“Yes, the impact of the financial crisis is here and there will be even more [consequences] from it,” the head of UNICEF's West Africa regional office, Gianfranco Rotigliano, told IRIN. “But keeping poverty under control is a way to avoid social [upheavals].” He told IRIN the temptation governments may face to cut public spending could be detrimental to children.
But it is not always apparent how much public spending goes toward children, Rotigliano added. “It is always difficult to trace public spending on children. It is highly bureaucratic. But the main focus and challenge is how to involve more local government actors to protect spending for children and health.”
