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	While poverty persists, there is no true freedom by Nelson Mandela Global Campaign for Action Against Poverty   As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.   Massive poverty and obscene inequality are such terrible scourges of our times - times in which the world boasts breathtaking advances in science, technology, industry and wealth accumulation - that they have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils.   The Global Campaign for Action Against Poverty can take its place as a public movement alongside the movement to abolish slavery and the international solidarity against apartheid.   In this new century, millions of people in the world"s poorest countries remain imprisoned, enslaved, and in chains. They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to set them free.   Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.   And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.   World leaders must honour their promises to the world''s poorest citizens. I say to all those leaders: do not look the other way; do not hesitate. Recognise that the world is hungry for action, not words. Act. Not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up. Visit the related web page
	Millions will fall behind unless new UN development goals focus on most in need by Coalition of Children"s Development Agencies   Indicators to measure child poverty in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)   Millions of children will fall behind unless new UN development goals focus on most in need – UNICEF   The global community will fail millions of children if it does not focus on the most disadvantaged, the United Nations Children''s Fund (UNICEF) warns in its final report on achievement of the child-related UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), emphasizing that “we were not ambitious enough” to reach those with the greatest needs.   “As the global community comes together around the sustainable development goals [SDGs], we should set our sights first on reaching the children left behind as we pursued the MDGs,” UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake states in the foreword of the report Progress for Children: Beyond Averages, the agency''s final report on the child-related MDGs.   The report concludes 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.   UNICEF warns that 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.   “The MDGs helped the world realize real progress for children – but they also showed us how many children we are leaving behind,” Mr. Lake said.   “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.”   Mr. Lake also noted in the report that “in setting broad global goals the MDGs inadvertently encouraged nations to measure progress through national averages. In the rush to make that progress, many focused on the easiest-to reach children and communities, not those in greatest need. In doing so, national progress may actually have been slowed.”   “The problem is not that we were too ambitious,” he said. “It is that we were not ambitious enough.”   UNICEF said that at current rates of progress continued failure to reach these children can have dramatic consequences and listed the following:   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 also highlights notable successes since 1990 such as the drop in under-five mortality by more than half, from 90 per 1,000 live births to 43 per 1,000 live births; the decrease in underweight and chronic malnutrition among children under five by 42 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively; as well as the decline maternal mortality by 45 per cent.   The landmark Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were agreed 15 years ago and while there has been significant progress in meeting the targets challenges persist. With the deadline of the MDGs set for the end of this year, UN Member States are crafting a new set of targets, now known as sustainable development goals (SDGs).   This new agenda will aim to address a raft lingering and emerging challenges, such as the fact that globally, 73 million young people are looking for work and many more are trapped in exploitative jobs. The new global sustainability agenda is expected to be approved by world leaders at special summit ahead of the annual high-level segment of the General Assembly this coming September.   “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,” Mr. Lake said “For greater equity in opportunity for today''s children means less inequality and more global progress tomorrow.”   http://www.unicef.org/media/media_82345.html   Indicators to measure child poverty in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)   For the first time, the global community has recognised the centrality of child poverty to deliver on their promise to end poverty once and for all, and the need to ensure children are counted in the new post-2015 development goals. This constitutes real progress as children have frequently been omitted from poverty goals and assessments.   As the discussion on the new goals moves quickly to the indicators that will be used to monitor the new SDGs, this new policy brief assesses how child poverty can be included as part of the new monitoring framework of the SDGs. In it, we provide specific recommendations to support member states frame the new indicators to help reduce child poverty in the new SDGs:   1. The current draft Post-2015 development goals and targets that include child poverty should include specific child poverty indicators   2. Indicators for child poverty reduction in the SDGs should include the following monetary and multidimensional poverty indicators:   Percentage of population below $1.25 (PPP) per day, disaggregated by age to capture the child poverty rate   Proportion of children (age 0-17) below the national poverty line   Proportion of children (age 0-17) living in multidimensional poverty.   3. Child poverty targets should be reinforced with a new focus on equity to ensure the poorest and most disadvantaged children are reached and no child is left behind:   All child-level indicators used in the SDGs should be disaggregated by income or wealth quintiles, ‘monetary’ and ‘multidimensional’ poverty status and other forms of inequality   4. Data collection for the most vulnerable children – who are often omitted from or bypassed in surveys and programmes – must be improved.   http://post2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/child-poverty_indicators-to-measure-progress-in-the-sdgs_global-coalition-to-end-child-poverty_march-2015.pdf
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