UNICEF: The situation of millions of children in dozens of countries is worse than it was 20 years ago
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says in its latest report that 180 million children in 37 countries are more at risk of extreme poverty, lack of access to school, or death from violence than they were 20 years ago. Yemen, Syria, and Iraq are among these countries.
In a report published on Universal Children's Day - November 20, corresponding to November 19 this year - UNICEF says that one in every 12 children lives in a country where the future prospects are much worse than they were 20 years ago.
Tension and war, as well as the poor economic and political situation in 37 countries around the world, are the main factors behind the current situation for 180 million of the 2.2 billion children living in different countries.
The worst setback, at present, belongs to South Sudan, where, according to UNICEF, in the midst of a deadly civil war, the future prospects for children are bleak in all three categories: poverty, lack of education and death from violence.
"Violent deaths" among citizens under 19 have increased in seven countries around the world: Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Ukraine, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
The situation of children in four countries - Syria, Yemen, South Sudan and the Central African Republic - has declined in two categories.
UNICEF says primary school enrollment has declined in 21 countries, including Syria. Issues such as violence and war, economic crisis, and population growth are cited as contributing factors to the decline.
The United Nations and related organizations have previously separately warned about child deaths due to war-related violence, their being kept out of school, as well as hunger, poverty, and epidemics such as cholera in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
The UN refugee agency said in June that Syria's civil war had displaced more than 12 million people by the end of 2016, nearly two-thirds of the country's population. Many of the displaced are children, many of whom are denied access to basic rights, such as education.
UNICEF said in July that more than 1,000 children have been killed in fighting in Iraq since violence escalated in 2014. The agency warned that Iraqi children were trapped in a vicious cycle of violence and increasing poverty, with five million in urgent need of assistance.
The International Committee of the Red Cross says one million Yemeni citizens are exposed to cholera, and the United Nations said in August that eighty percent of children in Yemen are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Source: Radio Farda
