UNICEF named a horrifying number of children living below the poverty line

About 417 million children worldwide live in poverty. Lack of resources, wars, and climate change threaten access to basic services. Progress in combating this phenomenon has stalled.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to rg.ru, this is stated in the annual report of the UN Children's Fund UNICEF.

Education, healthcare, housing situation, nutrition, sanitation, and water supply - these six categories are used for assessment. The analysis shows that 118 million children face three or more deprivations, and 17 million face four or more.

For example, the lack of access to safe drinking water, preventive healthcare, and education pushes millions of children around the world into poverty. This means that more than one in five children in low and middle-income countries live in adverse conditions.

The highest rates of multidimensional poverty among children are observed in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. For example, in Chad, 64% of children face two or more serious deprivations, and just under 25% face three or more.

Sanitation is the most common and serious type of deprivation. In low-income countries, 65% of children do not have access to toilets, 26% in lower-middle-income countries, and 11% in upper-middle-income countries. The lack of proper sanitation can increase children's susceptibility to diseases.

It is also noted that the proportion of children facing one or more serious deprivations in low and middle-income countries decreased from 51% in 2013 to 41% in 2023, mainly due to the prioritization of children's rights in national policies and economic planning. However, progress is slowing down. Conflicts, climate and environmental crises, demographic shifts, growing public debt, and the technological gap exacerbate poverty.

According to Blick magazine, in prosperous Switzerland, about 340,000 children live in poverty. This roughly corresponds to the total number of residents in the canton of Valais. Child poverty in the country is steadily growing. The situation has even worsened recently. These children have fewer educational opportunities. They often experience deteriorating well-being, physical and mental health, and a decreased sense of security.