Understanding child poverty in South-Eastern Europe

the region, income poverty faced by children has declined and access to basic social services has been maintained at good levels, in some cases improved compared with the most difficult period of the transi-tion. These critical indications of progress suggest a continuous opportunity for advancing children’s devel-opment and improving their living conditions. Nonetheless, the Innocenti Social Monitor 2006 shows that the enjoyment of human rights remains severely compromised for some groups of children. An estimat-ed 18 million children under 15 years of age live in extreme income poverty in the region. Child poverty declined in almost all the countries since 1998, but at a lower pace than adults and in the context of a sharp decline in the child population of the region. Moreover, disparities in child well-being have increased and poverty is now more concentrated in specific groups facing greater risks: children in large or non-nuclear families, children living in institutions, in rural areas and disadvantaged regions, and children belonging to ethnic minorities. It is also among these vulnerable groups that improvements in health indicators have been slow, and enrollment in pre-school and higher sec-ondary education are lagging behind. To address these challenges and break the inter-gener-ational transmission of poverty, the Innocenti Social Monitor 2006 calls for child centered policy approaches and the allocation of adequate resources. Guided by the human rights principles of universality, accountability and monitoring of progress, it places a strong emphasis on actions targeting the most vulner