Is the world a better place for children?

Press release

Looking ahead to the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on November 20, UNICEF today released new trend data and essays that ask a critical question: “Is the world a better place for children?”

The answer, the UNICEF analyses show, is undeniably “Yes!” A baby born in 2014 has a dramatically improved chance of living to see its fifth birthday. Children today are far likelier to go to primary school than they were in 1989. The number of children aged 5-17 involved in child labour has declined by almost one third since 2000.

But the analyses also show that progress has passed over millions of children – particularly the poor, those who belong to ethnic minorities, who live in rural areas, or those with disabilities.

Millions of children continue to be deprived of essential services that could reduce their vulnerability to disease and under-nutrition, provide them with access to improved water and sanitation, and allow them to obtain a quality education. A disproportionate number of children still live in extreme poverty. And the gap between the highest- and lowest-income households also remains – children from the poorest households have notably higher rates of child mortality and stunting than their richer counterparts.

“The trend data show that globally a child born today is far more likely to survive and thrive than they were 25 years ago. But they also show that in every country and region in the world, many children are being left behind,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Yoka Brandt at a children’s forum hosted by Columbia University’s Earth Institute. “To fulfil the promise of the Convention, we need to challenge ourselves to think and act differently to advance the rights of every child, especially the most marginalised and hardest to reach.”

The data and essays show that challenges facing children today have also changed.

Although the number of armed conflicts around the world has decreased from a peak of 52 in 1991, the character of these conflicts has changed. Protracted intra-state hostilities that impact more significantly on civilians, especially children, are now the norm. Children are bearing the brunt of the effects of man-made climate change while the AIDS pandemic, relatively unknown in 1989, has impacted heavily on children, leaving millions orphaned and infected with HIV. Information technology has also had a transformative effect on children: enabling them to communicate beyond their immediate community but also exposing them to online harassment and exploitation.

More positively, the international landscape for children has improved significantly since 1989, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been instrumental in this. It became the fastest and most widely adopted human rights treaty in history and it’s almost universal ratification shows unparalleled agreement among nations.

“Twenty-five years ago, the Convention inspired all of us to envision and realise a more just world for children. Our collective challenge now is to reach the children who have been left behind. The promise – and the challenge – of the CRC is its universality – it is for every child,” Brandt said.