Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on Children in East Asia and the Pacific

The impact of the global food, fuel and economic crises on the East Asia and the Pacific has been swift and severe. The lack of uniformity between countries in this region has meant that each has been affected in varying degrees by the different crises. Middle income and export oriented countries like Malaysia and Thailand are most hurt by the economic crisis whereas the impact of the food price crisis has arguably been greater in Low-Income Countries like Cambodia and Lao PDR. Countries like DPRK and Myanmar face their own unique set of challenges and PNG and the Pacific Island Countries are more affected by the fuel crises and the indirect impact of the economic crisis. But regardless of which crisis has affected each individual country the most, the cumulative impact of all crises has been immense in the region. As purchasing power of the poor and vulnerable has been further squeezed by these exogenous shocks, they are also taking an alarming social toll. Effects on the mental and physical development of children may be permanent and could stall or reverse years of progress towards the achievement of a number of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Governments across the region have been quick to act on many of the threats posed by the multiple crises, especially the global economic crisis. At least eight countries have implemented fiscal measures to counter the effects of the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression. These measures can be differentiated by their focus on a number of things: the sheer size of the packages, the share devoted to tax cuts versus expenditure increases (including social spending), their provision for public versus private financing, and the time span for their implementation. In a region where the concept of social protection as a responsibility of the state is relatively new, it is important to analyze how much the stimuli programs are targeted at spending on health, education and other social sectors or not. A number of governments have revised their packages to devote a considerably larger amount towards social expenditure, as in the case of China. However some packages are still very infrastructure and tax cut oriented. While large infrastructure projects do aid economic recovery, spending on infrastructure and capacity of the social sectors is more effective in averting the human dimension of the crisis. UNICEF has played a key role in supporting and strengthening government responses to the crises. Moreover, UNICEF in East Asia and the Pacific Region (EAPR) has been at the forefront of UNICEF‟s efforts worldwide. The EAPR Regional Office (EAPRO) and the Country Offices (COs) have been active in persuading governments to adopt measures to minimize the social impacts of the triple threats. They have done so in a number of ways: by assisting governments to monitor the impact of the crises in real-time; producing high-quality situation analyses and studies detailing the actual and potential impact of the crises on poor women and children; engaging in UNCT discussions to put children at the forefront of the agenda in unified UN responses to the crises; organizing national workshops and conferences that put a spotlight on the unique ways in which children are (often permanently) affected by worsening health and nutrition outcomes, reduced educational attainment and deteriorating child protection outcomes; and helping governments develop capacity to analyze and introduce or maintain effective social safety nets and social expenditure in response.download