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Good news for children!

Summary

20 July 2012

New research says significantly more children worldwide are going to school compared with a decade ago and fewer of them are dying in infancy. But a report by the international charity Save the Children also says there has been a worrying increase in child hunger in the poorest countries.

Reporter:

Mark Doyle

Report

This is a rare charity report bringing good news. It says that around the world the chances of a child going to school have risen by one third compared with the 1990s - and the prospect of children dying in their infancy has also been cut by about a third. This is partly explained, Save the Children says, by local economic growth in the developing continents of Africa and Asia. It also reflects international aid policies which have tended to concentrate on education and health - in aid circles schools and hospitals are sometimes called the "Darlings of the Donors". 

But the report also warns that underlying child malnutrition is on the rise because of high food prices and global inequality. This is a more hidden problem, and more difficult to tackle. Save the Children said it welcomed the idea of a Hunger Summit due to be held in London during the Olympics. It called on donor countries to invest more in small scale agriculture and especially to support women farmers. The report said developing country governments should concentrate on reducing income inequalities and improving health care for mothers.