On International Children's Rights Day, UNICEF publishes an alarming report: worldwide, more and more children are at risk of falling into poverty. Due to budget cuts, ongoing conflicts and the consequences of the climate crisis, millions of children are losing access to basic services that are essential for their health, safety and development.
Conflicts and natural disasters are forcing children to leave their homes. They have no control over the crises that befall them, but they are overrepresented in the global refugee population, UNICEF writes in the report published today, on International Children's Rights Day.
In England, the position of children was the focus of attention this week, following heated discussions about Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's new asylum plans. In her proposal, she claims that some asylum seekers use their children to prevent deportation.
One of the most controversial measures is the plan to stop financial support for families whose asylum applications have been rejected. Critics say this measure will mainly affect children. Politician and former child refugee Alf Dubs accused Mahmood of using ‘children as a weapon’.
The political debate is taking place at a time when more children than ever before are displaced. According to UNICEF figures, by the end of 2024, nearly 50 million children were fleeing war and violence. The number has almost tripled in the past fifteen years, from 17 million in 2010 to 48.8 million in 2024. Many of the children come from Sudan, Myanmar, Gaza, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan. Between 2018 and 2024, more than 2.3 million children were born as refugees.
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