Dear Media Colleagues
On the occasion of today's launch of the State of the World's Children 2012 Report: Children in the Urban World , UNICEF would like to highlight the opportunities and challenges facing children living in Pakistan's urban environments.
Your cooperation for the placement of the press release would be highly appreciated. (please see below and attached)
For more information and media assistance, please contact :
A. Sami Malik, Communication Specialist, Mob: 0300-855-6654, Email asmalik@unicef.org
(See attached file: UNICEF SOWC 2012 Press release for Pakistan version - 28 February 2012.doc)
UNICEF PRESS RELEASE
Increasing urbanization creates challenges and opportunities for children in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, 28 February 2012 -- A new global UNICEF report highlights the challenges that face many children living in cities and towns around the world, and points to examples of good practice that can improve children's well-being.
The UNICEF report, "State of the World's Children 2012: Children in the Urban World", notes that already half of all people – including more than one billion children – live in urban areas, with the numbers of urban dwellers steadily growing.
Pakistan has 37 per cent of its population living in urban areas. By 2025, over half of Pakistan's population will live in cities; nine cities already have more than a million people. The transition to a largely urban population and the emergence of mega-urban regions is viewed as an engine of growth in the Government's Framework for Economic Growth.
Equitable access to quality basic social services, including health, nutrition, water, sanitation, education and protection is constrained by multiple levels of deprivation and exclusion. "The challenge is to proactively address the many dimensions of deprivation and exclusion by ensuring equity in the provision of basic social services and social protection," said UNICEF Pakistan Representative Dan Rohrmann. "While continuing to serve poor rural children, UNICEF Pakistan also is planning to greatly increase its programming for children in the poorest urban neighbourhoods."
As an example, in 2009, the average number of years of schooling for children was 5.7 years, however the disparity between the poorest 15 per cent of the population and the highest 15 per cent was between 2.41 and 8.95 years across different provinces. Girls living in urban areas in the highest income group received an average of 9.39 years of schooling compared with 1.01 years for rural girls in the lowest income group.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds who live in urban areas face a host of challenges that reduce their chance to reach full potential in a productive adult work force. These challenges include low levels of birth registration, inadequate access to sanitation and safe water services, education and health services.
The State of the World's Children (SOWC) 2012 Report includes examples of good practices from around the world spanning service delivery, social protection, and safe and inclusive environments for children in urban areas. It also outlines key steps for an equitable development approach for reaching the poorest children in urban areas.
At the global level, UNICEF and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) have worked together for 15 years on the Child-Friendly Cities Initiative, building partnerships with governments and civil society to put children at the centre of the urban agenda and to provide services and create protected areas so children can have the safer and healthier childhoods they deserve. In Pakistan, UN-Habitat and UNICEF have been working together to scale up sanitation for the poorest families.
The full SOWC 2012 report may be downloaded from http://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. In Pakistan, it works with the federal and provincial, NGOs and other partners to support child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. It has provided vital relief and reconstruction support to help individuals rebuild their lives after emergencies, such as the 2010 monsoon floods and the October 2005 earthquake. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
For further information, please contact:
A. Sami Malik, Communication Specialist, Mob: 0300-855-6654, Email asmalik@unicef.org
Amal Masud, Media Specialist, Mob: 0300-856-9229, Email amasud@unicef.org
Tariq Khattak, Islamabad, Pakistan.
GSM = 0300-9599007 and 0333-9599007
Email: Tariqgulkhattak@gmail.com
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