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Current Debate

Placing children and adolescents at the centre of the Sustainable Development Goals will deliver for current and future generations

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Article: 1670015 | Received 01 Aug 2019, Accepted 11 Sep 2019, Published online: 07 Oct 2019
 

ABSTRACT

Child health is taking the back seat in development strategies. In summarising a newly released collaborative report, this paper calls for a novel conceptual model where child health takes centre stage in relation to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. It lays out five principles by which renewed effort and focus would yield the most benefit for children and adolescents. These include: re-defining global child health in the post-2015 era by placing children and adolescents at the centre of the Sustainable Development Goals; striving for equity; realising the rights of the child to thrive throughout the life-course; facilitating evidence informed policy-making and implementation; and capitalising on interlinkages within the SDGs to galvanise multisectoral action. These five principles offer models that together have the potential of improving design, return and quality of global child health programs while re-energising the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Responsible Editor Stig Wall, Umeå University, Sweden.

Responsible Editor Stig Wall, Umeå University, Sweden.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all colleagues who have participated in the process of developing the SIGHT – Swedish Society of Medicine Road Map on Global Child Health; Placing children at the center of the Sustainable Development Report.

Author contributions

All authors were part of the writing group that developed and wrote the road map that the manuscript is based on. TA and JD drafted the first version of the manuscript. All authors have after that reviewed and critically contributed to the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics and consent

Not applicable.

Paper context

The holistic framework enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals provides the opportunity for understanding and appreciating the interlinked nature of the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents. In order to realise this opportunity, a new bold conceptual framework coupled with an equity and life-course focus that can bridge the implementation gap is necessary. This paper provides the foundation for a revitalised discussion on child and adolescent health in the 21st century.

Additional information

Funding

None.