Cuba: Safest Country in Latin America to Be a Child and an Adolescent
Telesur | Thursday, 18 July 2019 | Click here for original article
The annual Save the Children report evaluates 176 countries using international indicators on infant mortality, access to education, nutrition, protection against harmful practices, such as child labour, child marriage, homicides and forced displacement.
According to the new global report by Save the Children, today's children and adolescents are more likely to grow up healthy, to be educated and protected.
The results of the report "Building a better life with children", published by Save the Children in its centenary year show that at least 280 million children are more likely to grow up healthy, receive education and be protected than in any other time in the last two decades.
This annual report evaluates 176 countries using international indicators on infant mortality, access to education, nutrition, protection against harmful practices, such as child labor, child marriage, homicides and forced displacement.
In the global ranking, the country from Latin America and the Caribbean with the best performance is Cuba, followed by Chile and Barbados.
The country with the worst performance in the region for the third consecutive year is Guatemala. It is the only country in the region that is among the last 30 in the ranking. The next country with the lowest yield is Honduras, which is the 40th most recent. Venezuela, Haiti and El Salvador complete the lower part of the region.
Nancy Ramírez, Director of Advocacy for Save the Children, said that in the last 20 years important progress has been made in favour of children and adolescents, however, we have violence as the main violation of their rights.
This scourge continues to be one of the main causes of death of children in Latin America and the Caribbean, where 70 deaths occur every day, warning:
"Since 2000, homicide rates for boys and girls have increased by 8 percent in the region," said Ramírez.
