Child Neglect, Poverty, Abuse Among Top Concerns over Children

Increasing child neglect cases and poverty-stricken child population, and frequent occurrence of child abuse and drug uses are the three issues of the greatest concern over children, according to a report on children's welfare released Thursday.

The report, issued by the Xinhua News Agency and leading global market research company, the Nielsen Company, presented the living conditions and development of children, as well as the protection of their rights. It was based on a survey of more than 2,000 people in the United States, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, South Africa, India, Poland and Brazil.

Target sample included parents of children between three to 14 years old and researchers on children topics including specialists in pediatrics, psychology and sociology, as well as editors of children magazines and charity NGO members.

Data were collected online in the six countries except Nigeria, where face-to-face interviews were applied. The sample size of parents was 300 per country, with a gender quota of 1:1.

The sample size of specialists was 10 per country, covering different professions. The interviews were done via telephone.

According to the report, also among the list of issues of most concern were pregnancy among unmarried adolescents, teenage sex, Internet addiction, child obesity, food shortage, malnutrition, and backward child health care.

Respondents to the survey agreed that too much stress from school, lack of public activity space, mafia involvement, and rising number of teen-sex-for-sale cases were also of great concern.

In addition, education for handicapped children or those of ethnic minorities, serious food safety problems, declining air quality, child labor, and gambling and drug abuse should be addressed, according to the report.

The report was released amid media coverage on the upcoming November 20, which marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by the United Nations in 1989.

Xinhua and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have launched a global media campaign for children's rights in the run-up to November 20 and a 24-hour global live multimedia coverage on the day, dubbed the "Global News Day for Children". It will be the first time that global media report at the same time on the same topic.

More than 600 media organizations worldwide have participated in the joint campaign, a move to expand on the impact generated by the World Media Summit held in Beijing early October, which concluded that care for the mankind should first go to children.

The CRC is the first legally binding international agreement on protection of children's rights, which requires abidance from the legal systems of all countries that have ratified the document, including China.

(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2009)