Pro-equity social policies for Children in China

------ through the view of Poverty Alleviation and Development

Tan Weiping PH.DDeputy Director General

Department of International Cooperation and Social Mobilization

State Council Leading Group Office for Poverty Alleviation and Development (LGOP), P.R. China

Tel: + 86 10 84419687, + 86 13910803163

E-mail: tanweiping@cpad.gov.cn, tanwp@vip.sina.com

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LGOP1 Institutional function of LGOP

2 China’s success on poverty reduction

3 Factors behind China’s success poverty reduction story

4 Challenges faced by China’s poverty reduction

5 The student nutrition meal plan

6 Early childhood development in poor areas7 Problems and challenges

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1 Institutional function of The State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation a

nd Development （ 1） The State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alle

viation and Development

Founded:16th May 1986

Member: Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Civil Affairs, and Ministry of Health, and other 27 government ministries

Institutional function: Consulting and coordinating body for the State Council

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State Council Leading Group

Ministry of Finance

LGOP

Structural Map of LGOP

Team Leader: Vice Premier Mr. HUI Liangyu

National Development and Reform Commission

Ministry of Science and Technology

National Bureau of Statistics 27 other ministries

Ministry of Education

Ministry of Agriculture

People’s Bank of China

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（ 2） LGOP (The State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development )

Function: Executive Agency for the State Council Leading Group

Task: propose policy plan and recommendation, allocation plan for poverty reduction fund, mobilize works for poverty reduction, guide local poverty reduction efforts, undertake routine work assigned by the State Council

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Organizational Chart for Government Departments on Poverty Reduction on Different Levels

The State Council Leading Group

Provincial (Autonomous Region) leading group

Prefecture leading group

County leading group

LGOP

Provincial (Autonomous Region) LGOP

Provincial (Autonomous Region) LGOP

County LGOP

Township poverty reduction focal point

LGOP

Leadership

Guidance and Coordination

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2 China’s Success on Poverty Reduction

Through the 33 years after the reform, poverty reduction in China achieved world renowned success

（1）Poor Population substantially reduced

（2）Rural household income keeps increasing

（3）Infrastructure improved greatly

（4）Social development continues to grow

（5）Regional economy accelerates pace of development

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LGOP

Poor Population substantially reduced

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

absol utepovertyl oweri ncome

Population

（ 10,000 persons ）

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Dropping number of absolute poor and poverty incidence

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

1978

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Number of absol utepoorAbsol ute povertyi nci dence

Number of absolute poor （ 10,000 persons ）

Absolute poverty incidence

（ % ）

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Poverty incidence in China

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2001 2005 2007

Amount of poor population under different poverty lines

$ 1.25 International poverty line

$ 1.08 poverty line

Poverty line set by the Chinese government

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0500

100015002000250030003500400045005000

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

nati onalaveragel evel

nati onal l yfocusedpovertycounty

（ Yuan ）

Rural household income keeps increasing in the nationally focused poverty county

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84. 4%

96. 8%87. 5%

92. 9%83. 7%

52. 4%

92. 8%

72. 2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

Road access El ectri ci ty Tel ephone Tel evi si on andradi o

20022008

Rural infrastructure dramatically improved

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7.38%

9.86%

10.18%

9.58%

55.20%

77.40%

77.40%

73.70%

kinder gardenand pre-school

education

rural medicalfacilities

qualified ruraldoctors and

sanitary staff

qualified midwife

20082002

3838

3. Main methods for development based poverty reduction

Government initiativeSocial participationSelf relianceDevelopment based poverty reduction approachScientific development

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　 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

fund of central government (including funds for employment as aids)

106 114 122 130 137 144 167.34

Interest subsidized loans for poverty reduction

185 185 185 90 142 124 141

Local cost sharing 33.4 35.4 44.2 46.1 55.7 65.6 49.24

Foreign investment 8.49 15.35 10.06 2.28 2.03 1.44 1.59

Total (unit:100 million Yuan)

332.89 349.75 361.26 268.38 336.73 335.04 359.17

Yearly investment on poverty reduction

4646

Return to poverty manifest

Chinese poor areas are 5 times more prone to disaster damage than the national average level Among the 40.07 million Chinese poor population, two thirds on the verge of returning to poverty Return to poverty is more manifest now than ever

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Income gap increases

The student nutrition meal planFrom the beginning with the fall 2010 semester, the central and local governments have improved the rural school meal subsidies standards, rural boarding students from the primary school living allowance 2 yuan (Chinese money) per person per day increased to 3 yuan RMB per person per day, junior high school students from 3 yuan to 4 yuan per person per day. The central finance for special expenditures have reached 7.4 billion yuan, local form a complete set also reached 7.4 billion yuan. Therefore, subsidy funds have exceeded 14 billion yuan. The grant funds are mainly used for boarding school meals.In 2011, Chinese State Council decided to carry out the pilot plan in minority areas and poor areas to improve student nutrition meal. The first batch in Ningxia autonomous region, about 31 rural communities in 11 counties was the pilot implementation of "feeding" plan. On October 26, 2011, the State Council's executive meeting decided from 2011 autumn semester beginning, starting the implementation of compulsory education student nutrition improvement program in the countryside. In the concentrated special difficult areas, about 680 counties, approximately 26 million students have been improved nutrition meal allowance, while boarding pupils subsidies reaching to 4 yuan per person per day and middle school students to 5 yuan per day.This subsidy policy has obviously effected to promote school meals, the nutrition situation and physical quality of students. 66

Main measures --- the student nutrition meal plan

Establishment of canteen: Boarding school lasting 5 days per week, the canteen is the essential facility for students eating supply

The subsidy funds directly to the school, but not to the parents of the students.Governments at all levels have increased the budget for boarding pupils feeding.Establish a supervision mechanism, to ensure the funds securely and effectively use. 67

Early childhood development in poor areas

China launched pilot program in 2009 September and 2011 April (in Qinghai Ledu, Yunnan Xundian): The pilot project includes two parts: nutrition intervention and early education, specifically in three stages, according to the different crowd

Maternal nutritional supplements and" mother " school training. For pregnant women to provide free multiple micronutrient nutrition and health examination. In township hospitals and village clinics set up "the mother school", for pregnant women and mothers of infants on nutrition knowledge training.

Infant nutrition intervention: soybean meal " nutrition package" – contains aggrandizement of iron, zinc, calcium, vitamins and other11 kinds of nutrients for infant food supplements

Early childhood education (3 to 5 years old): recruitment of teachers and volunteers, provides convenient access for children in remote villages.

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Problems and challenges

Children affected by migration. including the 27 million children who have moved to cities with their migrant worker parents, but lack urban residence status and access to basic social services; and the 55 million children of migrant parents left behind in rural areas, often under inadequate care conditions.

Children living in poor, rural and remote communities. China’s huge population of 1.33 billion people means that it still has over 100 million children who are poor, as estimated by UNICEF using the World Bank’s poverty measure of per capita consumption under US $2 per day. China continues to rank fifth in the world for number of deaths of children under the age of five (347,000 in 2009). The under-five mortality rate in rural areas is around three times that in urban or coastal areas, due to poorer access to quality health services and financial means. Access to education, clean water and sanitation also lag in these areas.

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Children affected by disasters. China is prone to a range of natural disasters, with roughly 200 million people affected each year. The impact of these disasters tends to be greatest on the poorest and most vulnerable, as witnessed in 2010 in the Yushu earthquake, Zhouqu mudslide and southwestern China drought emergencies, all of which struck poor areas where development indicators lagged behind national averages, even before the emergency. The Yushu earthquake and southwestern China drought also struck areas with large ethnic minority populations.

Children and women affected by HIV/AIDS. Women increasingly make up a greater proportion of people living with HIV/AIDS, from 15% in 1998 to 30% of the estimated 740,000 people living with HIV in China in 2009. Only 22.4% of the estimated HIV-positive pregnant women have access to PMTCT services.

Other vulnerable children include street children, unaccompanied children, working children and children with disabilities.

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