SINGAPORE: Singapore is the joint-best country in the world – along with Slovenia – for children to grow up in, according to a report published by non-governmental organisation Save the Children.
The report on 175 countries saw Singapore faring well across the eight indicators: Under-five mortality rate, child stunting, out-of-school children and youth, child labour, child marriage, adolescent birth rate, population displaced by conflict, and child homicide rate.
Singapore scored 987 points out of a possible 1,000 in the report’s End of Childhood Index, and performed particularly well in areas such as adolescent birth rate, with only 3.8 births per 1,000 girls aged 15-19, as compared to the world’s average at 50.4.
Singapore, which finished in top spot ahead of European countries such as Norway, Sweden and Finland, also scored higher than the world’s average for under-five mortality rate.
This is a significant jump in rankings from last year, when Singapore was ranked 33rd. However, Save the Children clarified that there were some inconsistencies with the data sources used in its inaugural report in 2017. Their methodology has since been rectified for greater accuracy, said the NGO.
Three Asian countries made it into the top 20, with South Korea, and Japan ranked eighth and 19th respectively. China was the next highest ranked Asian country at 40th, while Malaysia was the second highest ranked in South-east Asia at 67th.
“This is a stunning result for Singapore, where children enjoy some of the healthiest childhoods possible,” said Hassan Noor Saadi, Save the Children’s Asia Regional Director.
“Singapore is a great place for children to grow up with good access to high quality education and medical care services, while also being one of the safest countries in the world. Threats to childhood that plague other countries – like early marriage, poor access to education and war – simply don’t exist in Singapore, or at extremely low levels.” – TODAY ONLINE
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