Citation

Bendahmane DB. Grassroots Dev. 1994; 18(2): 2-12.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1994, Inter-American Foundation)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12345889

Abstract

Programs to reduce infant and child mortality have led to improvements in most countries of the world, developed and developing alike. These improvements can be seen graphically on maps produced by the USAID Child Survival Program which was launched in 1985 and which provided a "package" of health interventions that has led to a 10% mortality decline. These interventions have led to an increase in life expectancy in developing countries from 50 years in 1965 to over 60 years in 1986. Unfortunately, the children whose lives have been saved face a cruel paradox because their prospects for improving their lives are slim. They are the victims of deepening poverty, the stresses of urban life, and war and violence. In addition, the education which could allow them to escape their fate is largely denied to them. Although 90% of the children in developing countries enter school, an estimated 100 million drop out before grade 5. To make matters worse, most of the child survivors live in countries where the young age of the majority of the citizens is straining government resources. Even young people in the developed world are not immune from these problems; in the US, children are worse off than they were 25 years ago. While the struggle to increase child survival must continue, the world must also nurture the children who survive. The vicious cycle of population growth, poverty, and environmental degradation (PPE), which causes and is exacerbated by political and social instability, has been weakened by child survival programs which have reduced fertility rates. Education, especially of girls, also has a positive effect on the spiral. The effects of education, health and nutrition, and family planning programs can create a "virtuous" cycle which can increase gross domestic income and equity of income distribution (resulting in shared growth and "human capital accumulation"). Such initiatives as innovative community youth programs and new financing mechanisms can have a longterm positive effect on the virtuous cycle if the political will exists to follow through on them. Otherwise, the PPE downward spiral will be the dominant mode of underdevelopment in the next century.

Language: en