Conflicts in the world | More and more children in a “polycrisis”

(London) Serious violations of children’s rights are set to increase by 21% in 2023 due to the increase in wars around the world, leaving the youngest at the mercy of a “worsening polycrisis”, according to a report by the NGO Kidsrights published on Wednesday.

The study by the organization, which awards the International Children’s Peace Prize previously awarded to Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai, highlights that nearly 8,000 children have been killed in Israel and Gaza since October 2023, and nearly 2,000 have been killed or injured in Ukraine since 2022.

Serious violations of children’s rights also include mutilation, exploitation as soldiers, abduction and deprivation of humanitarian assistance.

While the decline in childhood vaccination rates observed in the global south during the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have lessened, the NGO is concerned about a drop of almost a third in childhood vaccination rates in Western Europe.

Disasters and displacement linked to global warming also continue to threaten the rights of children around the world, the report continues.

However, he welcomes the “positive and constant efforts” of countries such as the United Kingdom and Denmark to gradually move away from fossil fuels.

This edition of the report “highlights the devastating impact that the deepening polycrisis has had on children, undermining decades of progress in protecting the next generation across the world,” said Marc Dullaert, founder and president of Kidsrights.

He is now calling on governments to face the fact that the UN’s 2030 sustainable development goals for children’s rights are unlikely to be met.

The Kidsrights 2024 Index places Luxembourg at the top of the list of countries that best protect children’s rights, with Afghanistan ranked last.