Nearly 70 million children under the age of five could die
between now and 2030 if governments and their partners do not step up efforts
to meet development goals, warns the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF. In its annual State
of the World’s Children report issued Tuesday, UNICEF urges governments,
donors and NGOs to focus on the most disadvantaged children and close the gaps,
giving all young people a better chance at a bright future.
“These vast inequities and dangers do more than violate the
rights and imperil the futures of individual children,” says UNICEF Executive
Director Anthony Lake in the report. “They perpetuate inter-generational cycles
of disadvantage and inequality that undermine the stability of societies and
even the security of nations everywhere,” he added. The migration and refugee crisis affecting Europe is one
example of how inequalities are fueling global instability, said Justin
Forsyth, UNICEF deputy executive director.
“A combination of poor governance, conflict, but also inequality
and inequity is fueling that instability, which is fueling that mass movement
of people,” he said of the migrants on the move from North Africa. Forsyth says the situation can be improved with small
investments in health and education. “We could save up to 147 million children
from death from under five [years old] child mortality, just with a 2 percent
increase in expenditure in 74 countries.” That translates to about $30 billion
a year.
UNICEF is urging countries to develop national plans so they
can meet the ambitious targets they have committed to in the 2030 sustainable
development agenda. Africa struggling
The report raises the alarm for
children in sub-Saharan Africa, where two out of three live in poverty and most
have had less than four years of schooling. Conflict, corruption, poor governance and the effects of climate change are hindering sustainable progress on the sub-continent. “In those places like DR Congo, like South Sudan, like the Central African Republic, where a combination of conflict and poor governance has meant that they haven’t kept up with the rest of Africa, we need to continue to invest in those places,” said UNICEF Program Director Ted Chaiban.
UNICEF warns that if current trends continue, and 2030 development targets are missed, nearly 35 million African children could die before their fifth birthdays from mostly preventable causes. Those who do survive will have poor primary school attendance and 9 out of 10 will live in extreme poverty.
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