Published 20 November 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2607
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2607

News

New index ranks African countries on child welfare

Peter Moszynski

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

A league table of African governments’ child friendliness has been launched in Nairobi to mark the universal day of the child on 20 November.

The ranking has been compiled by the Addis Ababa based African Child Policy Forum to encourage African governments to be "more accountable to their future citizens."

The survey, which ranks 52 African countries on more than 40 indicators, finds that some of the poorest nations are the most child friendly, because they have laws and policies in place to protect children’s rights. In addition, they have targeted their limited resources to provide basic needs for their children.

Assefa Bequele, the forum’s executive director, said, "While we should be grateful for all the assistance given to us by non-African actors, I think it is time that we as Africans should speak out and reclaim our own destiny" by becoming "a moral voice for Africa’s children."

"For the . . . [Full text of this article]


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Provision, protection and perspective.
Adeniyi S Adetoki
bmj.com, 21 Nov 2008 [Full text]
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