The Government of Indonesia and UNICEF today launched a new report showcasing the progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals that the country has made for children, acknowledging challenges and highlighting the crucial role of preventing violence against children in reducing poverty.
The report was launched as world leaders met at the High Level Political Forum in New York at a side-event hosted by the Governments of Indonesia, Sweden, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Violence against Children and UNICEF. The report, the first of its kind for Indonesia, uses government data to set a baseline for monitoring progress on key sustainable development goals and targets for Indonesia’s 84 million children.
According to the report, 57 per cent of children in Indonesia grow up in families living on less than twice the national poverty line, showing the high degree of vulnerability and income insecurity of families with children. To address this, Indonesia is now one of the world’s largest single payer of health care.
“As the world’s fourth largest country, we are committed to reduce child poverty and end all forms of violence against children. Our policies start with the poorest and most vulnerable children. In 2018, several districts will introduce universal child grants for young children, a new approach to provide social protection for children,” Indonesia’s Minister of National Development Planning Bambang Brodjonegoro.
“How children are faring – in terms of their health, nutrition, protection, education, welfare, and the environment in which they grow up – is a direct predictor of what Indonesia’s future will look like. Investing in all children and young people is central to achieving sustainable development, and monitoring progress for children is crucial in determining which investments to make. We congratulate the government of Indonesia for its leadership on these issues,” Gunilla Olsson, UNICEF Representative in Indonesia.
High profile speakers, including UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, highlighted the need to increase comprehensive investments in children as a pre-condition for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The leaders shared experiences as pioneering countries to end violence against children, and highlighted Sweden’s long history of providing universal child grants and its results in reducing child poverty. Chile shared its efforts and challenges in establishing a comprehensive protection system for its children.
“Reducing child poverty, ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls, and ending violence against children are crucial pre-conditions for sustainable progress. We want to emphasize that a focus on children’s rights is one of the most effective ways to eradicate poverty and improve living conditions for all,” Ardalan Shekarabi, Minister of Public Administration Sweden.
The SRSG Marta Santos Pais said:
“The SDGs calls for a world which invests in children and in which every child grows up free from want, from fear and from violence. This is an ambitious goal and we must act with a deep sense of urgency.”
Original source: UNICEF.
Posted on 18 July. 2017.
