Poverty and early deaths await world’s most disadvantaged – Report

Based on current trends, 69 million children will die from mostly preventable causes, 167 million children will live in poverty, and 750 million women, will have been married as children by 2030, a UNICEF report has said.

A statement signed by Innocent Kafembe, Communication Officer, United Nations Children’s Fund and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the State of the World’s Children, UNICEF’s annual flagship report, paints a stark picture of what is in store for the world’s poorest children if governments, donors, businesses and international organisations do not accelerate efforts to address their needs.’

“Denying hundreds of millions of children a fair chance in life does more than threaten their futures –by fueling inter-generational cycles of disadvantage, it imperils the future of their societies,” it said.

The statement said “we have a choice, invest in these children now or allow our world to become still more unequal and divided”.

It said “important progress has been made in Ghana and the national level of poverty fell by more than half, thereby achieving the MDG1 target, however, there are still 3.5 million children living in poverty which accounts for 28.3 per cent of all children.”

The statement said investing in the most vulnerable children can yield immediate and long-term benefits to enhance education of these children.

Source: GNA