Overview and challenges

Overview and challenges

UNICEF actions

UNICEF actions

Achievements

Achievements

Real life stories

Real life stories

 

Overview and challenges

© UNICEF-Thailand/Youkonton

Data on the most marginalised children are lacking, which hinders policy formulation.

Situation

Over the past few years, there have been significant improvements in legislation and policies affecting children. These include the Child Protection Act and the 30 Baht Health Care Scheme. At the same time, mechanisms have been established that allow children and young people greater input into decision making.

However, there is a need for further advocacy with governments on the best interests of the child when designing policies so that new initiatives, such as ongoing decentralization, take account of education, health and other social investment issues.

If our advocacy is to be successful, we have to have better data and data analysis so that decisions are not made merely in response to popular sentiment or isolated events. Without evidence-based policy formulation we will not achieve the results we want for children.

Data shortages are particularly acute at the sub-national level. This is a serious concern because ongoing decentralization means that 35 per cent of government budgets are now administered by the lowest level of government. The potential benefits of having decisions made by people with local experience will not be realized if local-level policy is formed on the basis of national-level statistics.

Reliance on national-level data can also hide serious disparities among disadvantaged and marginalized populations. Even though there are improvements in health, education and child protection indicators at the national level, it does not necessarily mean that the children of ethnic minorities are in school, or that the children of migrant workers are being immunized, or that other vulnerable children are not being sexually exploited or abused.