Despite rapid economic growth in South Asia, strong inequalities persist and children pay a heavy price. This publication examines latest trends and data on children in the eight countries of the region. It highlights what has been achieved in the 25 years since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child--and what remains to be done.

This article analyses discontinuities between local, national and international discourse in the fields of education, protection of children, and child labor, using Benin, Namibia and Swaziland as case studies. In Benin, child abuse and child labor are related to poverty, whereas in Namibia and Swaziland they are also interrelated with HIV/AIDS.…

It is estimated that more than 12 million children in India under the age of 14 engage in paid labor at least part time, due mostly to economic reasons. Dominant discourses about childhood however conceptualize childhood labor not only as unethical but as exploitation. This article explored the tensions between Western notions of childhood…

The complexities of intergenerational and gendered intra-household resource allocations are frequently overlooked in poverty reduction policies. To address this lacuna, this article focuses on links between macro-development policies and children's paid and unpaid work burden in Ethiopia. Using a mixed methods approach, quantitative household…

Focuses on the significance of organizations of working children for processes of transformation in their societies. Argues that while structural causes of exploitation and poverty account for persistence of child labor, organizations of working children are of growing importance in efforts to improve their life conditions, noting that many…

Addressed to British companies doing business overseas, this briefing paper offers recommendations on practical steps to combat exploitative child labor while explaining why action without the provision of alternative incomes could drive children into higher risk areas of the informal economy. The paper explains that if sufficient resources are…

Several factors are eroding children's right to play. The first is continuing poverty throughout the world. This factor is evident in underdeveloped countries and the inner cities of industrialized countries. Changing cultural values are a second factor in developed societies where indifference toward the importance of play is prevalent. The many…

Presents an overview of the situation of street children and youth in urban Latin America. Findings from numerous studies throughout the region are synthesized. Suggests that economic factors underlie the marginalization of vast numbers of Latin American children. The result is the exclusion of many of the region's children from meaningful…

Discusses the problems faced by street and working children in Brazil, problems often exacerbated by the educational system. Describes how grass-roots activism led to enactment of an exceptional progressive law protecting children's rights. Examines the failure of technical rationality as the foundation of mainstream educational planning. (SV)

Based on the view that strategies to eradicate poverty must be centered on the realization of children's rights, this report describes the experiences of the 48 least developed countries (LDCs) during the 1990s. The report defines LDCs and provides a rationale for using progress in ensuring children's rights as a yardstick for measuring poverty.…

The Indian Children's Parliament (Rajastan, India) emerged from the Social Work and Research Centre (later known as the Barefoot College), which provides academic and vocational classes at night for rural working children. These children contribute to family incomes, but previously their opinions were not acknowledged. Students elect 17 Parliament…

This publication represents the first report tailored to a non-specialist audience from an extensive case study in the Philippines, one of five country studies selected as the first project of the Urban Child Program of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) International Child Development center. The Philippines study focuses explicitly on…

This report on the well-being of the world's children focuses on the issue of child labor and its impact on children's lives. Chapter 1 provides a historical context for children's rights and highlights the need to guarantee the civil, social, economic, and political rights of children. The chapter shows how the world's course toward peace,…

This report details the status of the world's children, focusing on the issue of child labor and its impact on the well being of the world's children. Section 1 of the report discusses the Convention on the Rights of the Child and international recognition that children require special attention and that they should have the same spectrum of…

This report describes a seminar designed to develop a better understanding of the problems and needs of working children and children living in the streets, to analyze policy and program experiences in working with such children, and to draft a set of recommendations to help improve the conditions of street and working children in the context of…