Born Equal - how reducing inequality could give our children a better future

This is the title of a new report from Save the Children, released ahead of a meeting of a high-level UN panel on poverty which takes place in London today. It says that global inequalities in wealth are at their highest level for 20 years and are growing. In some countries, the gulf between the richest and poorest families has increased by up to 179% over the past two decades, and more than twice the numbers of poor children die before the age of five than rich children. While the charity acknowledges progress has been made in goals such as reducing child mortality, the report says this has been uneven across income groups.

Here is an extract from the Executive Summary:

"For example, in Madagascar – which saw a massive
decrease in under-five mortality between the late 90s
and mid-2000s – we found that the gains made in
reducing child mortality had been disproportionately
concentrated in the top wealth quintile. While child
mortality in the richest quintile fell from 142 to
49 per 1,000 live births, the poorest quintile saw
less progress, with a more modest fall from 195 to
101 per 1,000 live births. This story of unequal
progress on child mortality is replicated, beyond
children’s chances to survive, in many other areas –
from nutrition to education – undermining children’s
chances to fulfil their potential."

The report argues that, while progress towards the Millennium Development goals has been significant in many areas, a global target on reductions in inequality would help to galvanise progress. Not only will this safeguard and build upon the progress of recent decades, but it can help to kick-start and sustain economic growth, since inequality and a healthy and inclusive economy are closely related. A summary of the report is found on the charity's website here.

The UN panel meeting today was set up in July by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to advise on the global development agenda beyond 2015, the target date for the Millennium Development Goals, and is co-chaired by David Cameron. It's work "...will reflect new development challenges while also drawing on experience gained in implementing the Millennium Development Goals, both in terms of results achieved and areas for improvement"; this report from The Guardian says a little more about it's work, and hopefully there will be more reports about today's meeting to follow.