Childhood, Unicef study: 333 million children suffer from extreme poverty

  Poverty, 333 million children in the world survive on less than $2.15 a day. This was revealed by a joint report by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and the World Bank, which showed that the battle to eliminate child poverty has met a serious setback due to the Covid-19 pandemic . One of the report's findings shows that the pandemic has prevented 30 million children from being rescued from extreme poverty, compared to previous predictions.

As a result, approximately one in six children worldwide continue to endure the harsh reality of living on less than $2.15 a day. “Crises, exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19, conflict, climate change and economic shocks, have blocked progress and left millions of children in extreme poverty,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. The report's findings cast a significant shadow on the United Nations' ambitious goal to eradicate extreme child poverty by 2030. Luis-Felipe Lopez-Calva, Global Director for Poverty and Equity at the World Bank, said: “ A world in which 333 million children live in extreme poverty – deprived not only of basic needs but also of dignity, opportunity or hope – is simply intolerable.”

The report also reveals that 40% of children in sub-Saharan Africa are still struggling with extreme poverty, marking the highest percentage on a global scale. The child poverty situation in the region has worsened in recent years, due to factors such as rapid population growth, the Covid-19 pandemic and climate-related disasters. In stark contrast, all other regions of the world have seen a steady decline in child poverty. In response, the World Bank and Unicef have called on countries to prioritize tackling child poverty by implementing a range of measures, including the expansion of universal child care programs.