The global financial crisis that erupted in 2008, coupled with food and fuel price volatility, are likely to affect developing countries, and within them the vast majority of the world’s poor population in profound ways. Based on both experiences in previous crises and the information that is...

It has been two years since the first international food price spike affected countries’ access to world food markets. Since the onset in early-to-mid 2008, international food prices have relaxed but remain well above their long-run averages. In many countries, national food prices have...

There is a growing consensus that children experience poverty in ways that are different from adults; and looking at child poverty through an income-consumption lens only is inadequate. The 2005 State of the World’s Children presented the following definition of child poverty: “Children...

Public service providers, especially frontline school teachers and health workers at local levels, are crucial to positive outcomes for children. Low pay is a key factor behind staff absenteeism, informal fees and brain drain. In past crises, pay levels for teachers and health workers have...

After three consecutive decades of decline, world prices of food commodities have risen over the past few years at an alarming pace. Rising food prices are a cause of major concern because high food prices bring significant and immediate setbacks for poverty reduction, nutrition, social...

From as early as 1947, UNICEF recognized the importance of economic policy for children and has sought the help of development economists in mapping out what this might involve. Indeed, at least two Nobel Prize winners in economics have contributed ideas and advice to UNICEF – and with the...

On the heels of the unprecedented food and fuel price increases in 2007-08, global economic activity is expected to contract for the first time since the WWII. In combination, these events are likely to have a serious impact on the well-being of children in lower-income households around the...

MDG progress is measured in terms of national averages but these statistical averages often disguise that progress has not accrued to those at the bottom -- arguably those who need it most. Social protection is essential to accelerate MDGs with equity by facilitating access to essential services...

A report by UNICEF's Division of Policy and Practice creates a platform for showcasing results of its upstream policy analysis and advocacy and highlighting new thinking on social policy areas. This first edition features eight cases that are illustrative of the wide-ranging impact of UNICEF's...