UNICEF, in collaboration with the Council for the Welfare of Children, the National  Economic and Development Authority, and the Philippine Statistics Authority today launched a new generation  of situation analysis on children to promote evidence-based decision making.  

The Situation of Children of the Philippines analyzes six main dimensions  and 25 subdimensions of children’s rights, including health and nutrition, education, protection, safe and  sustainable environment, child poverty and social protection, civil and participation rights.  

“Every child counts. Understanding the situation of children is essential to prioritize, design and monitor  policies and actions that effectively support the realization of children’s rights. When the right data and  evidence are in the right hands at the right time, decisions can be better informed, more equitable, and more  likely to protect children’s rights,” said UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov.  

UNICEF is the world’s leading source of data on children used by over three million people globally. In the  Philippines, UNICEF works to ensure that every child is accounted for, and their needs are understood through  strengthening key administrative data systems, census, and surveys; improving data governance; supporting  better analysis, dissemination, and use of data on children; digitalization; and conducting research on  children. 

The Philippines has a wealth of data about children, relatively more expansive than many countries. However,  there are still key gaps and issues in terms of granularity, periodicity and timeliness, accessibility, reliability,  and consistency. UNICEF calls on the government to provide better strategic solutions and more investments  for more sustained development of data for children. 

For example, despite the Philippines being considered the global epicenter of online sexual abuse and  exploitation and child exploitation materials, there is not enough data on this egregious child right’s violation. 

Other key data gaps exist in the areas of disaster risk preparedness, planning, and response monitoring;  climate change impacts on children; social protection and public financing for children; children with  disabilities; early childhood education; children’s civil rights and participation; and richer local-level data on  children in the provincial, municipal/city, and barangay (village) levels. 

By launching the platform, UNICEF hopes to engage stakeholders through the virtual platform in discussing  evolving evidence needs and gaps, as well as advocate for strengthening evidence-based decision making.  

The data portal features over 80 key indicators and around 500 data visualizations based on data dating back  to 1989 and up to 2023, with subnational breakdowns for certain indicator. 

For each subdimension, the site offers a comprehensive analysis and visualization of data, including key  progress, indicators, child rights, equity and risk, legislation, policy, bottlenecks, and relevant publications. A  section covers cross-sectoral issues such as gender, disability, early childhood, and adolescents. It is  periodically updated, allowing government agencies, development partners, and other child rights  organizations to be responsive in their evidence-based policies and programming for children. 

The platform also features ‘The Longitudinal Cohort Study of Filipino Children’, tracking the lives of a  nationally representative sample of 5,000 children, along with their households and communities. Beginning in  2016 with the children at age 10, the study will continue until 2030, when they turn 24. This unique 15-year  study is a partnership with the Philippine Government, the Australian Government, United Nations Population  Fund or UNFPA and UNICEF. 

Users are encouraged to explore the platform, share it with their networks, and use the insights provided to  drive impactful change for the lives of children. The site will benefit from contributions from researchers and  child rights actors that can help strengthen the understanding of the situation of children in the Philippines.