Onu Italia

Save the Children: Italy among top ten counters for protection of children

FAIRFIELD (CONNECTICUT), MAY 28 – At least 280 million children around the world, or 1 in 8, are significantly better off today than 20 years ago,  a new report by Save the Children has found. The 100-year-old humanitarian organization’s Global Childhood Report ranks the best and worst countries for children by examining factors that rob children of their childhoods around the world such as child labor, teen pregnancy, exclusion from education, and children fleeing conflict zones. Italy is among the top ten.

In the United States, which ranks 36th, the rate of teens giving birth has dropped by more than half since 2000, and school dropout rates have fallen by nearly two-thirds. Tied with China, the U.S. has also cut chronic malnutrition and child marriage by a third, and the rate of children dying before their fifth birthdays by a fifth.

The report finds that since 2000, circumstances for children have improved in 173 out of 176 countries. Globally, there has been progress on every End of Childhood Index indicator but one – children suffering due to conflict. There has been an 80 percent rise in the number of people forced to flee their homes due to conflict – 30.5 million more people since 2000. Ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen have significantly contributed to this surge, as well as protracted conflicts in places including Iraq and South Sudan.

Singapore tops the rankings as the country that best protects and provides for its children, with eight Western European countries and South Korea also ranking in the top 10 (Italy ranks at the eighth position). The most dramatic progress is among some of the world’s poorest countries, with Sierra Leone making the biggest improvements since 2000, followed by Rwanda, Ethiopia and Niger. The Central African Republic is the country where childhood is most threatened, followed by Niger and Chad. Specifically:

For those countries that made the most progress, including Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Niger, the results showed that political choices can matter more than national wealth.

Read the Global Childhood Report here. (@OnuItalia)

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