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The Child Development Index Holding Governments to Account for Children’S Wellbeing

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The Child Development Index Holding Governments to Account for Children’S Wellbeing UK The Child Development Index Holding governments to account for children’s wellbeing “The Child Development Index fills a gap in policy-making. For the first time The Child Development we can assess development across countries not only on the basis of economic growth or dollar-a-day poverty, but in terms of how children are faring... It highlights that Africa has both some of the world’s best as well as some Index of the world’s worst performance. This Index will make governments aware of their country’s progress and help them to address it.” Dr Donald Kaberuka, President of the Africa Development Bank Holding governments to account “The Child Development Index highlights the scale of the challenge of mortality, malnutrition and lack of education amongst children in developing countries. for children’s wellbeing The global community must act now on the challenge to ensure that children benefit from poverty reduction and that action is taken to greatly reduce the number of preventable deaths.” The Rt Hon. Douglas Alexander MP, Secretary of State for International Development, United Kingdom “This new Index shines a light on how development translates into practical improvements in the lives of children around the world. It will be of interest to policy-makers, development practitioners and everyone who cares about making children’s futures brighter. Again, Save the Children has shown it is at the cutting edge of efforts to understand the lives of the world’s children – and to point out concrete policy action that can improve their lives.” Andrew Mitchell MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development “Save the Children’s innovative Child Development Index is an invaluable tool for policy-makers to assess the impact of their policies on child wellbeing. It is also a stark reminder that we cannot assume that economic growth will have an automatic impact on children’s wellbeing.... This report is essential reading for policy-makers seeking to tackle child deprivation and international development.” The Rt Hon. Malcolm Bruce MP, Chairman of the International Development Committee, United Kingdom The report, data and maps of the Child Development Index are available online at www.savethechildren.org.uk/childindex savethechildren.org.uk UK The Child Development Index Holding governments to account for children’s wellbeing We’re the world’s independent children’s rights organisation. We’re outraged that millions of children are still denied proper healthcare, food, education and protection and we’re determined to change this. Save the Children UK is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, transforming children’s lives in more than 100 countries. Published by Save the Children 1 St John’s Lane London EC1M 4AR UK +44 (0)20 7012 6400 savethechildren.org.uk First published 2008 © The Save the Children Fund 2008 The Save the Children Fund is a charity registered in England and Wales (213890) and Scotland (SC039570). Registered Company No. 178159 This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee or prior permission for teaching purposes, but not for resale. For copying in any other circumstances, prior written permission must be obtained from the publisher, and a fee may be payable. Typeset by Grasshopper Design Company Printed by Page Bros (Norwich) Ltd Printed on recycled paper Contents Acknowledgements iv Summary 1 1 What commitments have been made to children? 3 2 What are the costs and consequences of child deprivation? 4 3 The Child Development Index 5 Getting the data right 6 4 Global and regional trends 7 Which regions are performing better? 7 Which regions performed less well? 7 Progress between the three periods 8 Progress by indicator 9 How does our Index compare with the Human Development Index? 12 Which countries performed best, and which performed worst? 12 5 The policy response 14 Prioritising child nutrition 14 Promoting equitable development 14 Supporting women’s education and empowerment 15 6 Recommendations and conclusion 17 Appendix: The Child Development Index 19 Endnotes 23 Acknowledgements The Child Development Index was made possible Comments were gratefully received from Michael by the extensive contributions of Terry McKinley, O’Donnell, Abigail Perry, Jennifer Yablonski,Frances Director of the Centre for Development Policy Mason, Anna Taylor, Giorgio Cometto, Amelia and Research at the School of Oriental and African Bookstein Kyazze, Bernard Aryeetey and Janice Studies (SOAS), University of London, with support Dolan.The communication strategy was led by from Katerina Kyrili. Josephine Koppel, Anna Craig, Rachel Bhatia, and Jo Billingham. This paper was written by Sarah Hague at Save the Children UK, with support from Sophie Elmhirst, Maria Pizzini and David Mepham.We are grateful The report, data and maps of the Child to Kevin Watkins, Andy McKay, and Terry McKinley Development Index are available online at for reviewing it. www.savethechildren.org.uk/childindex iv Summary How are children faring in today’s increasingly We hope it will put a real spotlight on governments, integrated global economy? Are we seeing major so that good performers feel emboldened and reductions in child poverty and improvements in proud of their achievements, and poor performers child wellbeing in countries with high levels of are pressured to up their game. economic growth? What is happening to children in countries whose economies are experiencing In headline terms, our analysis shows that: slower growth or are not growing at all? Is the • there are still high levels of child poverty and income and opportunity gap between countries deprivation in many countries (albeit often and people increasing and, if so, what does this hidden from the public spotlight) mean for children left behind? How will the rising • income levels are a poor indicator of progress costs of food and fuel affect children? And how in reducing child deprivation will the global financial crisis and recession impact • children’s wellbeing does not necessarily them? These are questions that are rarely asked – improve in line with adult wellbeing and even less frequently answered – in the • there is considerable variation – between corridors of power. countries, globally and within regions – in terms of the rights, opportunities and wellbeing that Political leaders and economic policy-making children enjoy, with the obvious implication and analysis generally devote too little attention that national political and policy choices matter to the distributional effects of economic growth. enormously for children’s wellbeing. This oversight is particularly pronounced when it comes to children. It is generally still assumed that increases in household income will improve Across the world, 9.2 million children die wellbeing, and that these improvements will benefit every year before they reach their fifth birthday.1 all family members, including children, to the same 97% of all child deaths occur in 68 developing extent. Our report challenges this assumption. countries.2 One-quarter of all children worldwide are underweight.3 Nearly one in We have developed the first ever global, multi- three has stunted growth.4 And 75 million dimensional tool that enables us to monitor how primary school-age children are not enrolled individual countries are performing in relation in school, most of whom are girls.Although to the wellbeing of their children – the Child broader than these issues alone, these Development Index.The Index will help to ensure figures provide some sense of the scale and that governments are held to account for the distribution of child poverty and deprivation. impact of their policies and priorities on children. They reveal that the basic rights of millions of children around the world continue to be violated and denied. 1 THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT INDEX Because there are many dimensions of child This report has six sections. Section 1 highlights poverty and deprivation, tackling them requires the key commitments that world leaders have made action on many fronts. Based on the findings from to children by signing up to international human our Index, we are highlighting three areas that rights conventions and political declarations, and warrant much more sustained attention and outlines the gap between promises made and the decisive action on the part of national governments, reality. Section 2 considers the economic and social the international donor community, development consequences of this collective failure to guarantee NGOs, and the private sector. children’s rights and ensure their wellbeing. Section • Nutrition – Child malnutrition is widespread 3 explains how the Child Development Index was across the developing world and is now a developed and what it seeks to measure. Section 4 major barrier to improving children’s wellbeing highlights the varied performance of different more generally. countries, and provides a detailed analysis of trend • Equitable development – Economic growth by region and indicator. Section 5 pulls together is a necessary but insufficient condition for some common themes from the analysis, identifying improving children’s wellbeing. More attention key policy issues that need to be urgently addressed needs to be paid to the issue of equitable if world leaders are to deliver on their promises growth and development, so that the poorest to improve children’s wellbeing and provide all communities can contribute to economic children with greater opportunities.And Section 6 activity, and that its benefits are shared more draws together our conclusions, and puts forward widely – especially with children. recommendations for governments and • Women’s education and empowerment – international actors. Extending educational opportunities for girls and women, and enhancing their rights and status, is crucial for the wellbeing of children. 2 1 What commitments have been made to children? Improving the wellbeing of children is a moral MDG 3, who are more likely to drop out or not be duty; it is also a legal and political obligation. enrolled in the first place.
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