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	Nearly two-thirds of children lack access to welfare safety net, risking a vicious cycle of poverty by Isabel Ortiz UNICEF, ILO, agencies   Feb. 2019   Social protection is critical in helping children escape poverty and its devastating effects, yet, the vast majority of children have no effective social protection coverage, UNICEF and the ILO said in a new joint report.   Evidence shows clearly that cash transfers play a vital role in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and vulnerability. Yet, globally only 35 per cent of children on average are covered by social protection which reaches 87 per cent in Europe and Central Asia, 66 per cent in the Americas, 28 per cent in Asia and 16 per cent in Africa.   At the same time, one in five children lives in extreme poverty (less than US$ 1.90 a day), and almost half of the world's children live in 'moderate poverty' (under $3.10 a day). Almost everywhere, poverty disproportionately affects children, as they are twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty.   The report calls for the rapid expansion of child and family benefits, with the aim of achieving universal social protection for children, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Such benefits are a key element of policies to improve access to nutrition, health and education, as well as reducing child labour and child poverty and vulnerability.   The report notes that universal social protection for children is not a privilege of wealthy countries. A number of developing countries have made or achieved (or nearly achieved) universal coverage, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mongolia and South Africa.   But in many other countries, social protection programmes for children struggle with limited coverage, inadequate benefit levels, fragmentation and weak institutionalization. Some governments undergoing fiscal consolidation are even cutting allowances, instead of extending benefits as countries had agreed in the SDGs.   'Child poverty can be reduced overnight with adequate social protection', said Isabel Ortiz, Director of Social Protection, ILO. 'To improve the lives of all children is an issue of priorities and political will: even the poorest countries have fiscal space to extend social protection floors'.   'Poverty hits children the hardest, since its consequences can last a lifetime. The poor nutrition and lost years of education that often result are tragic both for the individual and for his or her community and society', said Alexandra Yuster, UNICEF Associate Director and Chief of Social Policy. 'Countries need to put children first and reach every child with social protection to end poverty for good."   When Member States ratified the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, agreed in 2015 with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, they agreed to the global initiative's top priority, namely eradicating poverty'.   State benefits play vital role in preventing poverty   State benefits from public funds, in the form of cash grants, play a vital role in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and vulnerability, the report insists. Of 139 countries covered by the report, on average, they spend 1.1 per cent of their wealth on children up to 14 years old.   'There is a huge underinvestment gap that needs to be covered', said Isabel Ortiz, Director of the Social Protection Department at ILO. 'The numbers worsen by region. In Africa, for instance, children represent 40 per cent of the African population overall, but only 0.6 per cent is actually invested in social protection for children'.   Children are twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty, the report continues, with lack of access to education and poor nutrition among the most significant long-term impacts.   'While social protection cash transfers are vital for children, they shouldn't stand alone', said David Stewart, Chief of Child Poverty and Social Protection Unit at UNICEF. 'They have to be combined with other services - if a child is living in a household with sufficient resources and if they don't have access to educational health, it makes a big difference. So, it's about combining these interventions together'.   A number of developing countries have made real progress in realising universal social protection programs. In Mongolia for example, which has achieved universal social protection for children, austerity measures threaten these gains however.   'Recently, due to fiscal pressures from international financial institutions, they have been advising the Government to target the universal benefit', Ms. Ortiz explained. So it's one of these cases where fiscal consolidation or austerity short-term may be having long-term impacts on children. So the UN message is to try to look at the longer-term.   Improving all children's lives is an issue of political will   'Child poverty can be reduced overnight with adequate social protection', Ms. Ortiz said, adding that improving the lives of all children is an issue of priorities and political will even the poorest countries have fiscal space to extend social protection.   Ultimately, the extension of social protection is always about Government's will. It is because a Government realizes about the important developmental impacts of protecting people, particularly those that are vulnerable, across the lifecycle, so in times of childhood, in old age, in times of maternity, protections are particularly needed.   * Isabel Ortiz is the Director of the Social Protection Department at ILO.   * Access the ILO, UNICEF report on children & social protection: http://bit.ly/2RFzxGN http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/only-one-third-children-covered-social-protection-ilo-unicef http://socialprotection-humanrights.org/ http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/ Visit the related web page
	Promises do not feed Hungry People by Action Against Hunger   Our world produces enough food for every man, woman, and child on the planet, yet 815 million people still lack sufficient access to food to meet their daily needs.   We believe that with sufficient investment, collaborative action, and political commitment that number could be dramatically reduced.   It's a promise that global governments have already made: world leaders pledged to take action to end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030.   A world free from hunger is possible, between 2000 and 2015, hunger levels in some of the world's poorest countries fell significantly, by over 20% in some cases. But we have also seen setbacks: according to the latest data from the United Nations, conflicts, displacement, and climate change have caused hunger to rise threatening the achievements we have made in the last 20 years. Millions of people face the threat of famine and are struggling to survive.   October 16th marks World Food Day. Action Against Hunger is determined to achieve zero hunger.   Undernutrition is the single greatest threat to child survival. An estimated 155 million children suffer from irreversible physical and cognitive stunting as a result of chronic undernutrition: one in every three children in the world's least developed countries suffers from this easily preventable condition. One million children die every year as a direct result of severe acute malnutrition. This is not just unacceptable: it is a scandal.   World leaders declared 2016-2025 The Decade of Nutrition and have committed to a new global Agenda for Sustainable Development that charts the course for ending hunger, promising to leave no one behind. But promises won't feed the 815 million people who go to bed hungry every night.   Levels of international aid and domestic financing of nutrition interventions are far below what is required to meet the commitments for Sustainable Development Goal 2, the global goal for achieving zero hunger by 2030. Today, we are at a critical turning point in the fight against hunger: we must move from talk to action.   All of us, along with policy makers, governments, civil society, academics, journalists, business leaders, youth, faith groups, everyday citizens, and communities must move from business as usual to real action to stop enormous food crises from happening in the first place.   We are the generation that can make hunger history: we face a remarkable opportunity and a profound responsibility.   We must make a choice: are we passive bystanders in the fight to end hunger? Or are we the agents of change who refuse to accept that children are still dying from undernutrition when the world produces enough food for all of us?   Will we stand up for the over one million children whose lives could be saved every year with greater investments, policy change, and access to nutritious food, clean water, and health care? What choice will you make? Together, we can build a world free from hunger. For everyone. For good. Visit the related web page
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