WHO, Lancet and UNICEF together released a report titled “A Future for the World’s Children”on 20th February, 2020. According to the report, India ranked 131 in flourishing index and 77 on sustainability index.
The sustainability index takes into account per capita carbon emissions, whereas the child flourishing ranking measures the best chance at survival and well-being for children.
According to the report around 180 countries were compared in the report where the comparison included child survival, child wellbeing, health and education, sustainability and child nutrition. The report says that India has improved in health and sanitation but will have to increase its spending on Health.
The report which was commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and The Lancet medical journal was released on Wednesday by a commission of over 40 child and adolescent health experts from around the world.
“No country in the world is currently providing the conditions we need to support every child to grow up and have a healthy future. Especially, they’re under immediate threat from climate change and from commercial marketing (which included advertisements of processed fast food, sugary drinks, alcohol, cigarette, tobacco), which has grown hugely in the last decade” said Anthony Costello, Professor of Global Health and Sustainability at University College London, one of the lead authors of the report.
The report said that the children in countries such as Norway, Republic of Korea and Netherlands have best chances of survival while children in Central African Republic, Chad, Somalia, Niger and Mali face the worst odds. On the other hand USA, Saudi Arabia and Australia are the top 10 worst emitters.
“More than 2 billion people live in countries where development is hampered by humanitarian crises, conflicts, and natural disasters, problems increasingly linked with climate change. While some of the poorest countries have among the lowest CO2 emissions, many are exposed to the harshest impacts of a rapidly changing climate. Promoting better conditions today for children to survive and thrive nationally does not have to come at the cost of eroding children’s futures globally,” said Minister Awa Coll-Seck from Senegal, Co-Chair of the Commission.
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