11 Million Children Die annually in Poor Nations: World Bank Report by CBC News / BBC News 7:16am 19th Apr, 2005   18 Apr 2005 (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)    Almost 11 million children in developing countries die each year before age five, most of them from causes that are easily prevented in wealthier countries, the World Bank report says.    The causes include diarrhea, measles, malaria and acute respiratory infection, which together account for 48 per cent of child deaths in the developing world, said the World Development Indicators report, released Sunday.    "Rapid improvements before 1990 gave hope that mortality rates for infants and children under five could be cut by two-thirds in the following 25 years," the report says. "But progress slowed almost everywhere in the 1990s."    The annual report warns that only 33 countries are on track to reach the 2015 goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds from its 1990 level. Only two regions – Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia – seem likely to hit that target, the bank says.    Progress has been particularly slow in sub-Saharan Africa, where armed conflict, famine and diseases such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic have driven up rates of infant and child mortality, the report says.    Five years ago, a number of countries set development objectives – known as the Millennium Development Goals – to achieve by 2015. They included improving health care, boosting primary school enrolments and removing obstacles to greater numbers of girls going to school.    The report said many countries have progressed toward the goals, but warns that other nations – particularly in sub-Saharan Africa – lag far behind.    The report says inequalities within countries – between rich and poor, urban and rural, and male and female populations – may be as much a problem as inequalities between countries. In Mali, for example, children from poor, rural families are twice as likely to die as those from rich, urban families.    Fifty-one countries have already achieved the goal of enrolling all eligible children and others, mostly in Latin America, are on track, but progress has been slow in parts of Africa and Asia.    More than 100 million children – 60 per cent of them girls – remain out of primary school worldwide, "despite overwhelming evidence that teaching children how to read, write and count can boost economic growth, arrest the spread of AIDS and break the cycle of poverty," the report says.    The number of people who live in extreme poverty – less than $1 US a day – dropped by 400 million between 1981 and 2001, the report says. Even in the poorest areas, the average daily living rose.    But in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of extremely poor almost doubled to 313 million in 2001, the average income of those living under $1 a day also fell, from 64 to 60 cents US.    "This level of deprivation should serve as an urgent call to action in this year of Africa," said Franηois Bourguignon, the bank's senior vice-president for development economics. "Reversing this trend will require higher rates of economic growth, with the benefits of growth reaching the poor."    18 April, 2005    'Girls missing out on schooling', by Imogen Foulkes. (BBC News)    The United Nations children's organisation says 115 million children worldwide are missing out on an education - and most of them are girls.    The UN wants to achieve gender equality in primary education in 2005, as part of the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015.    There is evidence that more children are now going to school, Unicef says. However, it adds that many countries in South Asia, Africa and the Middle East cannot meet the target this year. Unicef is especially concerned about the situation in west and central Africa.    It says emergency measures are now needed to promote primary education. Only five countries out of 24 are set to achieve gender equality there. Conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo have done incalculable damage to children's education.    Unicef executive director Carol Bellamy said: "Education is about more than just learning. In many countries it's a life-saver, especially where girls are concerned. "A girl out of school is more likely to fall prey to HIV/Aids and less able to raise a healthy family."    In South Asia, Unicef says, progress has been made, but not enough. Across the region, 42 million children do not go to school. Afghanistan and Pakistan have the widest gender gaps. For Pakistan to have the same number of girls as boys in school by 2015, it would have to increase girls' school attendance by more than 3% each year.    In eastern and central Europe, there is cause for concern too. The introduction of fees for tuition, schoolbooks and uniforms has led to rising drop-out rates - and girls drop out sooner than boys. Belarus and Tajikistan will not achieve gender equality, neither will Turkey.    Unicef says a quantum leap is needed to achieve universal primary education by 2015, and insists the effort must be made. The UN's primary Millennium Development Goal is the eradication of poverty, and education is fundamental to achieving that. Visit the related web page
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