War in Ukraine and inflation are plunging millions of children into poverty, warns Unicef

As Crianças represent almost 40% of the 10,6 million additional people in poverty this year, details the study, which covers 22 countries. With the addition of 2,8 million children in poverty, Russia accounts for three-quarters of the total increase recorded by Unicef.

This is explained both by its high population and by the 8% drop in Russian GDP estimated by Unicef, the second worst number of the countries analyzed. “The repercussions of the conflict in Ukraine are extremely important in Russia, because the war reduces access to a certain number of basic products,” Adeline Hazan, president of the Unicef ​​office in France, tells AFP.

Ukraine appears in second place, with an increase in half a million children in poverty, followed by Romania with 110 thousand more. Unicef ​​calls on governments to “provide extremely strong support for social protection and launch assistance programs for the most vulnerable families with children”, says Adeline Hazan.

The poorer a family is, the greater part of the budget is allocated to meeting basic needs, such as food and fuel. With the price of these products rising, the money available for health and education decreases. Consequently, poorer children have less access to essential services and they are more exposed to violence, exploitation and abuse, study warns.

This increase in child poverty in Eastern Europe and Central Asia may result in the death of 4.500 children before their first year of life and cause learning difficulties for 117 thousand minors due to school dropout in 2022, according to Unicef.

(With AFP)

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