This working paper examines the extent to which fiscal consolidation is occuring in 2010-11 among 126 low and middle-income countries, and the potential risks for children and poor households at a time when economic recovery is fragile and uneven. Using fiscal projection data published by the...

In the wake of the food, fuel and financial shocks, a fourth wave of the global economic crisis began to sweep across developing countries in 2010: fiscal austerity. Serving as an update of earlier research by UNICEF, this working paper: (i) examines the latest IMF government spending...

The 'miracle' of East Asia and economic growth was brought to a standstill when the Asian financial crisis hit in 1997, unleashing a range of economic, political and social consequences across the region and exposing this transformation as fragile and unstable. This working paper examine the...

A series of economic and transformational crises in Latin America during the 1990s and the early 2000s pushed many households into poverty. In this paper we look at the two most significant of those crises that took place in Mexico and Argentina and explore the policy measures that were put in...

The world’s financial and economic crisis has taken a toll on children and poor households. High food and commodity prices, unemployment and austerity measures have aggravated persistent inequalities and contributed to a substantial rise in hunger and social tensions. Now, more than ever,...

The 21st century starts with vast inequalities for children in terms of income, access to food, water, health, education, housing, or employment for their families. Half of the world’s children are below the poverty line of $2 a day and suffer from multiple deprivations and violations to basic...

While considerable progress is being made across the world in terms of human well-being, global statistics hide the fact that scores of people do not benefit from it much, if at all. Global progress has, by and large, by-passed those who are excluded, ignored, vulnerable, marginalised or...

MDGs are global goals and are powerful tools of international policy because they create a framework of accountability by going beyond stating general objectives and set quantitative, time bound targets against which performance can be measured. This paper challenges the methodology...

The second edition brings together nine diverse cases that highlight UNICEF’s and its partners’ experience in making policy work a core strategy for reaching the most deprived children and families. Insights, a new feature introduced in this edition, includes articles by Sir Richard Jolly...

In 2010, UNICEF initiated an e-discussion entitled ‘A Recovery with a Human Face.’1 It soon became the largest UNICEF network and one of the most successful e-discussions ever hosted by the UN. Contributors have included Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, former UN Under-Secretary- General José...