Roundup: World remains deeply unfair place for poor, disadvantaged children, UN agency says

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday that the world remains a deeply unfair place for the poorest and most disadvantaged children despite major advances since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.

In a report titled "For every child, a Fair Chance: The Promise of Equity," UNICEF presents a statistical picture of how the world's most marginalized children have fared against basic human development indicators.

The UN agency released the report On Universal Children's Day, which falls on Nov. 20.

"In just over a generation, the world has cut child death rates by half, put over 90 percent of children in primary school, and increased by 2.6 billion the number of people with access to safe water," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.

"Yet children make up almost half of the world's poor, nearly 250 million children live in conflict-torn countries, and over 200,000 have risked their lives this year seeking refuge in Europe," Lake said.

The UN report pointed out that:

-- Children from the poorest households are nearly twice as likely as those from the richest households to die before age five, and five times more likely to be out of school.

-- Girls from the poorest families are four times more likely as those from the richest families to be married before 18.

-- More than 2.4 billion people still do not have adequate toilets -- 40 percent of them in South Asia; and more than 660 million still lack access to safe drinking water -- nearly half of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

-- Roughly half of the 159 million children suffering from stunting live in South Asia and one-third in Africa.

For every child, a fair chance makes the case for closing persistent gaps in equity, arguing that investing in children, particularly the most vulnerable, is right in principle and right in practice -- and that such investment brings multiple benefits not only to children but also to their families, communities and economies.

A team of UNICEF ambassadors are raising their voices or activating their social media networks to help spur action as part of the UN agency's "Fight Unfair" campaign.

They include actors Liam Neeson and Susan Sarandon, singers Shakira and Ricky Martin, and tennis champion Novak Djokovic.

"It is shocking to think that one in nine children lives in a country affected by armed conflict, witnessing horrific violence and having their rights to survival, health and education destroyed," said British actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom.

"I travelled with UNICEF to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia to see the how war is driving children and their families from their homes. The world is facing the biggest refugee crisis since World War II," Bloom said. "Every country that can should be supporting the children and the families who have been affected."

By adopting a resolution on Dec. 14, 1954, the UN General Assembly recommended that all countries institute a Universal Children's Day, to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children.

It recommended that the Day was to be observed also as a day of activity devoted to promoting the ideals and objectives of the UN Charter and the welfare of the children of the world.

The Assembly suggested to governments that the Day be observed on the date and in the way which each considers appropriate. The date Nov. 20 marks the day on which the General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989. Enditem