The State of the World's Children
UNICEF’s flagship report – the most comprehensive analysis of global trends affecting children.
When The State of the World’s Children first went into print in 1980, 10 per cent of the children born that year died from preventable causes. By 2018, that number had declined to just 3 per cent. Thanks to milestones such as the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, children are now on global and national policy agendas in ways that were not possible.
Each State of the World's Children (SOWC) examines a key issue affecting children. These have ranged from children with disabilities, conflict and war, child labour, urbanization, early childhood development, and much more, making it the most comprehensive analysis of global trends that impact children.
The topics and recommendations provided in the SOWC also guide UNICEF’s priorities, helping us design, calibrate and implement country programmes effectively and with an eye on the needs of the world's children.
From the archives
2021
On My Mind: How adolescents experience and perceive mental health around the world.
Read the companion report.
2019
Children, Food and Nutrition.
2017
Children in a Digital World.
2016
A fair chance for every child.
2015
Reimagine the future: Innovation for every child.
2014
Every child counts – revealing disparities, advancing children’s rights.
2013
Children with disabilities: From exclusion to inclusion.
2012
Children in an urban world.
2011
Investing in adolescents for breaking the cycles of poverty and inequity.
2010
Celebrating 20 Years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
2009
The latest paradigms in health programming and policies for mothers and newborns.
2008
The state of child survival and primary health care for mothers, newborns and children today.
2007
Investing in women’s rights to advance the rights of both women and children.
2006
Reaching the excluded and the invisible children of the world.
2005
Why are millions of children losing out on their childhood?
2004
Girls’ education and the promise of Education For All.
2003
Meaningful child participation from every region of the world.
2002
Turning commitments into actions that improve the lives of children and families.
2001
The earliest years of a child’s life influence the rest of childhood and adolescence.
2000
A call to industrialized and developing countries to reaffirm their promises for children.
1999
The goal — education for all.
1998
Sound nutrition can change children's lives.
1997
An end to child labour and advocating urgent support for education.
1996
UNICEF's 50th anniversary: Children in war.
1995
Key strategies behind progress made and the upcoming 1995 World Summit for Social Development.
1994
The progress against the major threats to the health and nutrition of children.
1993
The means to end mass malnutrition, preventable disease and widespread illiteracy.
1992
10 propositions for ending extreme poverty among one quarter of the world’s people.
1991
The 1990 World Summit for Children and its outcomes.
1990
The great achievements and great setbacks of the 1980s.
1989
Looking at some of the major child health achievements of the 1980s.
1988
A direct appeal for the involvement of all possible resources.
1987
Commemorating 40 years of UNICEF.
1986
The surge forward in immunization.
1985
Shifting the focus of health care from institutions to families.
1984
The worldwide response to the 'child survival and development revolution'.
1982-83
The child survival and development revolution.
1981-82
Improving the lives of children by the end of the twentieth century.
1980-81
The impact of poverty on children’s lives.
