Publications

This research brief is one of a series of six briefs, which provide an overview of available evidence shown in the Campbell-UNICEF Mega-Map of the effectiveness of interventions to improve child well-being in low- and middle-income countries. Five of these briefs summarize evidence as mapped against the five goal areas of UNICEF’s 2018–2021 Strategic Plan. A sixth special brief was added to focus specifically on COVID-19 and other epidemics and major crises. It is anticipated that the briefs will also be useful for others working in the child well-being space.

The study reviews the implications of climate change for children and future generations, drawing on relevant experiences in different sectors and countries of promoting child rights and well-being. It traces in considerable detail the pathways through which shifts in temperature and precipitation patterns create serious additional barriers to the achievement of the child survival, development and protection goals embraced by the international community. The role of children as vital participants and agents of change emerges as a key theme.

Despite recent economic growth, many children in the CEE/CIS Region remain vulnerable. Thousands of children continue to die before their first birthday, and increasing numbers of children are in formal care. Many young people lack employment opportunities and are at risk of marginalization. The tools to monitor these trends are often lacking, not standardized, or not routinely deployed. TRANSMONEE Features, along with the TRANSMONEE database, focuses on different aspects of children's lives, draws attention to mechanisms for monitoring trends and uses data to illuminate neglected issues. TRANSMONEE 2007 Features: Data and analysis on the lives of children in CEE/CIS and Baltic States looks closely at child survival; the forces behind the recent demographic changes occurring across the region, the challenges facing young people in their transition from school to work, and the issue of children growing up without parental care. Included with the print publication is a CD containing the MONEEInfo version of the TRANSMONEE database.

This study addresses one of the greatest challenges of our time: the damage caused by HIV and AIDS to the well-being of children and families. With 38.6 million people affected by HIV in 2006, with HIV prevalence at antenatal clinics exceeding 40 per cent in areas of Botswana and KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), with nationwide adult prevalence in excess of the critical threshold of 20 per cent in several countries, and with the prospect of a rapid spread of the disease in large swathes of India, China and the Russian Federation, the future of child well-being is seriously threatened. Certainly, in the 50 or so countries affected by the disease, the Millennium Development Goals in the field of child survival, education, poverty and basic rights will be missed, often by a large margin.

Несмотря на отмечаемый в последнее время экономический рост, многие дети в странах ЦВЕ/СНГ и государствах Балтии остаются уязвимыми. По-прежнему тысячи детей умирают в течение первого года жизни. Все больше детей находятся под официальной опекой. В публикации “Материалы базы данных TransMONEE 2007 года” более пристальное внимание уделяется проблеме выживаниядетей и тому, смогут ли страны ЦВЕ/СНГ достичь цели в бласти развития Декларации тысячелетия по сокращению на две трети смертности среди детей в возрасте до 5 лет; факторам, которые в последнее время привели к изменениям в уровне рождаемости, имеющим место в регионе; а также проблемам, с которыми сталкиваются молодые люди при трудоустройстве по окончании школы. Кроме того, в ней вновь ассматривается вопрос о детях, лишенных родительского попечения, в рамках проведения анализа, почему число детей, находящихся под официальной опекой, продолжает величиваться, несмотря на общее улучшение экономического положения.

La Convención de los Derechos del Niño introduce por primera vez en un tratado de derecho internacional, el concepto de ‘capacidades evolutivas’ del niño(a). Este principio ha sido descrito como un nuevo principio de interpretación en derecho internacional, reconociendo que, a medida que los niños(as) adquieren mayores capacidades, hay menos necesidad de protección y mayor capacidad para adquirir responsabilidad por las decisiones que afectarán su vida. La Convención permite reconocer que los niños(as) que crecen en diferentes espacios y culturas, y que se enfrentan a diversas experiencias de vida, adquirirán estas capacidades a diferentes edades. Es necesario tomar acción a través del derecho, las políticas y la práctica para que sea reconocidas la contribución que la infancia brinda así como sus capacidades. El propósito de este estudio es abrir la discusión y promover el debate para adquirir un mejor entendimiento de la protección que debe darse a la niñez, de acuerdo con sus ‘capacidades evolutivas’, y asimismo proveer oportunidades de participación en el pleno cumplimiento de sus derechos.

Pour la première fois dans un traité internacional relatif aux droits humains, la Convention relative aux droits de l’enfant introduit le concept des ‘capacités évolutives’ de l’enfant. Ce principe revêt de profondes implications pour les droits humains de l’enfant. Il établit que l’acquisition de compétences majeures de la part des enfants s’accompagne d’une moindre nécessité de les diriger et d’une plus grande nécessité de leur confier la responsabilité des décisions qui concernent leur existence. La Convention reconnaît que les enfants acquièrent des compétences à des âges différents en fonction des environnements, des cultures et des expériences de vie, et que l’acquisition de ces compétences varie selon les circonstances. Elle tient également compte du fait que les capacités des enfants diffèrent selon la nature des droits à exercer.Cette étude a pour objectif d’ouvrir la discussion et de favoriser le débat afin de mieux discerner les moyens de promouvoir les changements culturels nécessaires pour que les enfants soient adéquatement protégés conformément à leurs capacités évolutives, et qu’ils soient respectés en tant que citoyens, en tant que personnes et en tant que titulaires de droits.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child introduces for the first time in an international human rights treaty, the concept of the ‘evolving capacities’ of the child. This principle has been described as a new principle of interpretation in international law, recognising that, as children acquire enhanced competencies, there is a diminishing need for protection and a greater capacity to take responsibility for decisions affecting their lives. The Convention allows for the recognition that children in different environments and cultures, and faced with diverse life experiences, will acquire competencies at different ages. Action is needed in law, policy and practice so that the contributions children make and the capacities they hold are acknowledged. The purpose of the study is to open the discussion and promote debate to achieve a better understanding of how children can be protected, in accordance with their evolving capacities, and also provided with opportunities to participate in the fulfillment of their rights.

Most of the countries caught up in the Asian financial crisis appear to have weathered the storm. But Indonesia's prospects are far more uncertain. In this Innocenti Insight, development journalist and writer Peter Stalker describes how the financial turbulence of the Krisis Moneter, or Krismon, set off a dramatic social and political chain reaction, with effects on children that could reverberate for years to come. Beyond Krismon examines the legacy of Soeharto's New Order regime in terms of child well-being, the impact of the financial crisis on areas essential to their survival and development and the crippling burden of debt that may jeopardize the nation's hopes for the future.

This paper discusses the possible pathways between macroeconomic change and child welfare and develops a typology of the risks that children may face at different stages of the lifecycle. Adopting a multi-dimensional view of child well-being, trends in both economic measures of poverty, based on incomes and expenditures, and in selected capability-based indicators are then examined. The indicators selected reflect the health and survival, education and personal development of children and their social inclusion/exclusion. Not all the news is bad but the data show that the human cost of economic transition has been high and children, far from being protected from its impact, have been amongst those who have suffered the most.

This is the report on an inter-agency workshop convened by the Education Cluster of UNICEF New York as a follow-up to the 1989 Innocenti Global Seminar, which investigated and reviewed the most recent scientific knowledge and conceptual approaches to early childhood development. The workshop’s twofold aim was to clarify the process between policy formulation and programming and to foster new alliances, or strengthen existing ones, with other organizations committed to improving children’s chances for healthy development. Specifically, the meeting undertook a detailed analysis of three accepted strategies: parent education, community partnerships and linkages with programmes for vulnerable children.

Development of young children encompasses their survival and good health. It also involves their cognitive, emotional, ethical and social growth. Yet research findings have not yet been fully digested or appropriated by the international community for its policies and programmes. It is not widely enough known that meeting the social and psychological needs of young children and intergrating them with nutritional and health needs can be accomplished at relatively low cost. Policy must recognise that what the child experiences from birth onward influences the society of the future.