The report presents a mixed picture. Over the past 25 years, there have been notable improvements in child well-being in the group of countries examined in this report: steady decline in child mortality, overall reduction in adolescent suicide and increase in school completion rates. But the last five years have …
While many countries are investing in school meal programs, coverage is weakest precisely where the need is the greatest shows this report released by the Global Child Nutrition Foundation, April 14 2021 School meal programs extend benefits far beyond their critical education and nutritional value for vulnerable children, creating jobs …
Around 1 in 8 countries globally spends more on debt than on social services, according to a UNICEF report. COVID-19 and the Looming Debt Crisis notes that 25 countries globally – the majority of them already burdened by poverty and deprivation – spent a higher proportion of total government expenditure …
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the world’s population. Although it has been established that children are at lower risk of falling seriously ill with COVID-19, the pandemic has had, and continues to have, far-reaching effects on them. The pandemic poses a health crisis that has become …
In the framework of World Soil Day 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), and the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) launched a children's book contest on Soil Biodiversity with the motto "Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity". The book …
Child malnutrition estimates for the indicators stunting, wasting, overweight and underweight describe the magnitude and patterns of under- and overnutrition. UNICEF-WHO-WB Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates inter-agency group updates regularly the global and regional estimates in prevalence and numbers for each indicator. The key findings 2021 Edition includes global and regional …
In October 2019, the World Bank and UNESCO Institute for Statistics proposed a new metric, Learning Poverty, designed to spotlight low levels of learning and track progress toward ensuring that all children acquire foundational skills. This paper provides the technical background for that indicator, and for its main findings—first, that …
Over recent decades, South Asia has made remarkable progress in improving the health of mothers and children. But the year 2020 brought a great shock to South Asia, as it did to the whole world. The COVID-19 pandemic has had major and multiple impacts – both direct and indirect. One …
Ten million additional child marriages may occur before the end of the decade, threatening years of progress in reducing the practice, according to a new analysis released by UNICEF. COVID-19: A threat to progress against child marriage – released on International Women’s Day – warns that school closures, economic stress, …
Schools for more than 168 million children globally have been completely closed for almost an entire year due to COVID-19 lockdowns, according to new data released by UNICEF. Furthermore, around 214 million children globally – or 1 in 7 – have missed more than three-quarters of their in-person learning. The …
Today, 1.42 billion people – including 450 million children – live in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability. Less than 3 per cent of the world’s water resources is freshwater, and it is growing increasingly scarce. Decades of misuse, poor management, over-extraction of groundwater and contamination of freshwater …
According to WFP’s report, State of School Feeding Worldwide, 370 million children in 199 countries and territories were suddenly deprived of school meals, when schools closed due to the pandemic. That meal was for many their only nutritious food of the day. This publication provides an analysis of the state …
The share of the world’s population living on less than $1.90 a day has been cut by more than half since 2000. The pace of progress has slowed in recent years, however, and is likely to regress with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Advancements toward achieving the goal of …
Nearly 2.3 million children under the age of five in Yemen are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021, four United Nations agencies warned. Of these, 400,000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment. The new figures, from …
More than 39 billion in-school meals have been missed globally since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic due to school closures, according to a new report released by the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti and the World Food Programme (WFP). COVID-19: Missing More Than a Classroom notes that 370 …
Since May 2020, ODI and its Vietnamese and Tanzanian country partners have been engaged in a 2.5-year project to address the mental health needs of adolescents in schools, in the community and at the institutional level through the co-creation and implementation of digital and non-digital solutions. As a first phase …
This report comes at a critical moment. 2021 will be a Nutrition for Growth ‘year of action’. It will offer multiple opportunities for governments, donors, the United Nations (UN) and other multilateral agencies, NGOs and businesses and leaders around the world to build momentum, make sure nutrition is high on …
Child poverty is expected to remain above pre-COVID levels for at least five years in high-income countries. Yet, only 2 per cent of government-provided financial relief across OECD and EU countries was allocated specifically to support children and families raising children during the first wave of the pandemic, according to …
At the height of nationwide lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 1.6 billion children were affected by school closures, causing the largest mass disruption of education in modern history. Yet, even before schools shuttered their doors, one in five school-age children (3 to 17 years old) was out …
This report describes the World Bank’s vision for the future of learning and a strategic approach that lays out the lines of actions needed for education systems to move forward in accelerating learning improvement. This report reviews the current learning crisis, including the extent to which COVID-19 has exacerbated it, …
A study released by Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PANAP), Society for Rural Education and Development (SRED), and PAN India reveals the use of Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) in floriculture farms in Tamil Nadu, affecting Dalit children who work in these farms. The study, entitled Toxic Blooms: Impacts of Pesticides …
