UNICEF launches the 2012 State of the World's Children Report: "Children in an Urban World"
MAPUTO, Mozambique, 28 February 2012 – This afternoon, UNICEF Mozambique representative Jesper Morch launched the 2012 State of the World's Children report, UNICEF 's annual flagship publication, which this year focuses on the challenges of urbanization and the impact of urbanization on the world's children . "UNICEF 's focus has traditionally been on children living in rural areas, but as the world continues to urbanize, more attention will need to be paid to urban areas," said Mr. Morch, who mentioned that the expected growth in the extractive industries in Mozambique could lead to an even faster rate of urbanization in the country. "While urban areas often have better services than rural areas, they also have more challenges for children , such as the risks of child labor, trafficking and other abuse," said Mr. Morch. Mozambique has a relatively low degree of urbanization (38 per cent), but has a relatively high annual average growth rate of urbanization (estimated at 3.8 per cent per year between 2010 and 2030), meaning that the pressures on urban infrastructure and services will intensify over the coming decades. The launch of the report was attended by several journalists. The report , which is available in both English and Portuguese, will be distributed to government counterparts, donors, civil society organizations, implementing partners and UNICEF staff members over the coming week. Please visit www.unicef.org/sowc2012/ for more information. For more information, please contact Arild Drivdal, UNICEF Mozambique, tel. (+258) 21 481 100; email: maputo@unicef.org Gabriel Pereira, UNICEF Mozambique, tel. (+258) 21 481 100; email: maputo@unicef.org
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