‘Number of Children Living in Poor Households Could Increase by 15 Percent’

* Photo: unicef.org

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Save the Children and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have conducted an analysis into the ways in which the economic fallout of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic could affect children, especially the ones living in poor households in low- and middle-income countries.

The results of the analysis have shown that without urgent action, the number of children living in poor households across low- and middle-income countries could increase by 86 million and reach 672 million by the end of 2020. The analysis expects a 15-percent increase in that regard.

According to the findings of the analysis, nearly two-thirds of the children to be affected live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Countries across Europe and Central Asia could see the most significant increase, up to 44 per cent across the region. Latin America and the Caribbean could also see a 22-percent increase.

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'The impact of the crisis is two-fold'

Analyzing the impacts of the global economic crisis resulting from the pandemic, Save the Children and UNICEF have warned that the effect of both this crisis and the ensuing containment policies is two-fold.

On the one hand, immediate loss of income might mean that families would be less able to afford the basic necessities, including food and water, less likely to access health care or education, and face an increased risk of child marriage, violence, exploitation and abuse.

"When fiscal contraction occurs, the reach and quality of the services families depend on can also be diminished," the analysis has warned and added that "lack of access to social care services or compensatory measures further limits their ability to abide by containment and physical distancing measures, and further increases their exposure to infection."

'Risk of unprecedented levels of deprivation'

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore has also stated the following about the condition of children amid pandemic:

"The coronavirus pandemic has triggered an unprecedented socio-economic crisis that is draining resources for families all over the world.

"The scale and depth of financial hardship among families threatens to roll back years of progress in reducing child poverty and to leave children deprived of essential services. Without concerted action, families barely getting by could be pushed into poverty, and the poorest families could face levels of deprivation that have not been seen for decades."

Save the Children International CEO Inger Ashing has also noted that "the shocking poverty impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will hit children hard."

Raising concerns over children's vulnerability to even short periods of hunger and malnutrition, Ashing has said, "If we act now and decisively, we can prevent and contain the pandemic threat facing the poorest countries and some of the most vulnerable children."

"Poverty is not inevitable for children," she has underlined. (AÖ/SD)