UNICEF

     UNICEF is working to more fully understand how and where children are experiencing poverty, to allow a more nuanced set of policy responses in national mechanisms such as poverty-reduction strategies.

     UNICEF defines child poverty as "children experience poverty with their hands, minds and hearts. Material poverty – for example, starting the day without a nutritious meal or engaging in hazardous labour – hinders emotional capacity as well as bodily growth. Living in an environment that provides little stimulation or emotional support to children, on the other hand, can remove many of the positive effects of growing up in a materially rich household. By discriminating against their participation in society and inhibiting their potential, poverty is a measure not only of children’s suffering but also of their dis-empowerment."

      The response has to be similarly all-embracing. What is needed is an integrated approach to early childhood that will greatly improve the chances that every child will both survive and thrive, additional spending on families, incorporating a gender perspective into poverty reduction strategies, strengthening protection of children at every level and involving them in devising solutions for their problems. 

     Interventions that address child deprivation need to be designed and owned locally; families and children must also be part of the solution. The evidence reviewed underlines the importance of building interventions on sound country-based, locally-situated, gender-sensitive analyses, rather than on the basis of ‘one-size fits all’ agendas. 

The report’s results have been reported widely and are distressing. It shows that since 2008 2.6 million children in rich countries have sunk below the poverty line. In 23 of the 41 countries analysed, child poverty has jumped since 2008. In Ireland, Croatia, Latvia, Greece and Iceland rates rose by over 50%.

http://www.unicef.org/sowc05/english/povertyaction.html