Publications on Children

This WHO and UNICEF report details the country leadership and actions that are taking forward the goals and recommendations set out in the Every Newborn Action Plan – an initiative contributing towards the goals of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health for Every Woman Every Child.

An unprecedented period of change and opportunity is under way in Myanmar. But too many children have yet to feel the benefits. This Child Alert focuses on the situation of children whose lives and prospects are effectively on hold.

UNICEF work on data for children is based on a simple premise: We believe that smart demand, supply and use of data drives better results for children. When the right data are in the right hands at the right time, decisions can be better informed, more equitable, and more likely to protect children’s rights.

Maternal Mortality Ratio decreased from 539/100,000 live births in 1996 (NHFS) to 258 in 2015 (WHO). Inadequate attention in improving maternal and newborn health services in remote or mountainous areas of Nepal. Both demand-side and supply-side combined package of intervention has greatest improvement in use of maternal and new born health services in remote areas.

Developed by Girls Not Brides, with input from members and partners, this brief highlights why the links between child marriage and HIV must be addressed. It recommends further research, targeting and prioritising adolescent girls in HIV responses, and joined-up policy approaches to tackle both issues.

In September 2016, the Asia-Pacific Regional Office of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA APRO) and the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (UNICEF ROSA) hosted a three-day expert group meeting to examine the evidence around programming and policies to end child marriage in South Asia. The meeting convened representatives from the host organizations, as well as UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women country offices in South Asia and surrounding countries, experts from academia and representatives from organizations implementing programmes in the region. 

India has the largest number of child brides in the world — one third of the global total. Yet recent data indicates that in the last decade there has been a significant decline in the prevalence of child marriage among women now in a particular age range. 

Nepal has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Asia – for both girls and boys. Although the legal age of unions for both sexes is 20, more than a third of young women aged 20-24 report that they were married by the age of 18, and just over one in ten by 15. 

Bangladesh has the highest rate of child marriage in Asia – and the fourth highest rate of child marriage in the world. Marriage is illegal for girls under the age of 18 and for boys under 21, with exemptions that allow for marriage with special permission. However, almost three out of five young women were married as children, with more than one in five married by the age of 15 in 2014.

This strategic framework provides a road map to scale-up prevention of parent to child transmission (PPTCT) services in the most efficient manner.