Life of An African Child

The life of an African child A new World Bank report has found a sharp decline in the child mortality rate of African countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Ghana. To coincide with the Day of the African Child, we take a look at what life is like for children growing up on the world's youngest continent. 42.6% of Sub-Saharan Africa's total population are children aged up to 14. According to U.N. estimates, the number of young people aged 10-19 will increase by 237 million to 416 million between 2012 and 2050. Surviving childbirth Children dying before age five (per 1,000 live births) in Sub-Saharan Africa 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 234 194 174 154 121 Children dying before age one Children dying before age five Democratic Chad: 20.9% Republic of Congo: 12.6% Seychelles: 0.11% Seychelles: 0.12% Kenya's infant mortality rate has declined by 7.6% per year. Infant mortality grew by 21% in Congo Republic during 1990-2009, the biggest increase in Sub-Saharan Africa. The largest decline was recorded in Madagascar, by 60%. Life expectancy at birth for Sub-Saharan Africa' 50 years in 1990 mm 54 years in 2010 Food and nutrition Children under five in Sub-Saharan Africa Underweight children below the age of five" Burundi: 39% Swaziland: 6% Underweight: 20% Stunted: 39% Cassava, rice, yam and millet are among some of the staple diets of a typical African child. Under-nourishment contributes to more than a third of deaths for children under five globally, according to UNICEF. Researchers use stunting, underweight and wasting as the key indicators of nutritional status. Threat of malaria Malaria accounted for 18% of deaths in children under five in Africa in 2008." 18% Between 2000-2009 in Zambia, 41% of children under five slept under insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria; that was just 1% in Chad and Equatorial Guinea. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 34% of children under five are sleeping under an insecticide-treated 34% mosquito net. 18 Living with HIV/Aids HIV/AIDS accounted for 5% of deaths in children under five in Africa in 2008. In Nigeria, 2.5 million children up to 17 years of age are estimated to have lost one or both of their parents to AIDS as of 2009. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 15 million children have been orphaned by AIDS, as of 2009. 1° Going to school Seychelles: Central African Republic: 22 children 95 children A quarter of children in Sub-Saharan Africa do not go to school - a total of 32 million primary-school-age children. This is nearly half (45%) of the global out-of-school population." per primary school teacher per primary school teacher 54% About 54% of out-of-school children are girls. In Sub-Saharan Africa, almost 12 million girls may never enrollI, 18 Child labor Children aged five to 14 involved in labor 2000-2010 20 Ethiopia: 53% Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest rates of child labor in the world according to United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Sub-Saharan Africa: 32% Technology and internet use Most African children do not have access to computers or the internet. Internet penetration in Africa Schools across Africa have a large number of second-hand and refurbished PCs donated by aid groups. Other projects to improve connectivity include the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project that involves distributing a $175 XO laptop made of tough plastic, with a four-hour battery and built-in Wi-Fi. World average: 32.7% Africa: 13.5% In 2008, the XO was introduced to the first 10,000 students in Rwanda. Three years later OLPC has sent a total of 110,000 XO laptops to the country.* Nigeria and Egypt have the highest internet usage on the continent with 45.0 million users and 21.7 million respectively. 2 1 http://data.worlalbank.org/sites/default Wes/adi_2011-web.pdf, p.105 http://www.un.org/esa/population/cpd/cpd2012/Agender%20tem%204/UN%20system%20statements/ECA_Item4.pdf 3 http://www.unicel.org/sowc2012/pdfs/SOWC%202012-Mai%20Report_EN_13Mar2012.pdf p.83 4 http://data.worldbank.org/sites/default/fles/adi_2011-web.pdf, p.51 http://data.worldbank.org/sites/default/fNes/adi_2011-web.pdf. p.7 6 http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/defaultiWDSContentServer/W3P/NB/2012/05/03/000158349_20120503152728/Rendered PDF/WPS6057.pdf 7 http://web.worlalbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIESIAFRICAEXT/O,contentMDK:20563739--menuPK: 1613741-pagePK:146736-piPK:146830-theSitePK:258644,00.html http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publications/state-of-the-worlds-children-2012-urban-workd.pdf, p.111 9 http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publications/state-of-the-worlds-children-2012-urban-world.pdf, p.95 10 http://web.woridbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIESIAFRICAEXT/O,,contentMDK:20563739-menuPK:1613741-pagePK:146736-piPK:146830-the SitePK:258644,00.html 11 http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/media/CAH_death_u5_neonates_afro_2008.pdf 12 http://web.worídbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIESIAFRICAEXT/O,,contentMDK:20563739-menuPK: 1613741-pagePK:146736-piPK:146830-theSitePK:258644,00.html 13 http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publications/state-of-the-worlds-children-2012-urban-world.paf, p.99 14 http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/media/CAH_death_u5_neonates_afro_2008.pdf 15 http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publications/state-of-the-worlds-children-2012-urban-world.pdf, p.102 16 http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publications/state-of-the-worlds-children-2012-urban-world.pdf, p. 103 17 http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIAIHQJEDIGMR/pdfigmr2010/aid-release-ssa-brief-en.pdf 18 http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIAIHQJEDIGMR/pdfigmr2010/aid-release-ssa-brief-en.pdf 19 http://web.woricbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIESIAFRICAEXT/O,contentMDK:20563739--menuPK: 1613741-pagePK:146736-piPK:146830-the SitePK:258644,00.html 20 http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publications/state-of-the-worlds-children-2012-urban-world.pdf, p. 123 21 http://www.intemetworldstats.com/stats1.hom 22 http://www.intemetworldstats.com/stats 1.hm 23 http://wiki.laptop.org/images/2/28/Rwanda_Report.pdf