Commonwealth Business Communications
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • COUNTRIES
    • AFRICA
      • BOTSWANA
      • CAMEROON
      • GAMBIA
      • GHANA
      • KENYA
      • KINGDOM OF eSWATINI
      • LESOTHO
      • MALAWI
      • MAURITIUS
      • MOZAMBIQUE
      • NAMIBIA
      • NIGERIA
      • RWANDA
      • SEYCHELLES
      • SIERRA LEONE
      • SOUTH AFRICA
      • TANZANIA
      • UGANDA
      • ZAMBIA
    • ASIA
      • BANGLADESH
      • BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
      • INDIA
      • MALAYSIA
      • MALDIVES
      • PAKISTAN
      • SINGAPORE
      • SRI LANKA
    • CARIBBEAN AND AMERICAS
      • ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
      • BAHAMAS
      • BARBADOS
      • BELIZE
      • CANADA
      • DOMINICA
      • GRENADA
      • GUYANA
      • JAMAICA
      • SAINT LUCIA
      • ST KITTS AND NEVIS
      • ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
      • TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
    • EUROPE
      • CYPRUS
      • MALTA
      • UNITED KINGDOM
    • PACIFIC
      • AUSTRALIA
      • FIJI
      • KIRIBATI
      • NAURU
      • NEW ZEALAND
      • PAPUA NEW GUINEA
      • SAMOA
      • SOLOMON ISLANDS
      • TONGA
      • TUVALU
      • VANUATU
  • AREAS OF WORK
    • GOVERNMENT
    • EDUCATION
    • HEALTH
    • ICT
    • INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
    • NATURAL RESOURCES
    • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
    • TRADE AND INVESTMENT
  • OUR PUBLICATIONS
    • CHOGM
      • COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT INTERIM REPORT 2020
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2018 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2015 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2011 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2009 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2007 REPORT
    • HEALTH
      • COMMONWEALTH HEALTH REPORT 2022
      • COMMONWEALTH HEALTH REPORT 2020
    • EDUCATION
      • COMMONWEALTH EDUCATION REPORT 2021
      • COMMONWEALTH EDUCATION REPORT 2019
    • MINISTERS
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2017
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2015
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2014
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2011
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2010
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2009
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2008
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2007
    • FINANCE
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REPORT 2012
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2010
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2009
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2008
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2007
    • TRADE AND INVESTMENT
      • AFRICA INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT REPORT 2013
    • QUEEN AND COMMONWEALTH
      • QUEEN & COMMONWEALTH: CELEBRATING HER MAJESTY’S PLATINUM JUBILEE
      • QUEEN & COMMONWEALTH: 90 GLORIOUS YEARS
      • QUEEN & COMMONWEALTH: CELEBRATING HER MAJESTY’S DIAMOND JUBILEE
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • CONTACT US
Commonwealth Business Communications
Commonwealth Business Communications
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • COUNTRIES
    • AFRICA
      • BOTSWANA
      • CAMEROON
      • GAMBIA
      • GHANA
      • KENYA
      • KINGDOM OF eSWATINI
      • LESOTHO
      • MALAWI
      • MAURITIUS
      • MOZAMBIQUE
      • NAMIBIA
      • NIGERIA
      • RWANDA
      • SEYCHELLES
      • SIERRA LEONE
      • SOUTH AFRICA
      • TANZANIA
      • UGANDA
      • ZAMBIA
    • ASIA
      • BANGLADESH
      • BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
      • INDIA
      • MALAYSIA
      • MALDIVES
      • PAKISTAN
      • SINGAPORE
      • SRI LANKA
    • CARIBBEAN AND AMERICAS
      • ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
      • BAHAMAS
      • BARBADOS
      • BELIZE
      • CANADA
      • DOMINICA
      • GRENADA
      • GUYANA
      • JAMAICA
      • SAINT LUCIA
      • ST KITTS AND NEVIS
      • ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
      • TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
    • EUROPE
      • CYPRUS
      • MALTA
      • UNITED KINGDOM
    • PACIFIC
      • AUSTRALIA
      • FIJI
      • KIRIBATI
      • NAURU
      • NEW ZEALAND
      • PAPUA NEW GUINEA
      • SAMOA
      • SOLOMON ISLANDS
      • TONGA
      • TUVALU
      • VANUATU
  • AREAS OF WORK
    • GOVERNMENT
    • EDUCATION
    • HEALTH
    • ICT
    • INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
    • NATURAL RESOURCES
    • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
    • TRADE AND INVESTMENT
  • OUR PUBLICATIONS
    • CHOGM
      • COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT INTERIM REPORT 2020
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2018 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2015 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2011 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2009 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2007 REPORT
    • HEALTH
      • COMMONWEALTH HEALTH REPORT 2022
      • COMMONWEALTH HEALTH REPORT 2020
    • EDUCATION
      • COMMONWEALTH EDUCATION REPORT 2021
      • COMMONWEALTH EDUCATION REPORT 2019
    • MINISTERS
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2017
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2015
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2014
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2011
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2010
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2009
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2008
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2007
    • FINANCE
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REPORT 2012
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2010
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2009
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2008
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2007
    • TRADE AND INVESTMENT
      • AFRICA INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT REPORT 2013
    • QUEEN AND COMMONWEALTH
      • QUEEN & COMMONWEALTH: CELEBRATING HER MAJESTY’S PLATINUM JUBILEE
      • QUEEN & COMMONWEALTH: 90 GLORIOUS YEARS
      • QUEEN & COMMONWEALTH: CELEBRATING HER MAJESTY’S DIAMOND JUBILEE
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • CONTACT US

1 IN 6 CHILDREN LIVES IN EXTREME POVERTY

  • CBC News Team
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

World Bank-UNICEF analysis reveals that 356 million children struggle to survive on less than $1.90 a day, two-thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa

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.

Global Estimate of Children in Monetary Poverty: An Update notes that sub-Saharan Africa – with limited social safety nets – accounts for two-thirds of children living in households that struggle to survive on an average of $1.90 a day or less per person – the international measure for extreme poverty. South Asia accounts for nearly a fifth of these children.

The analysis shows that the number of children living in extreme poverty decreased moderately by 29 million between 2013 and 2017. However, UNICEF and the World Bank Group warn that any progress made in recent years is concerningly slow-paced, unequally distributed, and at risk due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“1 in 6 children living in extreme poverty is 1 in 6 children struggling to survive,” said Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF Director of Programmes.

“These numbers alone should shock anyone. And the scale and depth of what we know about the financial hardships brought on by the pandemic are only set to make matters far worse. Governments urgently need a children’s recovery plan to prevent countless more children and their families from reaching levels of poverty unseen for many, many years.”

Although children make up around a third of the global population, around half of the extreme poor are children. Children are more than twice as likely to be extremely poor as adults (17.5 per cent of children vs. 7.9 per cent of adults). The youngest children are the worst off – nearly 20 per cent of all children below the age of 5 in the developing world live in extremely poor households.

“The fact that one in six children were living in extreme poverty and that 50% of the global extreme poor were children even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic is of grave concern to us all,” said Carolina Sánchez-Páramo, Global Director of Poverty and Equity for the World Bank.

“Extreme poverty deprives hundreds of millions of children of the opportunity to reach their potential, in terms of physical and cognitive development, and threatens their ability to get good jobs in adulthood. In the wake of the massive economic disruption caused by the pandemic, it is more crucial than ever that governments support poor households with children now and rebuild their human capital during the recovery.”

Extreme poverty among children has not fallen as much as it has for adults; a larger share of the global poor were children in 2017, compared with that in 2013. All regions of the world experienced varying levels of decline in extreme poverty among children, apart from Sub-Saharan Africa, which saw a 64 million increase in the absolute number of children struggling to survive on $1.90 a day, from 170 million in 2013 to 234 million in 2017.

Child poverty is more prevalent in fragile and conflict-affected countries, where more than 40 per cent of children live in extremely poor households, compared to nearly 15 per cent of children in other countries, the analysis says. The analysis also notes that more than 70 per cent of children in extreme poverty live in a household where the head of the house works in agriculture.

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis will continue to disproportionately impact children, women and girls, threatening to reverse hard-won gains towards gender equality. Social protection measures have a crucial role to play to mitigate coping mechanisms by the poor and vulnerable in both the immediate COVID-19 response as well as the longer-term recovery.

World Bank and UNICEF data suggest that most countries have responded to the crisis by expanding social protection programmes, particularly cash transfers. Cash transfers provide a platform for longer-term investments in human capital. Particularly when combined with other child development measures and coupled with high-quality social service provision, cash transfers have been shown to address both monetary and multidimensional poverty and improve children’s health, nutrition, cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes.

However, many of the responses are short-term and not adequate to respond to the size and expected long-term nature of the recovery. It is more important than ever for governments to scale up and adjust their social protection systems and programmes to prepare for future shocks. This includes innovations for financial sustainability, strengthening legal and institutional frameworks, protecting human capital, expanding child and family benefits for the long term as well as investing in family-friendly policies, such as paid parental leave and quality childcare for all.

Learn More: UNICEF

Photo by Git Stephen Gitau from Pexels

Kenya_Young_Boy__Swing.jpg

Image display type

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
CBC News Team

Previous Article

TANZANIA BOOST FOR COVID-19 FIGHT

  • CBC News Team
Read More
Next Article

NEW 5-YEAR PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY FOR MALDIVES

  • CBC News Team
Read More
You May Also Like
Malta encourages bilingualism with new policy
Read More
  • Education & Youth
  • MALTA
  • EDUCATION
  • EUROPE
  • Uncategorized

Malta encourages bilingualism with new policy

  • CBC News Team
  • 12 January 2023
Read More
  • Uncategorized

FREEDOM DAY – SOUTH AFRICA

  • CBC News Team
  • 27 April 2022
Read More
  • Uncategorized

Anzac day

  • CBC News Team
  • 25 April 2022
Read More
  • Uncategorized

HM THE QUEEN MARKS 70 YEARS AS HEAD OF COMMONWEALTH

  • CBC News Team
  • 5 February 2022
Read More
  • Uncategorized

NATIONAL DAY – GIBRALTAR

  • CBC News Team
  • 10 September 2021
Read More
  • Uncategorized

BIRMINGHAM 2022 FULLY ON TRACK TO STAGE WORLD CLASS EVENT

  • CBC News Team
  • 6 June 2021
Read More
  • Uncategorized

CGF COMMISSION SET FOR LATEST REVIEW OF BIRMINGHAM 2022

  • CBC News Team
  • 31 May 2021
Read More
  • Uncategorized

95TH BIRTHDAY OF HM QUEEN ELIZABETH II

  • CBC News Team
  • 21 April 2021
OUR LATEST PUBLICATION

Subscribe to our Newsletter

PARTNER FOCUS
Recent Posts
  • Australian flag. Waving australian flag 3d illustration.
    Celebrating Australia Day
  • Diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria, 38 dead
    Diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria, 38 dead
  • Australia signs UNESCO education treaty
    Australia signs UNESCO education treaty
  • Namibia COVID
    Namibia blames COVID for poor academic results

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

Commonwealth Business Communications
  • HOME
  • About
  • Contact
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
© 2022 Commonwealth Business Communications Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.