Over half of the world’s children may be robbed of their childhoods due to poverty, conflict and gender discrimination, according to a new report by Save the Children.
Released ahead of International Children’s Day on June 1, the report reveals that 1.2 billion children are at risk from one of these threats, while 153 million children are exposed to all three.
“More than half the world’s children start their lives held back because they are a girl, because they are poor or because they are growing up in a war-zone,” David Wright, Save the Children’s regional director, said in a statement. “Early marriage, child labor and malnutrition are just some of the life-changing events that can rob children of their childhood.”
The aid organization’s second End of Childhood index ranked 175 countries on where children are most and least at risk for factors including death, malnutrition, lack of education, labor and forced marriage. While most of the world improved from last year, conditions for children worsened in 40 countries.
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