South Asia Regional Child Poverty Network Meeting Venue TBD, 7-9 May 2008

1. South Asia Regional Child Poverty Network Meeting Venue TBD, 7-9 May 2008 ‘Child Poverty and Disparities Study’ Country Progress Raj Gautam Mitra and Preet Rustagi

2. Source : Population projections 2001-2026, Office f the RGI

3. India’s progress is key to achieving MDGs

4. India is not likely to achieve MDG 4 IMR trends in India 290 thousand Infant deaths 440 thousand Infant deaths 57 45 27 SRS

5. Percentage of children in different quintiles of MPCE class Percentage of children age 0-14 years in the total population 33 percent Source : NSSO 61st round survey and RGI

6. Health Deprived IMR in states 2006 SRS

7. Nutrition deprived NFHS 2005-2006

8. Sanitation deprived NFHS 2005-2006

9. A child born in the poorest household is three times as likely to die before s(he) reaches her/his fifth birthday compared to a child born in the richest household NFHS 3

10. The disparity in provision of health service is evident. A child living in the richest 20 % household is three times likely to get all the recommended vaccinations as compared to a child living in the poorest 20% household Full immunization rates by various background characteristics NFHS

11. Musahars in Bihar and UP Education deprived Population 2.1 million Female literacy rate 3.9% Children (5-14 years) attending school 9.8% Census 2001

12. Research processes • Input into the 11th Five Year plan (2007-12) process started in 2006; opportunity for UNICEF to build a cross-sectoral dialogue with planners to look at overall policy environment and well-being of children • Study to contribute to wider discourse within which sectoral policy and programming takes place; • Study to deepen focus on interconnections between livelihoods, expansion of economic opportunities and human development outcomes for children • Study preparation began in March 2008. Focus is first on collecting data and policy information, before the second stage analytical work • UNICEF-IHD partnership to carry out the research, analysis, report preparation and dissemination to jointly reach a wide audience • Advisory Group will be put in place in July, under stewardship of new Representative, and with government participation to guide the analytical work

13. Concepts and methodology • Developing a coherent account of child poverty from macro, household and individual perspectives is both an opportunity and a challenge • India’s size and diversity defies generalisation, and so analysis must be context-specific for the report to be relevant and useful at the state and national levels • Focus on social exclusion • Focus on overall country data plus statistical data analysis for 16 largest states • For policy methodology though focus on national frameworks and programmes (with some reflection of state-specific innovations, if and where relevant)

14. Data collection and processing • India has one of the richest sources of secondary information. • NFHS; Census; NSSO and so on • Except from Census, generating absolute numbers a challenge • Especially from NFHS, which is a sample based dataset • Wherever possible, we should use percentages and proportions • Country too large, major states also need to be considered

15. Data analysis • Childpoverty and deprivations – two separate aspects • Poverty a household concept, therefore children in poor households considered • Deprivations – a larger set, encompassing education, health, shelter, sanitation, water, and so on • All analysis has the potential to inform national development policy processes

16. Policy advocacy • Value-added of this study is seen as opportunity to broaden approach from “technical/sectoral” to wider understanding of human development and children • Particular value-add is the opportunity to discuss child-friendly and inclusive social protection as a framework to draw together sectoral challenges (as poor and socially excluded groups bear significant burden of policy weaknesses in the social and economic sectors) • Bring children more forcefully into centre of policy discussions on growth and human development • Emphasize importance of multi-sectoral and coordinated actions for children • Bring discussions on child-friendly and inclusive social protection into development dialogue

17. Programming • Internal cross-section group will be constituted to review the analysis in parallel with the formal advisory group • Study would provide important pointers about the interlinkages between different MDGs and different sectoral goals, as well as the importance of strengthening anti-poverty/social protection measures to leverage them better for children’s well-being • By helping build analytical evidence-based clarity on these linkages, internal process will also be steered towards a discussion on mechanisms and ways to strengthen the links between FA 1-4 and FA 5.

18. Communication and advocacy strategy • High-profile national launch • Public discussions and dissemination workshops in states where UNICEF has an active policy and programme presence • Policy briefs and other shorted outputs planned, e.g. one for each key recommendation • 7 technical papers commissioned to cover issues such as child friendly: poverty measures, legislative frameworks, social protection, urban planning, macro-economic growth strategies will be published as a stand-alone series to accompany the report launch and will be used as background papers for the report • Shorter opinion pieces from leading practitioners, thinkers and policy makers are to be commissioned, covering issues such as: children’s aspirations, emerging public health issues, street children, mental health, governance, right to food, early childhood education, child sexual abuse and approaches to discipline in the private and public domains – for use in report and as op-eds in and around the time of the report’s publication

19. Questions • Correlations and Odds Ratios - ? How essential • Sample size relevant in case of survey data, not in the context of secondary data • If data is to be internationally comparable..