demonstrated their practical willingness. But the partnerships with
donors and the donor commitments required for the package never
came operationally together.
The third link was directly with economic growth. Analysis in the
Human Development Report of 1996 showed that it was possible
to sustain and even to advance human development in situations of
stagnant or declining economic growth. But unless economic
growth could be resumed within a decade or so, the advance in
human development would begin to slow or even fall back. This is
an important point to emphasize, especially in sub-Saharan Africa
and some other least developed countries, where conventional
remedies for restoring growth have failed for two and sometimes
three decades.
Renewed commitment to economic policy work in the context
of children’s rights
In recent years, an Economic Policy Unit has been created in
UNICEF, led by committed staff such as Jan Vandemoortele, Saad
Houry and Richard Morgan. A strategic meeting was first held in
Pratolino (Italy) in 2004, where the main areas of UNICEF
economic policy work were identified to become part of UNICEF’s
Medium Term Strategic Framework, namely, multidimensional
child poverty and inequalities, public budgets for children, social
protection, among others, overall ensuring that national
development strategies respond to children. These areas were
approved by UNICEF Board, which fully supports UNICEF to
strengthen the capacities of States and societies to design and
implement social and economic policies, legislative measures and
budgetary allocations that enable them to meet their obligations
under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW).
The pool of economists expanded in UNICEF. Apart from the
policy team in headquarters, economists were recruited in country
offices and regional centers. Building on its field experience and in
alliance with other United Nations agencies, UNICEF has been
collaborating with partners to stimulate dialogue around