OVERVIEW
After nearly two decades, in much of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) transition remains open-ended, and there is a considerable body of evidence suggesting that children have been - and continue to be - vulnerable in this process. However, the nature of the risks and deprivations experienced by children is changing, and the gaps between the least and most disadvantaged growing. Almost a decade of economic growth has brought about improvements in almost all average indicators of child well-being, but it has also made inequalities more visible - across the region, as well as within subregions and countries: with the improvements in child well-being on average, there are increasingly stark contrasts between those benefiting from transition and those being left behind. Giving more visibility to the latter requires both a broadening of the types of data and information used for socio-economic analysis, as well as more research and monitoring. This is especially urgent in the context of the global economic crisis which began to unfold in late 2008, with its potential to reverse the positive outcomes in most child indicators achieved over the previous decade.
Child well-being in the region is now at a crossroads. After almost a decade of gradual improvements in several key indicators of child well-being, the economic crisis is putting key factors underlying these improvements at risk, namely household incomes and the capacity of the state to adequately finance social policies. In the short term the crisis seems likely to be manifested in a deterioration in household income poverty levels. The extent to which it will also lead to longer term reversals in this and other aspects of child wellbeing will depend partly on its effect on levels of public expenditure, and on whether policy attention and resources are diverted away from those social sector policies and reforms which matter for children. The crisis will, of necessity, lead to an increased policy focus on economic indicators such as growth, employment, financial and budget imbalances, but there is the risk that this focus detracts attention from social indicators, and that the social impact of the crisis, in particular the impact on children and the elderly, is overlooked. On the other hand, the lessons of the 1990s could mean that the economic crisis provides a catalyst for greater mobilization of resources to provide more and better protection for children, and a spur in policy efforts to complete reforms in the funding and delivery of social services and social protection for families with children. In a period of crisis these services and benefits will be more important than ever for safeguarding adequate protection of living standards and equality of opportunities for all children.
All the countries of the region are parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and have thereby committed themselves to ensure that all children have the best start in life; they have pledged to mobilize to the maximum extent all resources available to ensure that children develop to their fullest potential and enjoy an adequate standard of living. Countries are guided by the best interests of the child and respect for the principles of universality and non-discrimination in fulfilling this pledge.
This report takes stock of progress in implementing these commitments, using data from various sources to take a critical look at the effects of past and present economic trends and socio-economic policies on children's have helped to increase equality of opportunities for all children. In doing so, it continues the tradition of reports published since 1992 by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre on the CEE/CIS region. Over the years of transition, the Centre has carried out comparative research, using a mix of data sources to capture the condition of children in transition countries and to illustrate the different experiences and the evolution of child outcomes, while also assessing progress in the implementation of policies aimed at the progressive social inclusion of all children, including those living in rural areas, belonging to ethnic minorities, children with disabilities, and children in institutions.
The Innocenti Social Monitor 2009 is organized in five chapters, the first of which provides an overview of key indicators of child well-being in the region, with a focus on changes in the period of economic recovery. Chapter 2 looks at three aspects of the changing context in which children are growing up, namely the rates and character of economic growth, income inequality, and demographic trends. Chapter 3 evaluates the commitment of governments to guaranteeing basic health and education services, as well as social protection, by looking at levels and structures of public expenditure in the period of growth. Chapter 4 focuses on the plight of selected groups within the child population in individual countries: groups which are at particular risk of marginalization and whose condition is not well captured by average indicators or standard methods of data collection. Chapter 5 summarizes the monitoring challenges which still exist in order to improve the visibility of children in data and research, and to have the evidence needed to inform policy-makers and to hold governments accountable for progress or lack of progress in achieving child rights.