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: “Progress For Children: A Report Card on Adolescents,” No. 10, UNICEF, April 2012.

http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Progress_for_Children_-_No._10_EN_04232012.pdf

The UN defines an adolescent as children between the ages of 10 and 19, about 1.2 billion of them, nearly one-fifth of the world’s population. More than half live in Asia. The number of adolescents will increase slightly through 2050, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The UN defines an adolescent as children between the ages of 10 and 19, about 1.2 billion of them, nearly one-fifth of the world’s population. More than half live in Asia. The number of adolescents will increase slightly through 2050, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Education

About 127 million youth ages 15 to 24 are illiterate, most of them in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The literacy rate is 86% for girls aged 15 to 24 and 92% for boys. P. 16 In the least developed countries a third of girls and a quarter of boys can’t read and some of them have completed primary school. Secondary school enrollment remains low in developing countries; globally, 60% of secondary-school aged children are enrolled. In Sub-Saharan Africa and the least developed countries, less than one-third of teens are in school—more boys than girls. However, more girls are in secondary school than boys in Latin America and he Caribbean.

In the developing countries, 28% of girls and 17% of boys aged 15 to 19 don’t watch TV, listen to the radio or read a newspaper on a weekly basis. For those who have access to media, TV is the most common form. Urban dwellers and teens in school are most likely to use the Internet.

In developing nations unemployment rates are higher among better-educated youth because of lack of jobs in the formal sector. P. 23

 Health

An estimated 2.2 million adolescents are infected with HIV, about 60% of them are girls and 1.8 million are in Sub-Saharan Africa. P. 23. Many don’t know they have the virus. Partly for this reason, mortality declined less than it did for children under age 10 between 1955 and 2004.

Other reasons for premature deaths are injuries, violence, drug use, and complications during pregnancy or childbirth. The highest proportion of teen births are in Latin American and Sub-Saharan Africa. The only industrialized country with a high rate of adolescent birth is the US. In Africa, childbirth is the leading killer of teen girls, while car accidents a leading cause of death in developed countries.

Each year an estimated 20% of adolescents face a mental health problem such as depression. However, in most developing countries few mental health services are available. Suicide is a leading cause of death, especially among the countries of the former USSR. P. 19

Nearly one in every four adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 in the developing world (excluding China) is married, compared to only 5% of boys in these regions.

Violence

A large percent of teen girls have experienced sexual violence, about 150 million girls and 73 million boys in 2002, the last year when World Health Organization data was available. P. 31

Urban areas have higher rates of violence than rural areas and may be the home to gang violence, especially in Latin America. The average age for entry into gangs is 13.

Nearly 50% of girls and women aged 15 to 49 in developed nations think that wife beating are justified under some circumstances. P. 32

Many adolescents—especially boys, report they’ve been involved in physical fights, including over half of boys in Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Morocco, and Botswana. Many report they’ve been the victims of bullying, both boys and girls.

2012: “Progress For Children: A Report Card on Adolescents,” No. 10, UNICEF, April 2012.

http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Progress_for_Children_-_No._10_EN_04232012.pdf

 

UNICEF Report on Adolescents, 2012

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