The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a severe blow to the global efforts aimed at eradicating child poverty, as a new report jointly released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank on Wednesday (13 September) reveals that 333 million children still endure extreme poverty.
This alarming figure represents a deviation from earlier predictions, with the pandemic thwarting the aspiration to lift 30 million more children out of extreme poverty. Consequently, the report underscores that approximately one in six children continues to subsist on less than $2.15 per day.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell underscored the compounding challenges, emphasizing that “Compounding crises, from the impacts of COVID-19, conflict, climate change, and economic shocks, have stalled progress, and left millions of children in extreme poverty.”
The findings of this report cast a shadow over the United Nations’ ambitious objective of eliminating extreme child poverty by 2030. Luis-Felipe Lopez-Calva, World Bank Global Director for Poverty and Equity, expressed strong disapproval, stating that “A world where 333 million children live in extreme poverty — deprived not only of basic needs but also dignity, opportunity, or hope — is simply intolerable.”
The report highlights the distressing fact that 40 percent of children in sub-Saharan Africa continue to endure extreme poverty, marking the highest percentage globally. This region has seen the aggravation of extreme child poverty in recent years, driven by a confluence of factors, including rapid population growth, the impact of COVID-19, and climate-related disasters. Remarkably, all other regions around the world have witnessed a steady decline in this regard.
In response, the World Bank and UNICEF have called upon nations to prioritize the fight against child poverty, urging the adoption of various measures, such as the expansion of universal child benefit programs.
UNICEF’s Catherine Russell reinforced the urgency of the situation, stating, “We cannot fail these children now. Ending child poverty is a policy choice.”
