Every year on November 20, the world celebrates World Children’s Day. What does childhood look like? These are smiles, joy, playful laughter. For many, it is a period of play and learning, a time when the world seems safe and exciting. But, unfortunately, for millions of children in the world, this is just an unattainable dream. Where there is poverty, war or violence, childhood becomes a struggle for survival. Instead of laughter – looking for food, instead of playing – fear of tomorrow. This day reminds us of our responsibility. Childhood is not a luxury, but the right of every child. And it depends on us whether children will have a chance to grow up in love, safety and with confidence in the future.
Universal Children’s Day: A story that compels action
Every year on November 20, we pay attention to children’s rights around the world. This date is not just a formal event in the calendar, it has a deep historical and moral significance. Its roots go back to 1959, when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child – the first official document that declared that every child, regardless of their origin, has the right to protection, love and full development.
Thirty years later, in 1989, on the same day, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted – a document that became the basis of the international system for the protection of children’s rights. Today, the Convention remains the most ratified international treaty in the world: it has been supported by 196 countries. This demonstrates global recognition of the importance of protecting children’s rights.
However, the symbolism of these documents does not guarantee that all the rights of the child are automatically ensured. On the contrary, International Children’s Day constantly reminds us of how relevant childhood issues remain. Poverty, wars, discrimination, lack of access to education or health care are just some of the challenges that children face in different parts of the world. This date is not just a reminder of achievements, but also a call to rethink our role in the lives of the youngest. As adults, we are responsible for what each child’s childhood will be like. Documents adopted at the UN level create a legal framework, but real changes are only possible if each of us is aware of our role in ensuring these rights.
November 20 is a moment when we should stop and think: what are we doing to protect children’s rights? This is the time for governments to implement policies that protect the youngest, for organizations to strengthen their programs, and for each of us to become more sensitive to the needs of the children around us.
Statistics that speak of pain
More than 2.2 billion children live on the planet – almost a third of the population. It would seem that their voice should be one of the most powerful, but the reality is different. UNICEF and the World Health Organization regularly publish statistics on violence, poverty, lack of access to education and other problems that children face. Thus, UNICEF estimates that at least 1 billion children are physically, sexually or psychologically abused at home, at school or in the community every year. It happens in places that should be safe – at home, in schools, on the streets. About 120 million girls, or one in ten, are victims of sexual violence before they reach the age of 20. These numbers are not just staggering – they scream that basic safety for children remains out of reach.
Conflicts and wars add even more pain. In 2022, more than 43 million children were forced to leave their homes due to armed conflict. An average of 20 children die every day as a result of hostilities. Ukrainian children today are the most acute example of this tragedy. Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, 592 children have died from shelling and bombing, and 1,702 have been injured, many of whom will be left with disabilities.
In addition, more than 19,500 Ukrainian children were forcibly deported to Russia. They are torn from their families, their language, culture and identity are taken away. Despite this, Ukraine is fighting every day to return its children. Thanks to the efforts of the state and international organizations, 1,012 children have already been freed. But thousands remain in captivity, and each of these stories is a tragedy that should not go unpunished.
At the same time, more than 8 million children in the world today live in camps for refugees and asylum seekers. They do not have normal living conditions, safety or access to education.
The quality of life of children is directly influenced by the standard of living of their parents. A 2024 UN-backed study of 112 countries with a total population of 6.3 billion showed the following results: in war-torn countries, the average poverty rate is 34.8%, while in peaceful states only 10.9% of the population belong to the poor. Extreme or multidimensional poverty includes not only the lack of financial resources, but also takes into account 10 criteria, among which are: infant mortality, access to food, duration of education, quality of housing conditions, access to water, sanitation, electricity, and the level of gender inequality.
States in a state of conflict perform the worst in all aspects. For example, more than 25% of the poor population in these countries lack access to electricity, while in peaceful regions this figure is only 5%. A similar situation is observed in access to basic needs: child mortality in conflict countries is 8%, compared to 1.1% in stable states, and malnutrition affects 20.8% of the population compared to 7.2% in peaceful regions.
According to the results of the study, more than half of all people living in poverty are children under the age of 18 — about 584 million people. In total, almost 28% of the world’s children live in poverty, compared to 13.5% of adults.
At the same time, for data According to the World Bank, almost a third of the population of Ukraine lives below the poverty line, about 700 million people, or 8.5% of the total population of the planet, are in extreme poverty. Also for assessments According to the World Bank, before the start of the full-scale war, the poverty level in Ukraine was 5.5%, but over the past two years it has increased by another 19% – from 5% to 24%.
Child labor is another dark spot in world society. About 160 million children in the world work, and half of them work in dangerous conditions. Instead of playing or studying, they risk their lives every day to feed themselves or their families. The situation is particularly dire in Africa, where every fifth child works.
Education, which should become the key to a better future, remains out of reach for 260 million children. Currently, more than half of 10-year-old children in low-income countries cannot read even simple text. This is not only a violation of their rights, but a theft of their opportunities.
Hunger is another glaring tragedy that claims millions of children’s lives every year. Every 13 seconds in the world, one child dies of hunger, every year more than 3 million children die of malnutrition. In addition, about 149 million children suffer from chronic malnutrition, which permanently affects their physical and mental development.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only deepened this crisis. Another 100 million children were below the poverty line, and 370 million were deprived of access to school meals. For many of them, it was the only opportunity to get food for the day.
In today’s world, 1.2 million children become victims of human trafficking every year. They are forced into sexual exploitation, forced labor or even criminal activities. This is the darkest side of society that we must eradicate.
Medicine, food, stress and poisoned reality
Childhood is a time of personality formation, when each new experience leaves a mark on the future. But what happens when, instead of care and safety, a child receives a toxic cocktail of poor quality food, polluted water, psychological stress and mind-destroying media content? Modern realities, unfortunately, give us the answer: we are raising a generation that is forced to fight for its health and mental balance from the first years of life.
Today, more than a third of children in the world regularly consume low-quality food saturated with harmful fats, GMOs, sugar and chemical additives. This is not just fried fast food or soda, but a global problem of the inaccessibility of healthy food. Malnutrition and obesity have become two extremes that equally affect children in different regions of the world.
While chronic malnutrition affects millions of children, especially in low-income countries, children in developed countries consume excessive amounts of calories but are woefully undernourished. This nutritional imbalance leads to an epidemic of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and growth problems.
Water, which should be the source of life, also becomes the cause of diseases. According to the WHO, 25% of children in the world are forced to drink contaminated water. This means they risk infection, parasites and even death every day due to lack of access to clean drinking water.
Access to quality treatment and medication also remains a privilege. In many countries, children are forced to take low-quality, fake or even dangerous medicines. And where medicine is unavailable, traditional or dangerous treatment practices become the only option. Millions of children die every year from diseases that could be avoided with simple medicines or vaccines. And while medical progress has made significant strides, inequality in access to it creates a situation where place of birth determines a child’s chances of survival.
The level of child mortality is also impressive, although there is some progress in this matter. Reducing child mortality is one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Over the past three decades, thanks to the development of medicine, improvements in living conditions and global support programs, it was possible to reduce the mortality of children under five years of age from 9.3% in 1990 to 3.7% in 2024. In the 1990s, more than 12 million children died of various causes each year, but today this figure has decreased to 5 million. However, despite the achievement, this figure remains painful. In low-income countries, children still die from preventable causes: pneumonia, diarrhea, complications during childbirth.
At the same time, against the background of world achievements, Ukraine demonstrates a critical situation. The war, economic difficulties and the inaccessibility of quality medicine affected the child mortality rates. By data According to the CIA, Ukraine today has one of the highest death rates in the world at 18.6 deaths per 1,000 people. Lithuania ranks second with a death rate of 15.02 per 1,000 people, followed by Serbia with 14.9 deaths per 1,000 people. The lowest death rate is in Qatar with a rate of 1.4 deaths per 1,000 people.
In terms of birth rate, Ukraine ranks last with the value of 6 births per 1,000 people, which significantly exacerbates the country’s demographic crisis. For comparison, the leader in terms of birth rate, Niger, has an indicator of 46.6 births per 1,000 people.
The war in Ukraine significantly worsened access to medical services, especially in regions affected by hostilities. The destruction of hospitals, evacuation of doctors and lack of resources contribute to high mortality rates among children.
Wars and social inequality have become a source of large-scale psychological stress for children. Imagine a child waking up to the sound of explosions, or a child living in a refugee camp where every day is a struggle for survival. Ukrainian children, like other children of war, today are a vivid example of how war destroys not only the physical, but also the psychological state. Constant fear, separation from relatives, uncertainty of the future – all this forms a trauma that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. According to UNICEF, war creates not only “physical orphans”, but also “psychological orphans” – children who, although they have parents, are emotionally isolated due to stress.
Add to this the media content that constantly affects the children’s psyche. Social networks, television, video games – they have long ceased to be neutral. Disturbing, aggressive or toxic content destroys children’s perception of the world, imposing on them ideals that are unattainable, or instilling in them fear and self-doubt. Children spend an average of 4-5 hours a day in the digital world, which often becomes a source of pressure, comparisons and even bullying for them. Social media algorithms only exacerbate this, pushing people to view even more harmful content.
Therefore, a world in which children suffer cannot be called civilized. We often hear that children are our future. But how can we talk about the future when every day we are losing them due to wars, cruelty, indifference and other factors?
If current trends do not change, we risk having a generation of physically ill, psychologically traumatized and socially disoriented people. Children are our present, and how we make their lives now will determine what our world will be like in 20, 30 or 50 years. And it depends only on us whether it will be a world in which we want to live.
