Country economic reporting will emphasize trends in the achievements of children, much as the United Nations Development Programme does by designating the under-five child mortality rate as the most sensitive indicator of equitable economic and social development. Subregional cooperation is necessary in South Asia and Central Asia, the areas posing the greatest challenges, to promote the development of children. Solutions applied systematically in several countries with close cultural and political ties make sense. ADB will support subregional cooperation for child development. Millions of children in Asia and the Pacific provide sad and silent testimony to the fact that economic development does not by itself reduce poverty.
Children have to be put at the top of the human development agenda.
The cost of helping children reach their potential is not small, but the cost of not helping them is far greater. Develop a child, develop a nation.