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Sustainable Development Goals for Belgium

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Child well-being Child-related indicators Population overview

Child well-being

UNICEF’S commitment to data for children is guided by the fact that the SDGs impact every aspect of a child’s well-being. Our work is structured around 5 overarching areas of well-being for every child which are grounded in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This human rights-based approach pursues a vision of realizing the rights of every child, especially the most disadvantaged and responds to the call to “leave no child behind”, so that the rights of every child, everywhere, will be fulfilled.

Share of countries assessed on progress towards global SDG targets, averaged across indicators grouped into five dimensions of children’s rights

Survive+thrive Survive+thrive

Learning Learning

Protection Protection

Environment Environment

Fair chance Fair chance

  • No data
  • Insufficient trend data
  • Acceleration needed
  • On track
  • Target met

Child-related SDG indicators

The 2030 Agenda includes 17 Global Goals addressing the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Attached to the Goals are 169 concrete targets measured by 232 specific indicators.

Provided below is a stocktaking of the country’s performance against the 44 child-related SDG indicators, grouping the results into five areas of child wellbeing to provide an overall assessment of child welfare. The countries are assessed using the global targets. They offer a powerful tool for quantifying the scale of the challenge posed by the SDG targets and identifying areas where the most effort is required to reach targets or improve monitoring.

Value
Latest year with data
Progress towards global target
Survive+thrive Survive+thrive
3.2.1 Under-five mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births)
4.2
2020
Target met
3.2.2 Neonatal mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births)
2.4
2020
Target met
3.3.1 (HIV Incidence) – New HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population [Children <5]
–
–
No data
3.3.1 (HIV Incidence) – New HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population [Adolescent GIRLS 15-19]
–
–
No data
3.3.1 (HIV Incidence) – New HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population [Adolescent BOYS 15-19]
–
–
No data
3.1.1 Maternal mortality ratio (deaths per 100,000 live births)
5
2017
Target met
3.1.2 Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel (%)
–
–
No data
3.7.2 Adolescent birth rate per 1,000 women
5.5
2018
Target met
3.8.1 Coverage of essential health services (index)
85
2019
Acceleration needed
2.2.1 Prevalence of stunting among children under 5 (%)
2.3
2020
Target met
2.2.2a Prevalence of wasting among children under 5 (%)
–
–
No data
2.2.2a Prevalence of overweight among children under 5 (%)
5.1
2020
Acceleration needed
3.b.1 Proportion of surviving infants receiving measles-containing-vaccine first-dose (MCV1) (%)
96
2020
Target met
3.b.1 Proportion of surviving infants receiving 3 doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) (%)
97
2020
Target met
Learning Learning
4.2.1 Proportion of children aged 36-59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex (%)
–
–
No data
4.1.1 Proportion of children and young people at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading (%)
78.75
2018
Acceleration needed
4.1.1 Proportion of children and young people at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in mathematics (%)
80.34
2018
Acceleration needed
4.2.2 Participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age) (%)
96.23
2019
Target met
4.a.1 Proportion of schools with access to WASH (%)
100
2019
Insufficient trend data
Protection Protection
8.7.1 Proportion of children aged 5-17 years engaged in child labour (%)
–
–
No data
5.2.1 Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15-19 years subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner (%)
–
–
No data
5.2.2 Proportion of women and girls aged 15-19 years subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner (%)
–
–
No data
5.3.1 Proportion of women aged 20-24 years who were married or in a union before age 18 (%)
0
2019
Target met
5.3.2 Proportion of girls and women aged 15-49 years who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting (%)
–
–
No data
16.2.1 Proportion of children 1-14 years who experienced any physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the past month (%)
–
–
No data
16.2.3 Proportion of young women aged 18-29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18 (%)
–
–
No data
16.2.3 Proportion of young men aged 18-29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18 (%)
–
–
No data
16.9.1 Proportion of children under 5 years of age whose births have been registered with a civil authority (%)
100
2019
Target met
Environment Environment
6.1.1 Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services (%)
99.91
2020
Target met
6.2.1.a Proportion of population using safely managed sanitation services (%)
88.82
2020
Acceleration needed
1.4.1.a Proportion of the population using basic drinking water services (%)
100
2020
Target met
6.2.1.b Proportion of population with a basic handwashing facility with soap and water available on premises (%)
–
–
No data
6.2.1.c Proportion of population practising open defecation (%)
–
–
Target met
Fair chance Fair chance
1.1.1 Children living in households in extreme poverty (%)
–
–
No data
1.2.1 Children living below the national poverty line (%)
–
–
No data
1.2.2 Children living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions (%)
–
–
No data
1.3.1 Proportion of child population covered by social protection floors/systems (%)
100
2016
Target met
  • No data
  • Insufficient trend data
  • Acceleration needed
  • On track
  • Target met

Note: This dashboard uses internationally comparable data from the global databases held on behalf of the international community by UNICEF and other United Nations agencies. While UNICEF is committed to the localization of SDG targets, global rather than national targets are used to gauge progress on the SDG indicators.  To read more about how the trajectories towards the global targets are assessed please read the methodology note.

Population overview

Understanding of a country’s population levels, trends and projections constitutes an essential ingredient in strategic planning, policy development and program implementation for addressing global challenges and emerging issues.

Total population: 11,686,140 (2021 projections)

Age (yrs)
Male
Female
0-4
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75-79
80-84
85-89
90-94
95-99
100+
321,991
304,716
342,521
320,543
350,608
329,625
337,371
319,644
333,453
316,382
363,243
345,739
378,703
369,550
378,827
379,383
380,438
374,444
387,036
370,548
398,592
382,522
405,614
394,955
378,956
380,746
320,294
338,519
270,378
304,868
191,452
232,942
128,506
178,971
82,034
137,283
33,387
71,858
7,476
21,778
403
1,977
10
7.5
5
2.5
0
2.5
5
7.5
10
Share of total population (%)

Source: United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects 2019

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