Child poverty in Africa: an SDG emergency in the making
The profile of world poverty is changing dramatically. This briefing paper focuses on one of the most troubling but least explored aspects of that change: a marked increase in the share of global extreme poverty accounted for by children in Africa. While the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include a collective pledge by governments to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 for ‘all people everywhere’, as things stand that pledge will be broken for African children. Updating projections presented in an earlier paper, estimate that 304.7 million sub-Saharan African children (aged 0–19) will be living in extreme poverty in 2030. These children will account for 55% of world poverty in 2030, compared with 43% in 2018 – and over three times the share in 2000.
