Over 330mln children still living in extreme poverty: UN report

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
13 Sep 2023 08:59

A UNICEF and World Bank report reveals how the pandemic disrupts efforts to eradicate child poverty, posing new challenges to global goals.

Schoolchildren from Ankileisoke Primary School eat lunch, offered by the World Food Programme's Under-Nutrition Prevention Programme, in the Amboasary-South district of southern Madagascar, on December 14, 2018. (AFP)

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the fight against child poverty, causing a substantial slowdown in its eradication, as per a report released on Wednesday.

The study, jointly published by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank, indicates that the pandemic resulted in a reduction of extreme poverty for 30 million fewer children compared to previous predictions.

This means that approximately one out of six children still lives on a daily income of less than $2.15, according to the report.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell commented on the situation, stating, "Compounding crises, from the impacts of COVID-19, conflict, climate change, and economic shocks, have stalled progress, and left millions of children in extreme poverty."

These findings pose a significant challenge to the United Nations' ambitious target of eradicating extreme child poverty by 2030.

The world today hosts 333 million children who live in extreme poverty. These children do not have access to basic needs but "also dignity, opportunity or hope," remarked World Bank Global Director for Poverty and Equity, Luis-Felipe Lopez-Calva.

The report also shows that the highest percentage of children living in extreme poverty, around 40 percent, can be found in sub-Saharan Africa. Several factors, including rapid population growth, the impact of COVID-19, and climate-related disasters, have made the issue worse for the region while other regions have seen a decline in extreme poverty.

The World Bank and UNICEF have urged nations to prioritize combating child poverty and to implement various measures, including the expansion of universal child benefit programs.

"We cannot fail these children now. Ending child poverty is a policy choice," said Russell from UNICEF.