Children

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative today released the 2024 Multidimensional Poverty Index, which finds that 1.1 billion people across 112 countries live in multidimensional poverty. Over half of the 1.1 billion poor (584 million) are children under the age of 18.

Nearly half a billion children are now living in conflict zones worldwide, exposed to severe human rights violations, delegates told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural) today, calling for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access.

Speakers urged accountability today for the staggering number of child casualties in armed conflicts across the Middle East, Africa, Ukraine, Myanmar and beyond, and other violations such as child marriage and labour, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural) began its discussion on children’s rights.

In Myanmar, amid an expanding conflict, an estimated 1 million people are also suffering from the impacts of deadly flooding. To bolster emergency relief efforts, the Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, allocated $4 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund at the end of September.

New estimates indicate that nearly 67 million people in Eastern Africa are now in need of humanitarian assistance, accounting for more than 20 per cent of the total number of people in need globally. Humanitarians continue to provide assistance to millions of people.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of the Girl Child, observed on 11 October:

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the sixth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Colombia (S/2024/161), agreed to address the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group.

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the fifth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Iraq (S/2024/247), agreed to address the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group.

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the sixth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Somalia (S/2022/397), agreed to address the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group.

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the sixth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Central African Republic (S/2024/93), agreed to address the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group.