730 million children in the world don't know what childhood is.

The charity Save the Children has released an unprecedented report. According to the organization, 730 million children worldwide have had their childhood stolen from them. Iran ranks 80th on the list of stolen children.

Many people, as adults, recall happy childhood memories and long for those carefree days full of laughter and play.

They say that everything that happens from birth to puberty will shape a person's future personality, and feelings of security, anxiety, happiness, self-confidence, or personality knots all have their roots in a person's childhood.

But for 5-year-old Sanya from India, 13-year-old Maria from Rio de Janeiro, or 12-year-old Omar from Syria, childhood means nothing. Sanya collects garbage in New Delhi's dumpsters, Maria was killed in a shootout with police and drug gangs, and Omar is the sole breadwinner after his father was killed in the Syrian war and his brother went to war.

These are just three examples of the 730 million children whose childhoods have been stolen, according to the charity Save the Children. In a report released on May 31, the organisation cited war and violence, early marriage and pregnancy, forced labour, poor health and lack of educational opportunities as the main reasons for this situation, writing that a quarter of the world’s children have had their childhoods stolen.

This report was published on the eve of the celebration of Universal Children's Day in some countries (June 1).

The situation of Iranian children

To prepare this report, the organization's clients examined the living conditions of children in 172 countries. The results of their research showed that children living in West and Central Africa face the greatest threat.

Niger, Angola, Mali, the Central African Republic and Somalia are the countries that are at the bottom of the list.

Norwegian, Slovenian, Finnish, Dutch and Swedish children, on the other hand, experience the most peaceful childhoods. German children are in 10th place on the list and Iranian children are in 80th place.

Countries such as Cuba, Türkiye, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Trinidad and Tobago are ranked higher than Iran.

The situation of children in Arab countries such as Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan is also reported to be better than in Iran.

Among Arab countries, Qatar ranks 34th, higher than other Arab countries on this list.

Statistics at a glance

Important statistics that Save the Children mentioned in its report titled "A Stolen Child":

• About 16,000 children under the age of five die every day.

• More than 260 million children are deprived of education.

• Approximately 170 million children are forced into forced labor, of which 80 million work in hazardous conditions.

• 26% of children under five die from septicemia (blood poisoning) at birth, meningitis/encephalitis, HIV/AIDS, measles, whooping cough, and tetanus. These are the leading causes of infant mortality in this age group.

• About 156 million children in the world face both physical and psychological stunting due to malnutrition.

• Nearly one in 80 children is displaced due to war and violence.

• Every 7 seconds, one in 15 girls is forced into marriage.

• Every two seconds, a girl becomes a mother.

Stolen childhoods, babies of child victims

According to Bijan Neshat, head of the organization's branch in Germany, by the time you finish reading this sentence, several little girls around the world will have given birth; babies from whom "everything that makes up a human childhood will be stolen."

This is the first time a report of this kind has been published in the world. Save the Children plans to update the report annually.

This report uses information from the World Health Organization, the World Bank, government information, as well as numerous United Nations relief programs.

Bijan Neshat considers it unacceptable that in 2017, a quarter of the world's children still do not have the right to learn, be safe, or play. He says that with targeted planning and investment in children's health and well-being, there is hope that the situation will change.

The top ten positions on the list are as follows:

Norway and Slovenia (with similar scores), Finland, Netherlands and Sweden (similar scores), Portugal, Ireland, Iceland/Italy/Belgium/Cyprus/Germany and South Korea (similar scores)

The final ten positions on the list from the bottom:

Niger, Angola, Mali, Central African Republic, Somalia, Chad, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Guinea (same score)

Source: DW