Botswana ranks 106 on child flourishing index
Lebogang Mosikare | Friday February 21, 2020 16:06
The report surely flies in the face of various government interventions such as providing free food to children at government schools from primary to secondary level, clinics and under the destitute programme.
The government provides the food to make sure that children get nutrients necessary for their proper growth.
The report,published in the medical journal The Lancet on Tuesday this week, ranked 180 countries based on a “child flourishing index”.
According to the report, children in biggest carbon-emitting countries are healthiest, while those with minute environmental footprints suffer twice from poor health and living at the sharp end of the climate crisis.
The report also says despite substantial improvements in survival, nutrition, and education over the past 20 years, “today’s children face an uncertain future”, with every child facing “existential threats”. “In 2015, the world’s countries agreed on the sustainable development goals (SDGs), yet nearly five years later, few countries have recorded much progress towards achieving them,” says the report by a commission of 40 child and adolescent health experts from around the world.
“Climate change, ecological degradation, migrating populations, conflict, pervasive inequalities, and predatory commercial practices threaten the health and future of children in every country,” says the report compiled by a commission of 40 child and adolescent health experts from around the world.
The commission, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations children’s agency (Unicef) and medical journal, the Lancet, calls for major changes to protect children’s health and futures from the intensifying climate emergency.
It also highlights the threat of predatory commercial practices, linking children’s exposure to marketing of fast food and sugary drinks to an 11-fold increase in childhood obesity, from 11 million in 1975 to 124 million in 2016.
Norway, South Korea, the Netherlands, France and Ireland are found to be the best countries for a child to flourish in his or her early years. The Central African Republic, Chad, Somalia, Niger, and Mali are the bottom five in the list, based on the same ranking. But when performance is compared taking per capita carbon emissions into account, Burundi, Chad and Somalia are best performers, while the US, Australia and Saudi Arabia are amongst the bottom 10 countries.
To improve outcomes amongst children, the report calls for countries to stop excessive carbon emissions; tighten regulations around commercial marketing of junk food, alcohol and other harmful products; introduce new policies to protect children’s health, nutrition and rights; and incorporate children’s voices into policy decisions, among other recommendations.
“This report shows that the world’s decision makers are, too often, failing today’s children and youth: failing to protect their health, failing to protect their rights, and failing to protect their planet,” WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a written statement about the release of the report.
“This must be a wakeup call for countries to invest in child health and development, ensure their voices are heard, protect their rights, and build a future that is fit for children.”