Economic Crisis and Children An Overview for East Asia and the Pacific

The global economic downturn is impacting countries in East Asia and the Pacific, threatening to reverse progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially with regards to children's health, education, and overall development. Of concern are potential adverse affects on children vis-a-vis poor health indicators, lower educational attainment, increased child labor, and reduced family incomes. How governments respond is vital to ensuring that the crisis does not lead to long-term consequences for children and vulnerable populations. Badly designed policies or those that are slow to materialize can be destabilizing and detrimental to the populations they aim to protect. Social safety nets and increased expenditures for social services, particularly in health and education, are important for protecting the poor. UNICEF, along with other UN agencies, is working with governments to monitor the impacts of the crisis and to harmonize and implement pro-poor social policies that protect vulnerable populations from current and future crises.