The benefits of girls' education include increased family incomes, later marriages, reduced fertility rates, reduced infant and maternal mortality rates, better nourished families, and greater opportunities for women. However, ingrained attitudes towards women are difficult to change. Only when communities believe that the benefits of girls in…

This eight-part sourcebook provides background information, data, and references relating to child welfare issues throughout the world. The book is organized around a set of goals for children in the 1990s. An introductory section provides an overview of these goals and strategies for achieving them, and discusses infant and child mortality,…

This special issue of "The State of the World's Children" marks the 50th anniversary year of UNICEF and its work on behalf of children. Chapter 1 examines how wars and civil conflicts are taking an enormous toll on children. The chapter outlines a proposed anti-war agenda as a vital step to prevent and alleviate the suffering of children…

The American Indian Health Service (AIHS), subsidiary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, is dedicated to elevating the health status of Indian and Alaskan Native peoples by: developing modern health facilities; encouraging Indian acquaintance with and participation in existing programs; being responsive to the concept of…

This document presents mortality statistics for 1985 for the entire United States. Data analysis and discussion of these factors is included: death and death rates; death rates by age, sex, and race; expectation of life at birth and at specified ages; causes of death; infant mortality; and maternal mortality. Highlights reported include: (1) the…

UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs, and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. This report details the accomplishments and activities of UNICEF for the year 1997. The report begins with introductory remarks from the U.N.…

This teacher's guide presents teaching suggestions and presentation materials about women's rights around the world in terms of equal access to education, health care, employment, land, credit, technology, and political power. Implications of these inequities are explored through the concept of sustainable development. The lesson is divided into…

UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs, and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. This report details the accomplishments and activities of UNICEF for the year 1999. The report begins with the mission statement and…

In accordance with UNICEF mandates requiring a situation analysis prior to preparing a new country program, this report examines causes and linkages between problems affecting women and children in Iraq, identifies necessary actions to realize the rights of women and children, and contributes to the country program strategy for priority…

One of the strengths of the 1990 World Summit for Children was its emphasis on goals to drive development and shape actions, and on the need to monitor progress, thereby transforming the way the world collected and processed data on children and women and creating a vital base and baseline for progress. In 2000, an exhaustive end-decade review of…

Throughout the world pregnancy and childbearing are occurring at younger ages than in the past, resulting in adverse health, demographic and social consequences. Postponing first births until age 20 or later would significantly reduce maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, slow population growth, and contribute to improvements in the quality…

This paper argues that many internationally financed literacy programs do not sufficiently take into consideration important daily life issues of the learners, including nutritional deficiencies that may hinder learning, or of children-parent-society interactions that may improve learning. As a result, many programs have become synonymous with…

This policy review presents the views and proposals of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) concerning development goals and strategies for the 1990s. A brief review of the previous development decades in the first section is followed by an overview of the evolution of the situation of children in the 1980s. The third section summarizes the…

A comparison between the common myths of "rural existence" and the documented realities of rural living explodes the myth that rural living is generally stress free, shows that life stress in rural settings can have deleterious effects on the function of individual and family, and provides a basis for exploring some implications of rural stress…

WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, is a federal program operated through state and local agencies. American Indian tribal organizations administer WIC programs on tribal lands. There are currently 32 tribal WIC programs. Tribes often contribute significant resources of their own in the form of office…