The KidsRights Index

19th November 2013

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PROGRAMME

• Introduction: Marc Dullaert – Founder and Chairman of KidsRights

• Methodology: Dinand Webbink – Professor of Policy Evaluation, with specific focus on Health, Education and Strategic Philanthropy at Erasmus School of Economics

• The Specific Role of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the KidsRights Index: Karin Arts – Professor of International Law and Development at International Institute of Social Studies

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INTRODUCTION

IntroductionMarc Dullaert – Founder and Chairman of KidsRights

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INTRODUCTION

• 57 million children have no access to school

• 1 in 6 children in the developing world is undernourished

• Worldwide 168 million child labourers

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THE KIDSRIGHTS INDEX

• First global Index

• Focus on child rights (vs child wellbeing only)

• Updated yearly

• Country-ranking

• Basis for policy recommendations

• Concrete and easy to understand

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METHODOLOGY

Dinand Webbink Professor of Policy Evaluation, with specific

focus on Health, Education and Strategic Philanthropy

at the Erasmus School of Economics

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THE KIDSRIGHTS INDEX

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DATA COLLECTION

Existing data sources:

1. The State of the World‘s Children 2012 (UNICEF)

2. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (United Nations)

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THE 5 DOMAINS

1. Life2. Health3. Education4. Protection5. Child Rights Environment

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INDICATORS PER DOMAIN (1)

1. Life: • under 5 mortality rate • life expectancy at birth• maternal mortality ratio

2. Health• % of under five year olds suffering from

underweight• immunization of 1 year old children• % of population using improved sanitation

facilities (urban and rural)• % of population using improved drinking

water sources (urban and rural)

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INDICATORS PER DOMAIN (2)

3. Education • primary school participation • secondary school participation• primary school enrolment ratios

(female as % of male)• secondary school enrolment ratios

(female as % of male)• survival rate to last grade of primary (female as % of male)• primary school net attendance ratio (urban and rural)

4. Protection• child labour• adolescent birth rate• birth registration

5. Child Rights Environment: 7 qualitative indicators

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165 COUNTRIES

The KidsRights Index ranks 165 countries, which are all that:

1. Ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child

2. And for which enough data is published in the State of the World’s Children 2012

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COMPUTING THE SCORES (1)

1. Standardize all indicator scores in between 0 (low) to 1 (high)

2. The score of each domain is the average of the indicators

3. All five domains have equal weight in the final score

4. The final score is the geometric average5. Missing data: the average per domain is

based on that of the other indicators

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COMPUTING THE SCORES (2)

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Computing the total score

Ti = (Life)1/5 *(Health) 1/5 * (Education) 1/5 * (Protection) 1/5 *(Environment) 1/5

 Examples Portugal:

The Netherlands:    

87.064.0*98.0*81.0*1*99.0 5/15/15/15/15/1

89.075.0*94.0*79.0*99.0*99.0 5/15/15/15/15/1

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RESULTS

Ranking of countries and clusters: • For all domains together• For each of the 5 domains separately

Colour coding: blue, green, yellow, orange, red

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OVERALL INDEX

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1. LIFE

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2. HEALTH

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3. EDUCATION

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4. PROTECTION

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5. CHILD RIGHTS

ENVIRONMENT

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ROLE OF THE CRC

Karin ArtsProfessor of International Law and

Development at the International Institute of Social Studies

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SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRC

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

• Nearly universally ratified standard for children’s rights: 193 states parties

• Child rights-based framework for action

• Basis for a state reporting procedure to the Committee on the Rights of the Child; generating concluding observations

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THE CHILD RIGHTS ENVIRONMENT (1)

• CRC also outlines general dimensions that should be in place in a country

• Captured in domain 5 of the KidsRights Index: child rights environment

• 7 qualitative indicators

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THE CHILD RIGHTS ENVIRONMENT (2)

a. the extent to which the general principles of the CRC are operationalized: - non-discrimination- best interest of the child - respect for the views of the child/child participation

b. the extent to which there is a basic ‘infrastructure’ for child rights policy, in the form of:- enabling legislation- best available budget- collection and analysis of disaggregate data- state-civil society cooperation for child rights

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DOMAIN 5: COMPUTING THE SCORES

• These elements were traced in the Concluding Observations issued by the CRC Committee for all states parties to the CRC

• And coded by ISS: - where the Committee was unequivocally positive: a score of 3- where the Committee came to a mixed assessment of positive

and negative elements: a score of 2- where the Committee was unequivocally negative: a score of

1

• Standardized into a value between 0 and 1, in conformity with scores for domains 1-4.

• Results in a unique qualitative addition to the quantitative domains of the KidsRights Index

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RESULTS

1. Ranking of countries and clusters: for all domains (1-5) together and for each of the 5 domains separately.

1. It is a very different measure than e.g. basic economic or social indicators.

2. Domain 5 has a large impact on the ranking of states.

3. ‘Rich’ countries do not necessarily rank high and some ‘poor’ countries manage to do relatively well.

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STRIKING RANKINGS

Relatively Highly Ranking States 1. Portugal KRI 1 (HDI 43)2. Thailand KRI 18 (HDI 103) 3. Egypt KRI 43 (HDI 112) Relatively Low Ranking States1. Germany KRI 20 (HDI 5) 2. Canada KRI 60 (HDI 11) 3. Australia KRI 26 (HDI 2) 4. New Zealand KRI 75 (HDI 6)5. Italy KRI 82 (HDI 25)6. Luxemburg KRI 100 (HDI 26)7. Brunei Darussalam KRI 109 (HDI 30)

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STRIKING COUNTRY RESULTS:

calculation example domain 5

• Thailand ranks 18 in the KidsRights Index (while it is 103 in the HDI): positive example

• Italy ranks 82 (while it is 25 in the HDI: negative example

– Specific scores Thailand and Italy on domain environment

 

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FINDINGS

The KidsRights Index draws attention to the fact that:

1.There is a lack of many data about the situation of children, all over the world, for example on child abuse

2.Much more could be done with existing data (through systematic review, analysis and follow-up action)

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USE OF THE INDEX

• Tool to stimulate public opinion and debate on children’s rights

• Tool for governments, civil society and other stakeholders to take action

• Country specific policy recommendations (phase 2)

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AMBITION & NEXT STEP

Ambition: •To develop the KidsRights Index in the coming three years to be a renowned frame of reference for monitoring the status of children’s rights across the world.

Next step•User-conference March 2014