India ranked 77th on a sustainability index that takes into account per capita carbon emissions and ability of children in a nation to live healthy lives and secures 131st spot on a flourishing ranking that measures the best chance at survival and well-being for children, according to a UN-backed report.
The report was released on Wednesday by a commission of over 40 child and adolescent health experts from around the world. It was commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and The Lancet medical journal.
In the report assessing the capacity of 180 countries to ensure that their youngsters can survive and thrive, India ranks 77th on the Sustainability Index and 131 on the Flourishing Index, it said.
Flourishing is the geometric mean of Surviving and Thriving. For Surviving, the authors selected maternal survival, survival in children younger than 5 years old, suicide, access to maternal and child health services, basic hygiene and sanitation, and lack of extreme poverty.
For Thriving, the domains were educational achievement, growth and nutrition, reproductive freedom, and protection from violence.
Under the Sustainability Index, the authors noted that promoting today's national conditions for children to survive and thrive must not come at the cost of eroding future global conditions for children's ability to flourish.
The Sustainability Index ranks countries on excess carbon emissions compared with the 2030 target. This provides a convenient and available proxy for a country's contribution to sustainability in future.
The report noted that under realistic assumptions about possible trajectories towards sustainable greenhouse gas emissions, models predict that global carbon emissions need to be reduced from 39·7 giga tonnes to 22·8 gigatonnes per year by 2030 to maintain even a 66 per cent chance of keeping global warming below 1·5°C.
It said that the world's survival depended on children being able to flourish, but no country is doing enough to give them a sustainable future.
"No country in the world is currently providing the conditions we need to support every child to grow up and have a healthy future," said Anthony Costello, Professor of Global Health and Sustainability at University College London, one of the lead authors of the report.
"Especially, they're under immediate threat from climate change and from commercial marketing, which has grown hugely in the last decade," said Costello – former WHO Director of Mother, Child and Adolescent health.
Norway leads the table for survival, health, education and nutrition rates - followed by South Korea and the Netherlands. Central African Republic, Chad and Somalia come at the bottom.
However, when taking into account per capita CO2 emissions, these top countries trail behind, with Norway 156th, the Republic of Korea 166th and the Netherlands 160th.
Each of the three emits 210 per cent more CO2 per capita than their 2030 target, the data shows, while the US, Australia, and Saudi Arabia are among the 10 worst emitters. The lowest emitters are Burundi, Chad and Somalia.
According to the report, the only countries on track to beat CO2 emission per capita targets by 2030, while also performing fairly – within the top 70 – on child flourishing measures are: Albania, Armenia, Grenada, Jordan, Moldova, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Uruguay and Vietnam.
"More than 2 billion people live in countries where development is hampered by humanitarian crises, conflicts, and natural disasters, problems increasingly linked with climate change," said Minister Awa Coll-Seck from Senegal, Co-Chair of the commission.
The report also highlights the distinct threat posed to children from harmful marketing.
Evidence suggests that children in some countries see as many as 30,000 advertisements on television alone in a single year, while youth exposure to vaping (e-cigarettes) advertisements increased by more than 250 per cent in the US over two years, reaching more than 24 million young people.
Studies in Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and the US – among many others – have shown that self-regulation has not hampered commercial ability to advertise to children.
Children's exposure to commercial marketing of junk food and sugary beverages is associated with purchase of unhealthy foods and overweight and obesity, linking predatory marketing to the alarming rise in childhood obesity, it said.
The number of obese children and adolescents increased from 11 million in 1975 to 124 million in 2016 – an 11-fold increase, with dire individual and societal costs, the report said.
To protect children, the authors call for a new global movement driven by and for children.
Specific recommendations include stopping CO2 emissions with the utmost urgency, to ensure children have a future on this planet; placing children and adolescents at the centre of global efforts to achieve sustainable development, the report said.
New policies and investment in all sectors to work towards child health and rights; incorporating children's voices into policy decisions and tightening national regulation of harmful commercial marketing, supported by a new Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, it said.
Comments
ya kis ki hadiis lay kai ahyai hi. lanaat laanaat laanat ho Fatima a.s kay qatilu pai. maavya pai lanaat. yazeed par lanat aur ius ka chanay waloo pai lanat
Because there is om and moon star sign in a flag. People like viren kotian. Wont comment.
No real Muslim will hurt himself or hate others.......this is act of terror and cowardness
This practice is non-islamic and started by enemies of Islam.
THEY DEFINITELY DON'T REPRESENT ISLAM.
WE THANK ALLAH FOR GUIDING US TO HIS STRAIGHT PATH.
MAY ALLAH GUIDE THEM TO. AMEEN YA RABBAL ALAMEEN..
Really a pathetic. Uncultured way of behavior. No one can advice them. This is not ISLAM. None of the religion is having this type of act. I feel sorry about innocent children participating this type of worship. May Allah (swt) guide them in true path.
PEOPLE OF HELL.
Allah Ke Momin Bando, ye hamara farz hai ke hamain inko is jahalat se bahar nikale. Aaj ke tatrik me Islam ko hamse hi katra Hai. Jitna ho sakte utna Dawah ki kaam karo, Baki sab Allah pe chod do.
Aur media ko Asli Islam ki Robaro Karvao, take e propoganda nahi kare.
People are shedding the blood and the women are taking photos of the same. Really pathetic. What happened to their intellect? The non-Muslims thinks that this is part of Islam, and if this is the way people does, then they never want to come closer to Islam.
It is unislamic....and shirk.....very bad people
Really stupid. Is there any leader among them who can teach them about this evil practices? Why only martyrdom of grandsons of Prophet (pbuh), why not martyrdom of so many sahabas (p.b.u.t)???
Of course we have to mourn on the death of sahabas (p.b.u.t) but not this way, neither the sahabas (p.b.u.t) never did this way when their compatriot passed away, neither Prophet (p.bu.h) advised to do this way. Then where did these people get the idea of observing martyrdom in this way that we cannot find in the teachings of Islam? Obviously from other religions, may be from Judaism? Really shiaism is a black dot on the face of Islam.
Shaheedon ke naam pe Maatam Nahi manaya jatha hai ye sarasar galath hai
these are black dot on Isalm. Utterly Nonsense.
Prophet Muhammad pbuh said to fast on these days. it is better in the sight of ALLAH. and he never mentioned to harm ourselves as the shia do now a days.
Those do worship as per their desires and not keeping the word of Prophet Muhammad pbuh are a deviant sect.
Muslims believe in all prophets including Moses pbuh...
This day is the day when Moses defeated the mightiest army of his time with the miracle of ALLAH. the parting of the sea.
It is the better for a true muslims to FAST rather than following their own desire in worshiping the man made rituals.
Utter Nonsense!!
One piece of Advice, donate your BLOOD to the Blood Bank on this day instead of spilling it on the road, at least you could save a life or two, which make more sense.
Cheers!!!
Masjid ya Mandir!!!????
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