Over 473M children lived in conflict-affected areas in 2023: UNICEF

Published January 13,2025

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A brand new UNICEF report on Monday stated that greater than 473 million youngsters lived in conflict-affected areas in 2023 and that the quantity doubtless rose in 2024.

“Children’s lives, rights and well-being are increasingly under threat in conflict. Over 473 million children-more than one in six globally-lived in areas affected by conflict in 2023, a number that is likely to have risen in 2024,” stated the report, which included predictions in regards to the challenges that may have an effect on youngsters in 2025.

Saying that the share of youngsters impacted has practically doubled for the reason that Nineteen Nineties, now reaching 19%, the report urged measures to “rethink and strengthen systems” to protect youngsters’s rights and well-being.

“Children under five years of age bear 88% of the global disease burden associated with climate change,” UNICEF stated, including that rising temperatures pose a big risk.

Highlighting the financial difficulties that additional jeopardize youngsters’s futures, the report stated: “Over 40 low-income countries globally spend twice as much on debt servicing as on health, including some countries with very large child populations.”

UNICEF additional pressured consideration to the transformative potential of know-how, saying: “Digital public infrastructure (DPI) can fundamentally shift how governments engage with citizens.”

“DPI can play a crucial role in advancing children’s well-being by ensuring equitable access to essential services such as education, health care and social protection,” it stated.

The report additionally famous the necessity for systemic approaches that construct resilience in catastrophe preparedness, training, and well being care to safeguard youngsters’s futures.

“In 2025, nations and institutions must address the critical question of whether the global multilateral framework will unify to form a cohesive response to our shared challenges or fragment further, risking a loss of collective action. Progress for children requires stronger alignment between global and national priorities,” it said.