Goals for Children and
Development in the 1990s
Major Goals for Child Survival, Development
and Protection
Supporting/sectoral Goals
The following goals have been formulated through extensive consultation
in various international forums attended by virtually all Governments,
the relevant United Nations agencies including the World Health Organization
(WHO), UNICEF, the United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and a large number of NGOs. These
goals are recommended for implementation by all countries where they are
applicable, with appropriate adaptation to the specific situation of each
country in terms of phasing, standards, priorities and availability of
resources, with respect for cultural, religious and social traditions.
Additional goals that are particularly relevant to a country's specific
situation should be added in its national plan of action.
I. Major Goals for Child Survival, Development
and Protection
(a) Between 1990 and the year 2000, reduction of infant and under-5
child mortality rate by one third or to 50 and 70 per 1,000 live births
respectively, whichever is less;
(b) Between 1990 and the year 2000, reduction of maternal mortality
rate by half;
(c) Between 1990 and the year 2000, reduction of severe and moderate
malnutrition among under-5 children by half;
(d) Universal access to safe drinking water and to sanitary means of
excreta disposal;
(e) By the year 2000, universal access to basic education and completion
of primary education by at least 80 per cent of primary school-age children;
(f) Reduction of the adult illiteracy rate (the appropriate age group
to be determined in each country) to at least half its 1990
level with emphasis on female literacy;
(g) Improved protection of children in especially difficult circumstances.
II. Supporting/sectoral Goals
A. Women's health and education
(i) Special attention to the health and nutrition of the female child
and to pregnant and lactating women;
(ii) Access by all couples to information and services to prevent pregnancies
that are too early, too closely spaced, too late or too many;
(iii) Access by all pregnant women to pre-natal care, trained attendants
during childbirth and referral facilities for high-risk pregnancies and
obstetric emergencies;
(iv) Universal access to primary education with special emphasis for
girls and accelerated literacy programmes for women.
B. Nutrition
(i) Reduction in severe, as well as moderate malnutrition among under-5
children by half of 1990 levels;
(ii) Reduction of the rate of low birth weight (2.5 kg or less) to less
than 10 per cent;
(iii) Reduction of iron deficiency anaemia in women by one third of
the 1990 levels;
(iv) Virtual elimination of iodine deficiency disorders;
(v) Virtual elimination of vitamin A deficiency and its consequences,
including blindness;
(vi) Empowerment of all women to breast-feed their children exclusively
for four to six months and to continue breastfeeding, with complementary
food, well into the second year;
(vii) Growth promotion and its regular monitoring to be institutionalized
in all countries by the end of the 1990s;
(viii) Dissemination of knowledge and supporting services to increase
food production to ensure household food security.
C. Child health
(i) Global eradication of poliomyelitis by the year 2000;
(ii) Elimination of neonatal tetanus by 1995;
(iii) Reduction by 95 per cent in measles deaths and reduction by 90
per cent of measles cases compared to pre- immunization levels by 1995,
as a major step to the global eradication of measles in the longer run;
(iv) Maintenance of a high level of immunization coverage (at least
90 per cent of children under one year of age by the year 2000) against
diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis and
against tetanus for women of child-bearing age;
(v) Reduction by 50 per cent in the deaths due to diarrhoea in children
under the age of five years and 25 per cent reduction in the diarrhoea
incidence rate;
(vi) Reduction by one third in the deaths due to acute respiratory infections
in children under five years.
D. Water and sanitation
(i) Universal access to safe drinking water;
(ii) Universal access to sanitary means of excreta disposal;
(iii) Elimination of guinea-worm disease (dracunculiasis) by the year
2000.
E. Basic education
(i) Expansion of early childhood development activities, including appropriate
low-cost family- and community-based interventions;
(ii) Universal access to basic education, and achievement of primary
education by at least 80 per cent of primary school-age children through
formal schooling or non- formal education of comparable learning standard,
with emphasis on reducing the current disparities between boys and girls;
(iii) Reduction of the adult illiteracy rate (the appropriate age group
to be determined in each country) to at least half its 1990 level, with
emphasis on female literacy;
(iv) Increased acquisition by individuals and families of the knowledge,
skills and values required for better living, made available through all
educational channels, including the mass media, other forms of modern and
traditional communication and social action, with effectiveness measured
in terms of behavioural change.
F. Children in difficult circumstances
Provide improved protection of children in especially difficult circumstances
and tackle the root causes leading to such situations.
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