. This publication summarizes his experience and draws lessons for future child protection activities in emergency situations. Primarily aimed at UNICEF and UN policy makers, the publication calls for the creation of a systematic child protection capacity in the field as an integral part of an overall UN strategy. The development of an agreed methodology for child rights protection in the field is still in its embryonic stages. As UNICEF’s main research arm, the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre explores new areas on behalf of the organization as a whole. This document, based upon first-hand experience, is one part of the Centre’s contribution to the development of such methodology within UNICEF and within the UN as a whole.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 48 | Thematic area: Conflict and Displacement | Tags: armed conflicts, child protection, children in armed conflicts, children's rights | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence

Repartir de zéro

AUTHOR(S)
Nigel Cantwell

Published: 1998 Innocenti Insights
Cet Innocenti Insight est un examen critique - et en aucun cas une évaluation officelle - de quelques-uns des principaux aspects des activités de coopération internationale en faveur des enfants au Rwanda entre juillet 1994 et décembre 1996, dans l'optique du respect et de la promotion de l'esprit et de la lettre de la Convention des Nationes Unies relative aux droits de l'enfant. L'étude a pour objet la situation dans le Rwanda d'après le géocide, mais avec, tout naturellemente, des incidences et des échos sur d'autres situations d'après-guerre.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 98 | Thematic area: Conflict and Displacement | Tags: child protection, children in armed conflicts, children's rights, implementation of the crc | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
Child Rights in Latin America: From irregular situation to full protection

Child Rights in Latin America: From irregular situation to full protection

AUTHOR(S)
Emilio Garcia Mendez

Published: 1998 Innocenti Essay
The Convention on the Rights of the Child has now been ratified by 192 nations. Notwithstanding, securing the principles and necessary legal safeguards remains a difficult achievement. Laws and jurisprudence must be firmly linked to the national reality to avoid them being well-meant placebos. Are all children comprehensively protected and defended? Do the means for implementing these laws exist? Is monitoring adequate? These are on-going questions of concern for both UNICEF and the broader international children's rights community. Many of the themes raised in this essay also echo those examined in other ICDC series and studies; violence against children, juvenile offenders, street children, are all inter-related problems for which children have the right to expect effective and full legal protection.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 32 | Thematic area: Child Protection | Tags: child protection, children's rights, children's rights violation, implementation of the crc | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
Starting from Zero: The promotion and  protection of children's rights in post-genocide Rwanda, July 1994-December 1996

Starting from Zero: The promotion and protection of children's rights in post-genocide Rwanda, July 1994-December 1996

AUTHOR(S)
Nigel Cantwell

Published: 1997 Innocenti Insights
Starting from Zero is a critical review of some of the main facets of the international cooperation undertaken on behalf of children in Rwanda from July 1994 to December 1996, with special reference to its consonance with, and promotion of, the spirit and the letter of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The study aims to contribute to the development of a coherent long-term policy on child-related issues as an integral part of the reconstruction, recovery and reconciliation process in post-conflict situations, using to the full the Convention as both a guide for action and a tool for stimulating and facilitating that action.Taking as its main base the experience of UNICEF, the study also considers other actors, particularly the foreign non-governmental community, in attempting to determine the real impact of the Convention on approach and programming. While the focus of the study is on the events that took place in post-genocide Rwanda, there are inevitably ramifications for and links with other post-conflict situations.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 96 | Thematic area: Conflict and Displacement | Tags: child protection, children in armed conflicts, children's rights, implementation of the crc | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
Child Institutionalization and Child Protection in Central and Eastern Europe

Child Institutionalization and Child Protection in Central and Eastern Europe

AUTHOR(S)
Mary Anne Burke

This paper looks at how the transition from the planned to the free market economy has altered the nature of state protective child care provision in Central and Eastern Europe. The old systems were run according to an underlying state ideology that stressed an insensitive ‘medical model’ of care. This ‘treatment’ was often a worse fate than the deprived contexts from which the children had been removed. But matters have little improved since the collapse of the old regimes. The economic, political, moral and spiritual ramifications of the rapid transition have led to further social unravelling. And children have borne the brunt of its effects.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 58 | Thematic area: Countries in Transition | Tags: child care services, child protection, economic transition | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
The Children Here: Current trends in the decentralization of National Programmes of Action

The Children Here: Current trends in the decentralization of National Programmes of Action

AUTHOR(S)
Carlos Castillo Cardona; Richard Dunbar

Published: 1995 Innocenti Publications
The 1990 World Summit for Children brought together 71 Heads of State and Government to discuss ways in which to improve the lives of the world's children. The international ‘Plan of Action’ adopted at the summit recognised the importance of grass roots initiatives at the local level. Individual countries have responded to this call for decentralisation in the development and implementation of their ‘National Programmes of Action’. The Children Here represents a part of the research undertaken by UNICEF into different countries’ experience of this process. The aim of this research is an improved understanding of how decentralisation can help countries achieve the Summit’s 29 goals for child protection and development.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 92 | Thematic area: National Development Programmes | Tags: child protection, decentralization, National Programme of Action | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
Decentralization and Policies for the Protection of Children and Adolescents in Brazil

Decentralization and Policies for the Protection of Children and Adolescents in Brazil

AUTHOR(S)
Solon Magalhães Vianna; Iara Marques

Brazil has made concrete its commitment to the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the creation of a number of State Programmes of Action. This ‘decentralised’ strategy marks an unprecedented step in a country with a strong tradition of ‘top-down’ federal thinking and limited experience of participatory planning. This paper examines the impact this novel approach has had upon the situation of children and adolescents. Recent achievements include the eradication of polio, a significant reduction in the incidence of measles and neonatal tetanus and an improvement in the management of public schools.
The Decentralization of the National Programme of Action in Favour of Children in Chile

The Decentralization of the National Programme of Action in Favour of Children in Chile

AUTHOR(S)
Kristina Gonçalves; Francisco Coloane

Cite this publication | No. of pages: 32 | Thematic area: National Development Programmes | Tags: child protection, child welfare, decentralization, National Programme of Action | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
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