We have promised them much….

We have promised them much….

A Report Card on adolescents: UNICEF April 2012

For adolescents around the world, report cards present a measure of their academic progress – and can point the way towards their futures. But how does the global community measure up in our efforts to give those young people the futures they deserve –
and the tools and opportunities to make the most of their lives?

As the 10th edition of UNICEF’s Progress for Children shows, this report card is mixed. For while we have made significant progress for millions of children over the last decades – reducing child mortality, increasing the number of children enrolled in primary school, expanding access to health care services – our efforts have left behind far too many adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19.We must reach them.

Today’s adolescents were born under the auspices and protections of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. They are the children of the Millennium Declaration, reared during a decade of unprecedented global effort to create a more peaceful, prosperous and equitable world.

For adolescence is not only a pivotal time in the life of a child – the gateway to adulthood. It is also a critical opportunity to make progress for all children. And it is a stage of life in which we must invest more attention, resources and effort today, or suffer tomorrow the social and economic consequences of a generation less equipped to become fully contributing members of society.

We have promised them much; and we must deliver.