Acknowledgements
Acronyms
This report was produced with the valuable guidance and contributions of many individuals, both inside and outside UNICEF. Important contributions for country panels were received from the following UNICEF field offices: China, Egypt, India, Mexico, Mozambique, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Sweden. Input was also received from UNICEF regional offices and the Innocenti Research Centre.
CEDAW
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
DHS
Demographic and Health Surveys
FGM/C
female genital mutilation/cutting
GDP
gross domestic product
IUCW
International Union for Child Welfare
MICS
Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys
NGO
non-governmental organization
UN
United Nations
UNICEF
United Nations Children’s Fund
WHO
World Health Organization
To mark the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, The State of the World’s Children invited contributors from a variety of stakeholder groups to give their perspective on what the Convention means to them and what they consider to be some of the critical issues it faces in the 21st century. Our gratitude is extended to those contributors presented in this report: Jacques Barrot, Ishmael Beah, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Om Prakash Gurjar, Yanghee Lee, Louis Michel, Awa N'Deye Ouedraogo, Hanna Polak, Marjorie Scardino, Timothy P. Shriver, Javier Solana, Tan Sri Dato Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin, Andrés Velasco. Their essays represent a selection of those available at the time of going to press in mid-2009. The full series of perspectives is available at <www.unicef.org/rightsite>. Special thanks also to Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and former Director, Innocenti Research Centre, for her comments, insights and support.
EDITORIAL AND RESEARCH
PROGRAMME AND POLICY GUIDANCE
Patricia Moccia, Editor-in-Chief; David Anthony, Editor; Chris Brazier, Principal Writer; Elizabeth Dettori; Marilia Di Noia; Hirut Gebre-Egziabher; Amy Lai; Natalie Leston; Charlotte Maitre; Meedan Mekonnen; Kristin Moehlmann; Baishalee Nayak; Catherine Rutgers; Shobana Shankar; Judith Yemane
UNICEF Programme Division, and Division of Policy and Practice, and Innocenti Research Centre. Particular thanks also to Saad Houry, Deputy Executive Director; Hilde Frafjord Johnson, Deputy Executive Director; Nicholas Alipui, Director, Programme Division; Richard Morgan, Director, Division of Policy and Practice; Maniza Zaman, Deputy Director, Programme Division; Susan Bissell, Associate Director, Programme Division; Elizabeth Gibbons, Associate Director, Division of Policy and Practice; David Parker, Deputy Director, Innocenti Research Centre; Lena Karlsson; Victor Karunan; Noreen Khan; Nadine Perrault; Joanna Olsson; Vanessa Sedletzki; Daniel Seymour; Saudamini Siegrist; David Stewart
STATISTICAL TABLES* Tessa Wardlaw, Associate Director, Statistics and Monitoring Section, Division of Policy and Practice; Priscilla Akwara; Danielle Burke; Xiaodong Cai; Claudia Cappa; Ngagne Diakhate; Archana Dwivedi; Friedrich Huebler; Rouslan Karimov; Rolf Luyendijk; Nyein Nyein Lwin; Holly Newby; Khin Wityee Oo; Emily White Johansson; Danzhen You
DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS PRODUCTION PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION
Prographics, Inc.
Jaclyn Tierney, Production Chief; Edward Ying, Jr; Germain Ake; Fanuel Endalew; Eki Kairupan; Farid Rashid; Elias Salem
PRINTING Brodock Press
French edition: Marc Chalamet Spanish edition: Carlos Perellón * The Statistical Tables for 2009 are published as a separate volume of The State of the World’s Children and are available at <www.unicef.org/publications>.
© United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) November 2009
For any corrigenda found subsequent to printing, please visit our website at <www.unicef.org/publications>
Permission to reproduce any part of this publication is required. Please contact: Division of Communication, UNICEF 3 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA Tel: (+1-212) 326-7434 Email: nyhqdoc.permit@unicef.org
For any data updates subsequent to printing, please visit <www.childinfo.org>
Commentaries represent the personal views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions of the United Nations Children’s Fund.
UNICEF Headquarters UNICEF House 3 United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017, USA UNICEF Regional Office for Europe Palais des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
TRANSLATION
Permission will be freely granted to educational or non-profit organizations. Others will be requested to pay a small fee.
UNICEF Offices
ISBN: 978-92-806-4442-5 Sales no.: E.10.XX.1 United Nations Children’s Fund 3 United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017, USA Email: pubdoc@unicef.org Website: www.unicef.org
UNICEF Central and Eastern Europe/ Commonwealth of Independent States Regional Office Palais des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office P.O. Box 44145 Nairobi 00100, Kenya UNICEF West and Central Africa Regional Office P.O. Box 29720 Yoff Dakar, Senegal
UNICEF The Americas and Caribbean Regional Office Avenida Morse Ciudad del Saber Clayton Edificio #102 Apartado 0843-03045 Panama City, Panama UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office P.O. Box 2-154 19 Phra Atit Road Bangkok 10200, Thailand UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Office P.O. Box 1551 Amman 11821, Jordan UNICEF South Asia Regional Office P.O. Box 5815 Lekhnath Marg Kathmandu, Nepal Further information is available at our website <www.unicef.org>