Progress for Children – Beyond averages: learning from the MDGs
UNICEF
NUMBER 11, 2015 :: 72 pages
Full Report: http://weshare.unicef.org/archive/Progress%20for%20Children%202015_Web_PDF-2AM408THYY33.html

Press Release
Millions of world’s poorest children left behind despite global progress, new UNICEF report says
‘Progress for Children’ report highlights lessons from the MDGs
Download the report, photos, b-roll, graphs and the audio recording from the press briefing at: http://uni.cf/1IZy0VV

NEW YORK, 23 June 2015 – The global community will fail millions of children if it does not focus on the most disadvantaged in its new 15-year development roadmap, UNICEF warned today.

Progress for Children: Beyond Averages, UNICEF’s final report on the child-related Millennium Development Goals, says that, despite significant achievements, unequal opportunities have left millions of children living in poverty, dying before they turn five, without schooling and suffering chronic malnutrition.

“The MDGs helped the world realize tremendous progress for children – but they also showed us how many children we are leaving behind,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “The lives and futures of the most disadvantaged children matter – not only for their own sake, but for the sake of their families, their communities and their societies.”

Disparities within countries have left children from the poorest households twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday and far less likely to achieve minimum reading standards than children from the richest households.

Continued failure to reach these children can have dramatic consequences. At current rates of progress, given projected population growth, it is estimated that:
:: 68 million more children under five will die from mostly preventable causes by 2030;
:: An estimated 119 million children will still be chronically malnourished in 2030;
:: Half a billion people will still be defecating in the open, posing serious risks to children’s health in 2030;
:: It will take almost 100 years for all girls from sub-Saharan Africa’s poorest families to complete their lower secondary education.

The report highlights notable successes since 1990:
:: Under-five mortality dropped by more than half, from 90 per 1,000 live births to 43 per 1,000 live births;
:: Underweight and chronic malnutrition among children under five decreased by 42 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively;
:: Maternal mortality decreased by 45 per cent;
:: Some 2.6 billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources.

And the gaps between the poorest and the wealthiest are narrowing in more than half of the indicators UNICEF analysed:
:: In many countries, greater gains in child survival and school attendance are seen in the poorest households.
:: The gap in maternal mortality rates between low- and high-income countries halved between 1990 and 2013, from 38 times higher to 19 times higher.

The report also highlights the bad news: Progress still eludes the nearly 6 million children who die every year before their fifth birthday, the 289,000 women who die every year while giving birth and the 58 million children who don’t go to primary school.

As world leaders prepare to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals, the most disadvantaged children should be at the heart of the new goals and targets, UNICEF said. Better data collection and disaggregation – going beyond averages such as those used to measure the MDGs – can help identify the most vulnerable and excluded children and where they live. Stronger local health, education and social protection systems can help more children to survive and thrive. And smarter investments tailored to the needs of the most vulnerable children can yield short and long-term benefits.

“The SDGs present an opportunity to apply the lessons we have learned and reach the children in greatest need – and shame on us if we don’t,” Lake said “For greater equity in opportunity UNICEF

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Excerpt from Report, p. 28
Measles
Measles was responsible for an estimated 145,700 deaths and nearly 279,000 cases globally in 2013. Compared with estimated mortality assuming the complete absence of measles vaccination, an estimated 15.6 million deaths were averted by measles vaccination during 2000–2013.

Notable improvements in routine immunization among children in the appropriate age group who received the first dose of measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) and in supplementary immunization activities in vaccinating children who are beyond the reach of existing health services have led to major successes to date. During 2000–2009, global coverage with MCV1 increased from 73 per cent to 83 per cent and then remained at 83–84 per cent through 2013.

However, an estimated 21.6 million infants – many of whom are among the poorest, most marginalized children residing in especially hard-to-reach areas – did not receive MCV1 in 2013.

Although 84 per cent of infants received MCV1 during 2013, an additional 15 million children needed to be reached to meet target coverage of 95 per cent with MCV1 worldwide.66

Although few countries report reaching 95 per cent coverage in every district, it is difficult to comment on progress towards such district-level targets – critical for achieving measles elimination. This is because district data are not available or are invalid from one third of countries, reflecting a wider problem with the quality and use of vaccination data within national immunization programmes…