A UNICEF report revealed on Thursday that over 19 percent of children globally live in extreme poverty, with the majority concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The organization urged governments worldwide to implement effective policies to address child poverty and secure improved futures for children.

The report found that one in five children worldwide lived on less than $3 per day, with nearly 90 percent of these located in Sub-Saharan African and South Asian countries. UNICEF also highlighted that child poverty persists even in high-income countries, where 23 percent of children live in households with significantly less income than their peers. This situation has lifelong consequences on children, including negative impacts on their health, well-being and education, which may eventually lead to weaker job prospects and shorter lifespans. Moreover, poverty hinders children from accessing their fundamental rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including education, housing, and sanitation.

In addition to monetary poverty, UNICEF found that more than 417 million children living in low and middle-income countries face deprivation in six other areas, including education, health, nutrition, housing, and water. The highest rates of deprivation were also found in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and East Asia.

UNICEF warned that acute crises such as armed conflicts, climate change, and funding shortfalls would further worsen children’s poverty and human rights situation if not addressed effectively by governments. Rising risks of climate disasters and increasing armed conflicts, such as those in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), threaten livelihoods, disrupt education and health services, displace populations, and increase food shortages. Additionally, recent foreign aid cuts endanger the most vulnerable children by limiting their access to essential services such as nutrition and health care.

Consequently, UNICEF proposed a set of recommendations to reduce child poverty worldwide. These recommendations included integrating children’s needs into economic policies and budgets, providing social protection programmes, expanding children’s access to essential services through special programs, and promoting decent employment for children’s families and caregivers in order to enhance economic security.

The UN has previously expressed concern regarding escalating violence against children and violations of their rights in conflict-affected countries. In an annual report published in June, the UN found that 41,370 grave violations were committed against children in 2024 across the world, marking the highest number ever recorded by the UN. Earlier this week, UNICEF also condemned an armed attack on a Government Girls School in the Maga community of Kebbi State in Nigeria, which led to the death of the vice principal and the abduction of 25 students.

In addition to killings and child trafficking, armed groups have targeted critical infrastructure and humanitarian aid, hindering the delivery of assistance to vulnerable children and civilians. This has contributed to severe humanitarian crises in countries such as Sudan, the DRC and Nigeria.