• Monday, February 28, 2011
• Inter Press Service

The U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Friday launched its annual ‘State of the World’s Children’ report singling out the challenges faced by the world’s youth, including the need for protection and improvements in health and education. The report titled 'Adolescence: An Age of Opportunity' focuses on how investments in education and training could break the twin cycles of poverty and inequality.

'Adolescence is a pivot point,' said UNICEF deputy executive director Hilde Frafjord Johnson during the launch of the agency’s flagship report. She said the period between ages 10 and 19 is an opportunity to consolidate the progress made in early childhood and also the risk of seeing those gains 'wiped out'. Adolescents represent one fifth of the world’s population, with 88 percent living in developing countries.

Johnson also talked about the 'girl effect', describing how educated women were more likely to pass on health and economic benefits to their own children. Even a single year of education could greatly improve a woman’s ability to provide for her family while educated women are also less likely to marry early and more likely to send their children to school.

Tamara Kreinin, executive director, Women & Population Programme at the U.N. Foundation called for more significant investments in adolescents and girls 'At the same time that we hear all these harsh statistics, girls remain invisible,' she said. It’s estimated that only 2 cents of every development dollar went to supporting adolescent girls.

The UN Foundation has programmes in Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi and Guatemala where it works with community members, including parents and religious leaders. Because of these efforts, more girls are delaying marriage, preventing early pregnancy, enrolling and staying in schools, she said.

Dr Sarah Kambou, president of the International Centre for Research on Women, said early marriage occurs as part of a broader social pattern. According to available data, there are around 60 million child brides around the world, and an estimated 100 million girls would become child brides in the next decade, she said. The child-marriage cycle also repeats itself through generations.,

Kambou also underlined that 'while pervasive, child marriage is not inevitable, and social norms are not immutable,' community responses is needed in breaking the cycle of early marriage. Programmes providing empowerment and training in basic life skills are much necessary in that area.

Although adolescents around the world are generally healthier today than in the past, many health risks remain significant - injuries, eating disorders, substance abuse, early motherhood. 'The question that remains is how much should we invest in design, development and innovative approach so we can engage all those young people and give them equal access and opportunity for growth and development'.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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