The UNICEF in its latest report estimates that around 100 million children, mainly girls, of primary school age are not enrolled in primary school and around 150 million children aged 5-14 are engaged in child labour.
The report also said that between 500 million to 1.5 billion youngsters suffer violence and abuse annually, and more than 24,000 under five die every day largely from preventable causes.
“It is unacceptable that children are still dying from preventable causes, like pneumonia, malaria, measles and malnutrition,” said UNICEF chief Ann Veneman, releasing the report here.
Around 140 million children, under the age of five, are underweight for their age, and around 100 million children between the ages of 6-11 are not enrolled in primary school.
“Many of the world’s children will never see the inside of a school room, and millions lack protection against violence, abuse, exploitation, discrimination and neglect,” she added.
UNICEF released its report on Thursday as the international community celebrated the 20 th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is the most ratified treaty in history with 193 ratifications.
The UNICEF report also elaborates on improving children’s rights and well being in the past twenty years.
This includes the fall in the annual mortality rate of children under the age of five from around 12.5 million in 1990 to an estimated 8.8 million in 2008.
The report also finds that between 1990-2006, 1.6 billion people world-wide gained access to improved water sources. Around 84 per cent of children worldwide are inside the campus today and the gender gap in primary school enrolment is narrowing.
The report called to protect children from serving as soldiers, trafficking, domestic servitude and providing more care to children suffering from HIV. The age of children getting married is rising in some countries and the number of girls subjected to genital cutting is gradually falling, the report said.
The UN highlighted that girls are more likely to suffer sexual violence, to be trafficked or to be forced into child marriage. In many regions they are less likely to receive essential healthcare.
“The big challenge of the next 20 years is to firmly position the best interests of children at the heart of all human activity,” Ms. Veneman writes in the report. “It is our collective responsibility to ensure every child’s right to survival, development, protection and participation.”
