On 15th February, UK Youth spokesperson Laura McVeigh appeared on GMTV Newshour and commented on the UNICEF report on children's wellbeing.
The UNICEF ‘report card’ suggests that Britain’s children and young people are worse off when it comes to life chances, risk behaviours, and education - and the UK is doing little to address this. UK Youth believes that more action needs to be taken to counter many of the shocking findings of this report.
The UK is in the bottom third for five out of the six well-being categories in the UNICEF report. In the risk behaviours category, which included drug and alcohol abuse; bullying; violence; and sexual behaviour, the UK was at rock bottom – trailing behind countries with a lower GDP per capita.
UK Youth believes that young people must be given the opportunities and necessary support to realise their potential, and become fulfilled and healthy adults. We can improve young people’s well being and life chances via non-formal education by providing them with youth support networks and chances to develop essential personal and social skills.
GMTV Newshour: http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=37
UNICEF Report: http://www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/
