Notwithstanding global progress, one in 12 children worldwide live in countries where their prospects "are worse than those of their parents", according to a UNICEF analysis released on the World Children's Day today.
As many as "180 million children live in 37 countries where they are more likely to live in extreme poverty, be out of school, or be killed by violent death than children living in those countries were 20 years ago," the analysis said.
"While the last generation has seen vast, unprecedented gains in living standards for most of the world's children, the fact that a forgotten minority of children have been excluded from this through no fault of their own or those of their families is a travesty," Laurence Chandy, UNICEF Director of Data, Research and Policy, was quoted as saying in a statement.
World Children's Day on November 20 marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to give children their own platform to help save children's lives, fight for their rights and fulfil their potential.
"Despite global progress, one in 12 children worldwide live in countries where their prospects today are worse than those of their parents," the survey-based analysis said.
For the survey, the UNICEF worked with Kantar and Lightspeed to poll more than 11,000 children aged between 9-18 years in 14 countries about their concerns and attitudes on global issues including bullying, conflict/war, poverty, terrorism and violence against children.
The countries surveyed were: Brazil, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the US.
"Children across all 14 countries identified terrorism, poor education and poverty as the biggest issues they wanted world leaders to take action on," said the analysis.
According to the survey in India, children in the country reported "feeling the most empowered, with 52 per cent of them believing their voices are heard and can help their country and that their opinions can affect the future of their country".
The analysis said "children in India worry a lot about violence against children (70 per cent) and poor education (70 per cent). They sometimes worry about unfair treatment of migrant children (45 per cert), conflict and war (39 per cent) and natural disasters (38 per cent).
"Reflecting a sentiment where perhaps religion is perceived as more dictatorial then democratic, 61 per cent of Indian children felt that their opinions were not heard or appreciated by religious leaders," the analysis said.
Chandy added, "It is the hope of every parent, everywhere, to provide greater opportunities for their children than they themselves enjoyed when they were young. This World Children's Day, we have to take stock of how many children are instead seeing opportunities narrow and their prospects diminish.
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