Innocenti Report Card 17- Places and Spaces: Environments and children's well-being
UNICEF Innocenti's Report Card 17 explores how 43 OECD/EU countries are faring in providing healthy environments for children. Beyond children’s immediate environments, over-consumption in some of the world’s richest countries is destroying children’s environments globally. This threatens both children worldwide and future generations. To provide all children with safe and healthy environments, governments, policymakers, businesses and all stakeholders are called to act on a set of policy recommendations. Children’s well-being and development are directly and tangibly affected by their interface with the environments around them. 'The world of the child' presents evidence on those pathways – considering children’s consumption of air, water and food, and their exposure to heat/cold, light, noise and hazardous substances. Many children are breathing toxic air both outside and inside their homes. Colombia (3.7) and Mexico (3.7) have the highest number of years of healthy life lost (per 1,000 children under 15) due to air pollution, while Japan (0.2) and Finland (0.2) have the lowest. Safe water, sanitation and handwashing facilities are still not fully implemented in 13 countries. Most years of healthy life lost are in Colombia (2.3 years lost per 1,000 children), Mexico (2.2) and Turkey (1.9). In the world’s richest countries, 1 in 25 children is poisoned by lead, a toxicant responsible for more deaths than malaria, war and terrorism, or natural disasters. 