THERE is a general perception that urban areas provide good opportunities and that people living in urban areas are better off and have more facilities in terms of education, health, sanitation and job opportunities than their rural counterparts. However, the privileges associated with urban life are not available to all and the resources are unequally distributed.

In fact, there are vast disparities within cities and the gap between the rich and the poor is more pronounced in urban areas than in rural.

While many children are able to enjoy the advantages of urban life, millions of children living in urban slums are marginalised and denied access to basic services like education, health care, sanitation, clean drinking water and electricity. They are vulnerable to dangers from violence and exploitation and to injuries, illness and death as they are forced to take up dangerous and exploitative work. They live in ramshackle dwellings in overcrowded settlements and face a constant threat of eviction.

The recently released Unicef’s State of the World’s Children 2012: Children in an Urban World states that over half of the world’s people — including more than one billion children — now live in cities and towns, and the numbers of urban dwellers is increasing rapidly. It is expected that by mid-century two thirds of the global population will be living in urban areas. The report focuses on the grim realities in which children growing up in city slums live and the problems and challenges that they face.

The reason why such disparities are not usually seen is because children and their wellbeing are usually assessed through comparison between the indicators for children in rural and urban settings. In the aggregate figures, the wealth and privileges of the better off communities in cities obscure the hardships endured by poorer urban children.

It is only when detailed urban data is taken into account that the wide disparities in children’s rates of survival, nutritional status and education are revealed. Since the rate of development is assessed and resources are allocated on the basis of statistical averages, children living in informal settlements and impoverished neighbourhoods are excluded from essential services and social protection which is their right.

The health of children is compromised by extreme poverty combined with inadequate services, which often go hand in hand. An estimated 1.2 million children die before the age of five from diarrhoea each year, while malnutrition contributes to more than a third of deaths of children under five years of age. Micronutrient deficiency, that is deficiency of essential elements such as Vitamin A, iron or zin, results in increased danger of death, blindness, stunting and lower IQ.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises children’s right to education on the basis of equal opportunities, yet poverty, ill health and lack of motivation often keep children in urban slums and away from schools. Children from urban neighbourhoods are among the least likely to attend school. The other most affected groups are street children, migrant children and children of refugees and internally displaced persons.

Another area of concern is protecting children from being trafficked, used as labour and living and working on the streets. Various factors that lead to such problems are taken onto account.

The report also examines the various phenomena that affect the lives of children in urban areas, such as reasons for their migration to the city, the challenges posed by economic shocks, crime and disaster risk. Any type of migration, whether forced or voluntary, influences the lives of children; many are excluded from their basic rights and face harassment, exploitation and violence. The current economic crisis has increased unemployment; reduced incomes and increasing inflation mean fewer resources to invest in education, health and other basic needs.

Crime and violence affects hundreds of millions of children in urban areas. When children are exposed to violence it can impede their development, force them to drop out of school, increase anxiety, depression and aggression. The occurrence of natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, droughts and earthquakes has increased manifold over the years; these events can take a particular toll on underprivileged urban residents because of their already impoverished living conditions and because they are underserved and ill prepared to recover from any extreme events.

The report presents a number of examples of cities that have taken initiatives to improve the quality of life of underprivileged children and create conditions more appropriate for them to grow up in, like service delivery, social protection and safe and inclusive environment.

These instances show that it is possible to fulfil commitments to children. But for that to happen it is important that all children receive due attention.

The report concludes by proposing a range of policy measures that can improve the development of cities and better protect the rights of children. It proposes to understand the scale and nature of urban poverty and exclusion affecting children; to identify and remove the barriers to inclusion; to give priority to the needs of children and to make sure that the necessary infrastructure and services are available to all the children; to promote partnership between government and the urban poor; and to work together to ensure that marginalised and impoverished children enjoy their full rights.

Unicef hopes that if concerted efforts are made millions of children can be helped to grow in healthy and safe environment and equipped to live productive lives.

The reviewer is a Dawn staffer

State of the World’s Children 2012: Children in an Urban World (HUMAN RIGHTS) Unicef ISBN 978-92-806-4597-2 142pp. $25