Topic: Protecting Children: a comparative analysis of 175 countries and 50 US states
Abstract:
Beryl Levinger is the research co-director of Save the Children’s End of Childhood Annual Report. The Report includes the “End of Childhood Index,” a comparative look at how well 175 countries do in protecting children from eight “childhood enders.” These enders are: under-5 child mortality; malnutrition; early marriage; early parenthood; exposure to violence;, displacement due to conflict; early entry into the labor force; and premature withdrawal from school.This year’s Index reveals that many countries have made progress for children since last year; in some countries, unfortunately, conditions have grown significantly worse. The report also examined the special challenges faced by girls, children living in conflict-torn zones, and children living in poverty. A separate “complementary” report compared the 50 US states’ performance with respect to an adapted set of childhood enders. The US report shed light on heretofore unexplored facets of poverty in rural America. The Forum presentation will highlight key findings from the two reports, some of the methodological challenges inherent in this type of comparative research, and how the research is informing global advocacy on behalf of the world’s children.
Biography:
Beryl Levinger began her international development career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Colombia. Since that time, she has worked on six continents and in more than 50 countries. Prior to coming to MIIS, Dr. Levinger held executive positions with Save the Children, CARE, and AFS Intercultural programs. Her consulting clients include a mix of intergovernmental organizations (e.g., UNHCR, the World Bank, the World Food Programme, the InterAmerican Development Bank); international NGOs (e.g., the Red Cross, Save the Children, Grameen Foundation, Project Concern International); and the U.S. government.
Dr. Levinger is passionate about innovation. Among the breakthrough ideas she has helped to shape over the course of her career are the highly acclaimed New School (Escuela Nueva) movement; InterAction, a major consortium of international development organizations; the national Peace Corps (Coverdell) Fellows program in 1983; Save the Children’s State of the World’s Mothers annual reports; and, more recently, the launch of Save the Children’s new annual index of “childhood enders”– events that rob children of their childhoods. She has also co-authored many widely used organizational capacity assessment tools. At MIIS, Dr. Levinger, working closely with Institute colleagues, has pioneered a number of pedagogical innovations including the Program in Design, Partnering, Management, and Innovation (DPMI), a hands-on intensive program in development practice.