WEF 2015: UNICEF wants Davos elite to take up 'Agenda for Every Child'

DAVOS: As the global elite assemble here for the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting, the UNICEF has given them a challenge to adopt an agenda to end violence against children, which is an acute problem in many developing countries, including India.

In an agenda note released here, the UNICEF said this ambitious 'Agenda for Every Child' must drive the post-2015 sustainable development goals.

"As leaders spanning all sectors gather in Davos, UNICEF is challenging the global community to make children a priority in the new Sustainable Development Goals, a road map for human progress over the next 15 years that will drive investment and action worldwide.

"The goals will be agreed to at the United Nations General Assembly in September," UNICEF said.

"The world has made significant progress in the last 15 years, and yet millions of children remain marginalised," said Yoka Brandt, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director.

This is a critical opportunity to reach the children who have been left behind. "The decisions and the investments we make today will determine the future of this generation and those to come," according to UNICEF.

The 'Agenda for Every Child' sets out seven priorities the organisation says must be addressed in the new development goals.

Among these seven goals, it has called for an absolute end to violence against children. Almost 1 billion children under 15 suffer regular physical punishment, and a quarter of all girls aged 15-19 experience physical violence, UNICEF said.

While violence against children is often invisible, its impact on individual children and their societies is profound and far-reaching. Because violence against children is a universal problem, investing in protecting children from violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation must be a global priority, UNICEF said.

It has also called for putting end to child poverty at the core of global poverty eradication.

Half of the world's extreme poor are children with nearly 570 million people under the age of 18 living below the international poverty line of USD 1.25 a day. Poverty in childhood is often the root cause of poverty in adulthood.

Without access to health services, nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter and education, this cycle of poverty will continue, it added.

UNICEF has also sought urgent steps to end preventable child and maternal deaths.

The agenda note also suggests paying more attention to adolescence, the second decade of life.

"Gains realised in early childhood can either be consolidated or lost during adolescence, but adolescents are too often left out of planning and services.

"Investing in their learning and promoting healthy lifestyles, among other efforts, will help protect adolescents from disease and violence, and better prepare them for adulthood," UNICEF said.

It also called for leveraging the growing data revolution to support the rights of every child, while seeking higher investments for the benefit of children, especially the most vulnerable and marginalised.

Further, the organisation said that last year 230 million children were living in conflict zones, and many more were affected by both man-made and natural disasters.

The global response to humanitarian crises must focus not only on urgent short-term needs but also on building long-term resilience, helping children and their families to withstand future shocks, and ending the cycle of crises that they endure, it added.

"If significant gains made for children over the last 15 years are not to be lost, if growing nations are to thrive, if troubled regions are to become more stable, the world must make children its top priority," UNICEF said.