UUICEF warns that some 400 million minors (about 20% of the world’s child population) live in conflict zones or are fleeing them, considering that these people have never received any attention since the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. one. in greater danger. Among the threats, they cited conflict, rising poverty and the effects of the climate crisis. The Committee on the Rights of the Child also highlighted the extent of violence in Gaza.
34 years after treaty to protect children, children’s rights are in danger https://t.co/PjJ1uMzPJX
— Thomas Russo (@tomasrusso6617) November 21, 2023
In a world where children are increasingly threatened by conflict, rising poverty and climate impacts, stronger action is needed to defend children’s rights, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Catherine Russell said on Monday. His remarks coincided with World Children’s Day, which commemorates the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified human rights instrument in history.
“Never since the adoption of the Convention 34 years ago have children’s rights been at greater risk,” Russell said. Although the 1989 treaty recognizes the inalienable rights of all boys and girls that governments promise to protect and defend, “today, children live in a world that is increasingly hostile to their rights,” he lamented.
Children affected by conflict suffer the most serious violations of their rights. According to UNICEF, some 400 million minors – approximately 20% of the world’s child population – live in conflict zones or are fleeing one of them. “Many are injured, murdered or sexually assaulted. They are losing family members and friends. Some are recruited and used by armed forces or groups,” Russell noted.
She added that many children are displaced multiple times, risking separation from their families, losing critical years of education and weakening ties to their communities.
One billion children face climate crisis
Furthermore, he continued, all of this coincides with other threats to children’s rights, such as rising poverty and inequality, public health emergencies and the climate crisis. UNICEF estimates that more than one billion children currently live in countries at extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change.
“This means that as the planet continues to warm, half of the world’s children could suffer irreparable harm,” the head of the U.N. agency warned. “They could lose their homes or schools to increasingly severe storms… They could suffer significant deterioration as local crops dry up due to drought… Or they could lose their lives to heat waves or pneumonia caused by air pollution.”
Levels of brutality in Gaza not seen in decades
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child reiterated its call for a cessation of hostilities and a “return to the basic principles of humanitarian law to protect all children.” Committee members said in a statement that World Children’s Day had become “a day to mourn the many boys and girls who have lost their lives in recent armed conflicts”, adding that more than 4,600 children had been killed in Gaza alone. Five weeks.
“This war has claimed the lives of more children in a shorter period of time, with a level of cruelty we have not seen in recent decades,” the committee experts stressed.
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