Poverty

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON D.C., 20 October 2020 – An estimated 1 in 6 children – or 356 million globally – lived in extreme poverty before the pandemic, and this is set to worsen significantly, according to a new World Bank Group-UNICEF analysis released today. Global Estimate of Children in Monetary Poverty: An Update notes that sub-Saharan Africa –…

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a devastating toll on hundreds of millions of people across the globe. But it is children and their families who are being hit hardest by the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. Before COVID-19, children were twice as likely as adults to be living in extreme poverty. Now, the number of children living below…, Sierra Leone, Isatu está sentada con su hijo Roy en un mercado de Freetown, Sierra Leona. Isatu está sentada con su hijo Roy en un mercado de Freetown, Sierra Leona. Even before the pandemic, 66 per cent of Sierra Leone’s children were living in poverty. Now, with millions of families’ finances even more precarious, children are at an even greater risk of…, Thailand, Tukta, a la derecha, junto a su familia. Tukta, a la derecha, junto a su familia. Thailand is working hard to control the spread of COVID-19, but it is already clear that the economic and social impact on the country’s most vulnerable families is severe. With the Thai economy projected to shrink by close to 8 per cent this year, UNICEF and…, Sri Lanka, La familia de Wasana juega al aire libre en Colombo, Sri Lanka. La familia de Wasana juega al aire libre en Colombo, Sri Lanka. Before the pandemic, Wasana and her family lived a relatively comfortable middle-class life in Colombo. But a stringent curfew aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus turned the small family’s import business –…, Madagascar, Emilie, que es parapléjica, entra con ayuda a una tienda de Antananarivo, Madagascar. Emilie, que es parapléjica, entra con ayuda a una tienda de Antananarivo, Madagascar. More than two thirds of children in Madagascar live in what is known as multidimensional poverty – without access to education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation or safe…, Guatemala, Telma cose mascarillas utilizando un patrón que se descargó de internet, en Guatemala. Telma cose mascarillas utilizando un patrón que se descargó de internet, en Guatemala. The strict lockdown in Guatemala was particularly devastating for the roughly 60 per cent of the population already living in poverty. Telma was one of the many parents who…, Tajikistan, Una mujer sostiene a un niño pequeño en Tayikistán. Una mujer sostiene a un niño pequeño en Tayikistán. As one of the most remittance-dependent economies in the world, Tajikistan has been hit particularly hard by the global crisis. A World Bank report in July found that some 40 per cent of families in the country reported reducing their food…

COVID-19 is having a devastating impact on children and their families, with current estimates suggesting that an additional 117 million children will be living in poverty by the end of 2020. Beyond income, the pandemic is deepening poverty across every dimension of a child’s life, including health, education, nutrition, housing, water and…

NEW YORK/LONDON, 17 September 2020 – The number of children living in multidimensional poverty has soared to approximately 1.2 billion due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new UNICEF and Save the Children analysis published today. This is a 15 per cent increase in the number of children living in deprivation in low- and middle-income…

More than 70 years after UNICEF was established, the organization’s mission to promote the full attainment of the rights of all children is as urgent as ever. The UNICEF Strategic Plan 2018–2021 is anchored in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and charts a course towards attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and the realization…, Building on the principle of leaving no one behind, results under UNICEF Goal Area 5 focuses on tackling key dimensions of discrimination and inequity that prevent the realization of children’s rights, while contributing to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).   Goal Area 5 works to reduce child poverty, including by influencing public…, Results, The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) calls on States to guarantee the right of every child to social security and ‘a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development’. UNICEF Goal Area 5 programming aims to ensure that every child has a fair chance in life, by reducing child poverty,…, Child Poverty, Despite remarkable progress in poverty reduction globally in the past two decades, progress to reduce child poverty has stalled  in many parts of the world, particularly in regions plagued by conflict or unstable governance. Living in poverty profoundly impacts the full range of children’s rights, diminishing their life chances and ability to…, Public finance for children, Children’s rights can only be realized if states enact effective policies, legislation and programmes, and use public budgets to support implementation. The work UNICEF has done on Public Finance for Children (PF4C) supports countries to meet their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by influencing governments to…, Promoting sustainable investment on child rights, UNICEF works to ensure adequate expenditure on sectors and services that contribute to the realization of child rights in 84 countries. UNICEF uses evidence-based approaches to identify potential areas for flexibility so that funds can be directed towards social spending without jeopardizing the sustainability of current and future budgets. In…, Social Protection, UNICEF’s social protection work is focused on addressing financial barriers to children’s rights to education, health, nutrition and income security, and in supporting social protection system design to ensure it is inclusive and responds to protection risks and opportunities. In 2019, UNICEF continued working with governments to helps strengthen…, Gender Equality, A child wearing a toy medical kit sits on the floor of an Early Childhood Devleopment Centre in Bangladesh A critical barrier standing in the way towards greater equality is entrenched discriminatory gender norms. These norms and modes of behaviour govern every aspect of a child’s growing years – from how they dress, what they eat, how much girls…, Children with Disabilities, Globally, at least 10 per cent of all children have disabilities. Children with disabilities are one of the most excluded and marginalized groups,  and often face multiple challenges in realising their human rights. Guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and aligned to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD),…, Furthering inclusive education, social policy and services, UNICEF has made considerable advancements advocating for and implementing inclusive programmes and services to ensure children with disabilities enjoy the same rights as their peers. Graphic representing disabilities 13,722 children with disabilities provided with assistive devices and 124,287 were reached through accessible emergency kits Graphic…, Adolescent Participation and Civic Engagement, "We showed that we are united and that we, young people, are unstoppable" Greta Thunberg, United Nations Youth Climate Summit, New York City, 21 September 2019 Adolescents (between the ages of 10 and 19) number 1.2 billion in the world today, making up 16 per cent of the world’s population. When adolescents are civically engaged, they individually…, Looking forward, The COVID-19 pandemic was in its initial stages at the end of 2019. It is now clear that the global crisis triggered by the pandemic is unprecedented. The effects of the pandemic are not limited to health but extend across the full range of children’s rights especially for the most disadvantaged, who are disproportionately impacted by the…, Global Annual Results Report 2019 GOAL AREA 5 Every child has an equitable chance in life Cover image: UNICEF/Zambia/2020/Schermbrucker Nola, a six-year-old living in Zambia, whose grandmother, Albertina, is the recipient of a UNICEF-supported cash transfer programme. In 2019, Zambia experienced below-normal rainfall, leading to widespread crop…

NEW YORK, 17 June 2020 – Universal child benefits, such as unconditional cash payments or tax transfers, are critical in the fight against child poverty, yet are only available in 1 in 10 countries worldwide, according to a new report published today by the Overseas Development Institute and UNICEF. The report Universal Child Benefits: Policy…

“Poverty is when you don’t have any money. Because of a lack of money, children don’t have a chance to develop. They may not have a good profession or a good foundation for life.” This is how Marieta and Gor from Armenia recently described the impact of poverty. Whether it’s the instant loss of income that so many parents face as a result of COVID…

NEW YORK, 28 May 2020 – The economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic could push up to 86 million more children into household poverty by the end of 2020, an increase of 15 per cent, according to a new analysis released today by Save the Children and UNICEF. The analysis highlights that, without urgent action to protect families from the financial…

In recent years, the world has made remarkable strides advancing development. Yet hundreds of millions of people still live in extreme poverty. Children are disproportionately affected. Despite comprising one third of the global population, they represent half of those struggling to survive on less than $2.15 a day. An estimated 333 million…, Resources, Ending child poverty: A policy agenda UNICEF’s commitment to ending child poverty and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals A practical guide to monetary poverty analysis Are countries committed to ending child poverty by 2030? A review of VNR reports from 2017 to 2021 A Review of the Use of Multidimensional Poverty Measures A World Free…, UNICEF’s response, Child poverty is neither inevitable nor immune to efforts to address it. As many countries have already shown, it can be reduced and even eradicated through continued attention and action. With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), nations agreed for the first time in history to end extreme child poverty. The SDGs call for multidimensional…

Across the world, 385 million children are struggling to survive on less than US$1.90 a day, and more than 663 million – or 1 in 3 – are living in multidimensionally poor households. Social vulnerabilities, resulting from personal characteristics and societal dynamics such as age, disability, ethnicity and gender, further compound the impacts of…

Nearly two thirds of children around the world are not covered by social protection, even though some 689 million live in poverty and deprivation, a report released by UNICEF and ILO earlier this year highlights. Social protection covers the range of programmes and policies needed to shield children from the immediate and lifelong consequences of…

GENEVA, 6 February 2019 - Social protection is critical in helping children escape poverty and its devastating effects, yet, the vast majority of children have no effective social protection coverage, UNICEF and the ILO said in a joint report  . Evidence shows clearly that cash transfers play a vital role in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty…