The State of the World’s Children Report 2024 was released by UNICEF.
Key highlights
- The report explores three megatrends that will profoundly impact children’s lives between now and 2050: demographics shifts, the climate and environmental crises and frontier technologies.
- It also presents three future scenarios – possible outcomes, not predictions – for how children could experience the world of 2050.
- As per the report, the world is facing an unprecedented crisis with nearly half of all children – about 1 billion – living in countries that face a high risk of climate and environmental hazards.
- It notes that climate destabilisation, biodiversity collapse and widespread pollution threats are intensifying globally.
- The report further said that children’s developing bodies are uniquely susceptible to these hazards. From before their first breath, children’s brains, lungs and immune systems are vulnerable to pollution and extreme weather.
- Air pollution is especially harmful to children; its impact on their respiratory health and development can last a lifetime.
- Rising temperatures increases mosquito populations, spreading diseases like malaria, dengue and Zika. Floods contaminate water supplies, leading to waterborne diseases, which are a major cause of death for children under five years of age.
