From theory to action: Implementing the WSSD Global Initiative on children's environmental health indicators
Looking ahead
Indicators by themselves are not a solution to the environmental health risks children around the world face in their everyday lives. They do, however, provide invaluable information to policy-makers and others whose decisions determine the state of the environment and its potential effects on health. Children's environmental health indicators are a powerful tool to prioritize action and to monitor the effectiveness of interventions as well as to identify geographical hotspots and particularly vulnerable populations. Children's environmental health indicators can also constitute the basis for economic analyses to help policy-makers examine the costs and benefits of policies aimed at reducing environmental impacts on children's health12.
Many countries have responded with enthusiasm to the creation and implementation of the Global Initiative on Children's Environmental Health Indicators. Regional indicator pilots provide a stepping stone for the development of policies and programmes to improve children's environmental health. In practice, many of the ongoing efforts on indicators are already closely coupled with broader activities to improve children's environmental health.