The Hindu : National : `Rights of one billion children violated globally'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 10, 2004

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`Rights of one billion children violated globally'

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 9. The rights of over one billion children are violated because they are deprived of at least one or more basic services required to survive, grow and develop, according to a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report on "The State of the World's Children — 2005.''

The report, "Childhood Under Threat,'' released globally today says that millions of children are growing up in families and communities torn apart by armed conflicts and there are sharp reductions in life expectancy due to HIV/AIDS. Although the problem is most acute in Africa, HIV prevalence rates are also rising in other parts of the world, the report points out. It suggests swift and decisive action to reduce poverty that children experience, protect them from armed conflicts and support those orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.

Poverty, root cause

Describing poverty as the root cause of high rates of morbidity and mortality, the report says that the rights of more than half the children in the developing countries are violated. In the developing world, more than one in three children do not have adequate shelter, one in five children do not have access to safe water, and one in seven have no access whatsoever to essential health services. Over 16 per cent of children under the age of five lack adequate nutrition and 13 per cent have never been to school, it says.

Armed conflict

Armed conflict has been quoted as another major cause of violation of child rights. "As civil strife proliferates and civilians become its main casualties, millions of children are growing up on families and communities torn apart by armed conflicts. Since 1990, conflicts have directly killed as many as 3.6 million people; tragically, more than 45 per cent of these are likely to have been children,'' the report says. Hundreds of thousands of children are caught in armed conflict as soldiers, are forced to become refugees or are internally displaced, suffer sexual violence, abuse and exploitation, or are victims of explosive remnants of war.

Moving on to HIV/AIDs, the report says the disease is already the leading cause of death worldwide for people aged between 15 and 49. In 2003 alone, 2.9 million people died of AIDS and 4.8 million were newly affected with HIV. Over 90 per cent of the people now living with HIV/AIDS are in the developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS has led to rising child mortality rates, sharp reduction in life expectancy and millions of orphans. "Although the problem is most acute in this region, prevalence rates are also rising in other parts of the world,'' the report points out.

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