Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/status-of-children-of-the-world/5023074/
Child advocates have achieved major gains for children in the past decade, but significant challenges remain. This is the conclusion of a recent survey of members of the World Forum Foundation community, including World Forum National Representatives, Global Leaders for Young Children, and members of the World Forum International Advisory Group. Reports were received from 45 countries from all regions of the world. Their findings are summarized in this article.
Despite all the challenges reported by respondents, a great sense of optimism prevailed about the future for children. When asked about the outlook for children in their country in the coming five years, 51 percent reported that “prospects will improve somewhat” and 24 percent predicted that “prospects will improve dramatically.”
Great Intentions — Mixed Results
In fact, respondents did report on many promising developments:
“In Vietnam during 2001–2010, the rate of children going to school quickly grew from 72 percent to 98 percent for preschool five-year-old children…. A network of educational institutions developed nationwide thereby increasing learning opportunities.” — Nhung Dao Kim, Vietnam, World Forum National Representative
“The first lady’s ‘Beyond Zero’ campaign is targeted at reducing to zero maternal and child mortality and this has been instrumental in creating awareness for investment in ECD.”