Publications and resources

This report provides an overview of selected findings from the sixth round (2018–2020) of Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) conducted in Roma settlements in Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. It focuses on Roma children and women, aiming to track progress and highlight disparities within the Roma community compared to the…, Focusing on the well-being of Roma children and women within the Roma community is vital for promoting human rights and inclusive development. Empowering them and providing equal opportunities will lead to a more equitable and inclusive society for all. However, addressing the disparities and ensuring access to universal services will require…, Health and Nutrition, Recommendation 1: UNICEF strongly advocates incorporation of Roma mediators into health-care (as well as social and educational) systems to enhance its effectiveness to provide health-care services, particularly for those without health insurance or personal documentation, including Roma mothers in need of antenatal and delivery care. Relevant…, Education, Recommendation 1: UNICEF recommends the adoption of a comprehensive strategy that engages community leaders, parents/caregivers, and positive role models to amplify awareness about the transformative potential of education in alleviating poverty and dependency. The proclamation of role models and the promotion of positive deviance within…, Child Protection, Recommendation 1: Establishing a robust interagency synergy between child protection and other mechanisms such as health, educational and social protection mechanisms is imperative, at both national and subnational levels. Pre-eminently, by harmonizing the efforts of the child protection and social protection agencies, we can create a more…, Social protection and adequate standard of living, Recommendation 1: Stakeholders with a vested interest in promoting social justice should give due consideration to the necessity of enacting policy changes and reforms, as appropriate, to break down barriers and facilitate equitable access to social protection services, with a special focus on historically marginalized communities, such as the…, Roma participation, Recommendation 1: Governments should recognize and act upon the importance of including Roma youth voices in decision making processes by integrating them into youth councils and other platforms, ensuring a more diverse and representative governance.   Recommendation 2: Governments at all levels should ensure equitable and proportional…, APRIL 2024 Breaking barriers: An analytical report on Roma children and women in Kosovo (UNSCR 1244), Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia A summary of findings from four MICS surveys in Roma settlements U NIC EF / UN 0162 31 / Gilb erts on V II | (Lef t) Z oric a D imic , 42, a v isiti ng n urse , che cks up o n ch ildre n at a non -hyg ieni c…

The paper presents a comprehensive overview of the Committee's recent recommendations to State parties in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, emphasizing data collection, analysis, dissemination, and utilization concerning children. The analysis encompasses various key themes, including data collection systems, education, health, violence…

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the situation of children in alternative care and in adoption in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) based on available data from TransMonEE , as well as other sources such as MICS , DataCare and the Conference of European Statisticians (CES). It marks the first analysis of data on children in alternative…, Children in alternative care and adoption, According to UNICEF estimates based on data from national surveys and social service administrative records, there are still nearly half a million children (around 456,000) living in residential care in the Europe and Central Asia region. This is equivalent to a rate of 232 per 100,000 children aged 0-17 years and is the highest rate of all…, The rates of children in formal alternative care have reduced since 2010, but the rates have not changed substantially in many countries since 2015., The proportion of children in formal alternative care, including residential care and family-based care, has reduced considerably since the ‘At home or in a home’ report published in 2010 using data from TransMonEE 2007. Since 2015, the pace of reduction has decreased in most countries reporting data to TransMonEE, and the rate has not changed…, The composition of the types of care available in the formal alternative care system has changed substantially., There is a greater proportion of children in formal family-based care, especially foster care, than previously and a smaller proportion of children in residential care. In 2010, on average, an estimated 859 children per 100,000 population aged 0-17 years were in residential care across the region, according to the ‘At home or in a home’ report.…, Formal guardianship and kinship care account for around two-thirds of formal family-based care provision, while formal foster care represents around onethird across the countries reporting data to TransMonEE, for which there are data in 2021., In countries such as Romania and Georgia, formal foster care now represents around 50 per cent of formal family-based care provision, and the increasing use of this type of formal family-based care can also be noted in other countries that are implementing deinstitutionalisation reforms, including Armenia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Republic of…, Children with disabilities are over-represented in formal alternative care, particularly in residential care., Comparisons between countries are difficult because of how children with disabilities are assessed and counted in national management information systems. It is clear, however, that the proportion of children with disabilities in formal residential care across 20 countries of the region has increased between 2015 and 2021 and that children with…, Young children appear to no longer be at greater risk of being in formal alternative care than older children and are more likely to be in family-based care than residential care., In most countries where data is available, the rate of children under 2 or 3 years of age in formal alternative care is about half or less than half of the rate of children aged 0-17 years, and the rate of children aged under 2 or 3 years of age in family-based care is substantially higher than the rate of children aged under 2 or 3 years in…, Young adults are being left behind in residential care., In many countries where data is available, more than a third of residents in formal residential care institutions intended for children are young adults aged 18-24 years, and this proportion has been increasing in certain countries. Many of these cases likely involve young adults with disabilities., Children in informal care and in boarding schools are technically in alternative care but are not monitored by the system of formal alternative care in many countries., Survey data suggest that there may be considerable numbers of children in informal family-based care in certain countries, particularly Kyrgyzstan. These children are generally not monitored as part of the system of formal alternative care. Given the limitations of both survey-based data and administrative data on children in alternative care and…, Data and indicators on children in alternative care, TransMonEE has shown that it can coordinate data collection and validate data using a common set of indicators across 27 countries., The efforts to improve TransMonEE data need to continue as issues of comparability, definitions, coverage, and quality persist in many countries. Nevertheless, as time series data continue to be amended and definitions are consistently applied, nuanced and informative data are being produced that can inform decision-making at all levels. The role…, Consistent application of agreed definitions and quality standards for data management for core indicators is required to enable cross-country comparability., The 2021 DataCare study, the 2022 CES review and the latest validation of TransMonEE data for 2021 have all confirmed that these are the main challenges for the development of global, comparable statistics on children in alternative care. TransMonEE nevertheless demonstrates that if resources are invested in validating data, and countries are…, Recommendations for improved data comparability, Continue efforts to develop and adopt a global set of core indicators and standard disaggregation variables and improve data comparability., While DataCare and CES guidelines represent a good foundation for a core set of indicators that are already included in the TransMonEE indicators, solutions need to be found to the challenges of comparability relating to defining disability so that disability disaggregation can also be added., UNICEF can develop an annual report card system for all countries in the ECA region using the three core indicators recommended by CES and disaggregation by sex, age, and disability., The report card can provide rapid reporting on the current situation and a comparative analysis of the previous year, extending the insights available through the TransMonEE dashboard ., A more comprehensive and in-depth analysis should be conducted every 3-5 years using the full set of 26 TransMonEE alternative care and four child disability indicators., This analysis should focus on systemic changes and emerging strategic issues while incorporating greater disaggregation., Continue to invest in the TransMonEE approach., Continue to invest in the TransMonEE approach to revising historical data, ensuring consistent definitions with current data and increase investment in improving data quality by strengthening data management systems for alternative care and integrating them with other relevant management information systems, including health, education, social…, Further work is needed to define indicators and address monitoring children in boarding schools and in informal care., Following the definitions outlined in the Guidelines on Alternative Care of Children, especially in relation to children outside of parental care and in alternative care. January 2024, TRANSMONEE ANALYTICAL SERIES PATHWAYS TO BETTER PROTECTIONTaking stock of the situation of children in alternative care in Europe and Central Asia 2 United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECARO), January 2024www.unicef.org/eca/ www.transmonee.org transmonee@unicef.org 2023 UNICEF. All rights reserved…

Report Card 18 presents current levels and historic trends of child poverty (monetary and multi-dimensional) in 43 OECD/EU countries; projections of future trends in view of current crises; a detailed analysis of policy responses to child poverty in each country; and practical policy recommendations for tackling child poverty. In a time of general…, The UNICEF Innocenti Report Card 18 reviews the status of child poverty in 43 high income and upper middle-income countries of the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It provides data and assesses the progress – or lack of progress – that these countries have made towards eliminating child…, Child poverty: The current picture, Overall, in 40 countries of the EU and OECD for which data was available, poverty dropped by 8 per cent over a period of about seven years. In other words, 6 million fewer children lived in poverty in 2021 than in 2014. The country with the lowest child poverty rate is Denmark, where 9.9 per cent of children are poor. About 1 in 10 children live…, Prosperity: No guarantee for poor children, The data in Report Card 18 indicate that national wealth does not guarantee that a country will prioritize the fight against child poverty. Indeed, there is only a weak tendency for the wealthiest countries to have lower child poverty rates.7 Countries with similar national incomes sometimes have very different levels of child poverty. For example…, Supporting children and families, Meaningful and lasting improvements to the lives of children in poor households requires governments to invest in multiple services that touch children’s lives, including education, health, nutrition and labour market policies. Social protection is particularly important for children because they are more vulnerable to poverty and its consequences…, Recommendations, In some of the world’s richest countries, much more needs to be done to protect children from poverty. In 2015, countries around the world signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals, a plan for creating a better world that included a call to end poverty in all its forms, everywhere. In the high-income and upper middle-income countries of the…, Expand child-sensitive social protection, Social protection is essential for eradicating poverty – both in its monetary and nonmonetary forms. Through redistributing incomes, it is also a key element of reducing inequality. The countries included in this Report Card have made commitments, for example by ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to ensuring that all children can…, Improve and ensure access to essential services, Alongside financial support to households with children, the multidimensional nature of child poverty requires a second strand of policy to ensure that all children have access to basic services, beyond the household, that are essential for their well-being and development., Ensure decent work and family-friendly policies, Decent work with adequate pay and conditions offers a vital and dependable source of income for households with children. The success of Slovenia in reducing child poverty has been in part based on effective labour market policies. As well as boosting opportunities for such employment, policymakers should consider a comprehensive set of family-…, Act to reduce the inequalities in poverty risks, The evidence on the persistence of inequalities in poverty risks for children in many minority groups shows that it requires ongoing attention and effective action. Over and above universal provisions, additional tailored measures need to be taken to ensure that all children, and their households, have access to social protection, key services and…, Build support for child poverty reduction, Effective child poverty reduction policies require governments to place child poverty reduction at the heart of their priorities. Governments also have a critical leading role to play in building broad support for child poverty reduction through the engagement of other actors, including civil society, community leaders, employers, trade unions and…, Generate better data, The ability to learn from other countries, through comparative international analysis, rests on the availability of high-quality, comparable data. But there are still many gaps in such data. Moreover, data about the depth of child poverty – the poverty gap – are scarce. These shortcomings hamper the meaningful monitoring of children’s income…, Involve children in the poverty debate, We still know surprisingly little about children’s own ideas of what poverty is. When children have been asked, their views and ideas have often differed from those of adults. The opportunity for children to become involved in policy areas affecting their lives is supported by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Their…, 1 Innocenti Report Card 18Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth Child Povertyin the Midstof Wealth Innocenti Report Card 18 2 Innocenti Report Card 18Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth Executive summary In a time of general prosperity, more than 69 million children live in poverty in some of the worlds richest countries. Poverty is often defined…

Nearly 11 million children with disabilities live in Europe and Central Asia. Each of them – like every child in the world – has the right to be nurtured and supported through responsive care and education, to receive adequate nutrition and social protection, and to enjoy play and leisure time. Too often, however, such rights are denied. The…

With the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, the global community made a commitment to end all forms of violence against children by 2030. Although this drew much needed attention to the importance of preventing and responding to violence against children,  the availability of comparable data remains limited . The scarcity of…, Presentation of the international classification on violence against children An event for the Europe and Central Asia TransMonEE network. At the international level, the ICVAC aims to enhance comparability of statistics among countries. It will provide a consistent and comprehensive framework of the various forms of violence against children,…, International Classification of Violence against Children http://unicef.org United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, June 2023 Permission is required to replicate, circulate or cite any part of this publication. To request permission or for any other information, please contact: UNICEF Data and…

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 aims to ‘ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’ and includes targets for universal access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). The World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund (WHO/UNICEF) Joint Monitoring Programme (…

The world is facing unprecedented compounding crises. The war in Ukraine, the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, a looming economic crisis, energy shortages, the increasing cost of living, and the ongoing effects of climate change and the associated food insecurity have created challenges across the world, and continue to disrupt the lives of children,…

Child malnutrition estimates for the indicators stunting, wasting, overweight and underweight describe the magnitude and patterns of malnutrition aligned with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 2.2. The UNICEF-WHO-WB Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates inter-agency group updates the global and regional estimates of prevalence and numbers…

“Situation Analysis of Children Rights in Europe and Central Asia: Unequal progress, Children left behind ” spotlights deepening inequalities and urges countries to put in place sound systems to support children at risk of poverty and social exclusion. The report is the first of its kind to bring together existing data and analysis for all…

In total, more than 5.0 million children under age 5, including 2.3 million newborns, along with 2.1 million children and youth aged 5 to 24 years – 43 per cent of whom are adolescents – died in 2021. This tragic and massive loss of life, most of which was due to preventable or treatable causes, is a stark reminder of the urgent need to end…

This brief summarises the findings of a mapping exercise that reviewed the status of the child-related SDG targets and indicators in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, focusing on the following: progress with data availability and data sources; and the integration of national policies and programmes. The ECA region encompasses 55 countries…