Universal Children’s Day, a third of al children in the world does not attend school
In developing countries, children have no access to school because they are forced to work or are in war zones. In 2015, United Nations member states approved the goal of providing free and accessible primary and secondary school to all children by 2030.
Geneva (AsiaNews/Agencies) - About a third of children in developing nations miss school because they must work, and the same number say their schools are unsafe, this according to research released on Monday.
The highest rate of absenteeism among the 41 nations surveyed was in Afghanistan, where nine out of 10 children are unable to go to school, said the ChildFund Alliance, a global network that promotes children’s rights.
The ChildFund Alliance survey questioned about 6,200 children ages 10 to 12. It found that nearly a third of the children said their schools were not always safe. Danger was reported most in Burkina Faso, where one in five children said school was never safe.
Overall, some 59 million children do not attend primary school, according to UNICEF, the United Nations’ children’s agency.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), about 168 million children and teenagers are forced to work, 85 million of them in highly dangerous jobs.
In its 2015 report, the ILO found that in poor countries, 20-30 per cent of children under 15 leave school to start working.
In 2015, United Nations member states approved the goal of providing free and accessible primary and secondary school to all children by 2030.
All these data were made public for Universal Children’s Day, which is celebrated on 20 November.
The day, sponsored by the United Nations, is designed to promote children's rights. On 16 November, Pope Francis stressed its importance at his weekly general audience.
The pontiff made an appeal “to everyone’s conscience, institutions and families, that children always be protected and their wellbeing safeguarded, so that they never fall prey to forms of slavery, recruitment for armed groups, and mistreatment.”
“I hope that the international community will watch over their lives, guaranteeing every boy and every girl the right to schooling and education, so that they may grow in serenity and look with trust to the future.”
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12/04/2023 18:18
