In November 2015, Equity for Children joined the Global Coalition to End Child Poverty. This Coalition, launched on October 19, 2015, is a group of child focused agencies and research organizations from different countries led by UNICEF and Save the Children.
On October 19, the Coalition issued a joint statement underlining that children are much more likely to be poor than adults. While they make up about a third of the population, almost one half of those living in the most extreme forms of poverty are under 18. Children are also more likely to experience multidimensional poverty than adults.
The statement points to some ways forward on the path to ending child poverty:
- Ensuring universal measurement and focus. What is needed to address child poverty will vary hugely in different contexts, but some things are universal. If the problem is not known and there is no plan to address it, progress is likely to be limited. There are many places where child poverty is not being measured, and where it is, it may be just one measurement among many, rather than in the hands and minds of policy makers. Guided by the SDGs, the measurement and focus on child poverty should become universal.
- Concerted effort is needed to improve access to services for the poorest children. Challenges may include the availability and quality of services, but also reducing barriers that may be rooted in both monetary poverty and deeper discriminations and exclusion.
- Child sensitive social protection systems and programs have now been widely proven to have significant and positive impacts in many dimensions of child poverty. Expanding these programs and ensuring the inclusion of the worst-off children and families can make a significant and lasting difference to children’s lives.
Read the Coalition’s joint statement here.
Please share your thoughts and experience on the situation and what can be done to #ENDchildpoverty in all countries on twitter, Facebook or in the comments section below.
Additional resources:
Blog by the Coalition co-chairs Richard Morgan and David Stewart on the Joint Statement
