DEVELOPMENT-ASIA: Growth Disparity Sees Children Worse Off

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Alecia D. McKenzie

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Mar 22 2005 (IPS) - While some Asia-Pacific countries continue to enjoy unprecedented economic growth, recent trends showing sharp declines in child health and nutrition are alarming. And for this reason, government ministers have gathered in this historical city – home to the famous Angkor temples – to discuss issues facing the young and to adopt strategies to improve their lot.

Hosted by the government of Cambodia, with support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Seventh East Asia and Pacific Ministerial Consultation on Children runs from Mar. 23 to 25 and will focus on disparity, adolescence and child survival.

The MINCON, as it’s called, is the only high-level gathering of this type dedicated exclusively to children and has been held every two years since its launch in 1991, a year after the World Summit for Children.

According to UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, the “disparity” issue in the region is one of increasing importance. She said although many countries have improved conditions for children, the ”fruits of growth have not been equally shared”.

Bellamy urged countries in East Asia and the Pacific Region to take ”unified action to ensure disparities do not become a scourge that robs us of hard-won gains and fuels division and conflict.”

Economic growth in East Asia and the Pacific was the fastest in the world from 1990 to 2003, with an average annual rate of 6.2 percent, according to UNICEF figures, and in 2004, regional growth rates were more than seven percent.

”As might be expected, this growth was accompanied by a strong reduction in poverty, as measured by the proportion of people living on two U.S. dollars a day or less. It is estimated that over 300 million people in the region have escaped poverty since the financial crisis (1997 -1998),” UNICEF says in a report.

But not all countries have been able to participate fully in this rosy scenario.

”As compared with the larger countries in East and Southeast Asia … the Pacific Islands sub region has experienced lackluster economic growth in recent years,” the report adds. ”These countries face particular challenges in sustaining social and economic development. Many children in these countries, as well as the richer ones, continue to live in poverty.”

The interconnectedness of the region, through trade, investment and transport, means that governments see the need to work together and they are using the ministerial consultation to share ideas and strategies, Bellamy said in an interview. They are also examining the progress made since the last such meeting in Bali, Indonesia, two years ago.

At the Bali gathering, governments adopted specific goals to be achieved.

These included: the ”sustainable elimination” of iodine deficiency; increasing net primary school enrolment, or similar education programmes, to at least 90 percent by 2010; eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education; reducing by 20 percent the proportion of infants with HIV; developing systems to ensure the registration of every child at or shortly after birth; and raising awareness of the illegality and harmful consequences of failing to protect children from violence, abuse and exploitation.

The latter goal will particularly come under the spotlight during the current meeting as Cambodia and other countries in the region suffer from the problem of sex tourism – often targeting children.

But a lack of reliable data remains a major hindrance to the implementation of well-targeted and effective measures to stop the commercial sexual exploitation of children. A lack of opportunity at home and the negative influence of the media all contribute to vulnerability.

In the Pacific Islands, ongoing research is revealing growing problems of commercial sexual exploitation. In the Solomon Islands, for example, girls are still forced into early marriages and recent violence has led to a surge in child rapes and in boys and girls being forced into prostitution for economic survival. Child marriage is also a major problem in Papua New Guinea, and is a basis of demand for internal trafficking of children.

”It’s big business, unfortunately, but we have had some success in highlighting the problem and even getting travel agencies to adopt self-monitoring codes,” Bellamy said.

The Code of Conduct for Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, simply called ‘the code’, came into force last April largely due to the efforts of UNICEF, the World Tourism Organisation and ECPAT-USA, a non-governmental organisation that has long been a front runner in moves to prevent sexual crimes against children. It has been well received by Western tour companies.

Late last week, Japanese tour companies joined their Western counterparts in signing the code. The code is designed to create a more responsible tourism industry, one vigilant against child exploitation.

The code requires travel agencies to train staff in countries where children are exploited; provide information about the issue to travellers; explicitly repudiate the sexual exploitation of children in any contracts with local suppliers; develop ethical corporate policies; and report annually on the issue.

Using ads sponsored by UNICEF, copies of Cambodia’s ”Visitors Guide” – which is available free to travellers – state in red capital letters: ”sex with children is a crime”.

Overall, however, Bellamy is optimistic about the prospects for children in the region. In her 10 years at the helm of UNICEF she said she has seen enormous progress, but adds that much work remains to be done.

During her professional career, Bellamy has been a lawyer, banker and politician. Her term in office at UNICEF ends at the end of April.