State of the World’s Children 2024 (SOWC-2024) Report

About State of the World’s Children (SOWC) Report:

• It is the annual flagship publication of the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF’s).
• Each SOWC report closely examines a key issue affecting children.
• These have ranged from children with disabilities, conflict and war, child labour, urbanization, early childhood development, and much more, making it the most comprehensive analysis of global trends that impact children. 
• The report includes supporting data and statistics.
• Highlights of SOWC-2024:
  • This year, The State of the World’s Children report was launched on 20 November, celebrated globally as World Children’s Day–UNICEF’s annual day of action for and by children, with focus on ‘Listen to the Future,’ voices of children and young people on the world they want.
  • 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.
  • The report projects that by 2050, the global child population will stabilize around 2.3 billion, with a significant shift in regional distributions. 
  • India, China, Nigeria, and Pakistan are expected to account for more than a third of the world’s child population by 2050.
  • India is estimated to have the largest share at 350 million, despite a decline of 106 million compared to today. 
  • Nearly one billion children worldwide face extreme vulnerability to climate and environmental hazards, with Indian children disproportionately affected.
  • According to the Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI), in 2021, India ranked 26th out of 163 ranked countries globally, with children particularly exposed to risks such as extreme heat, floods, droughts, and air pollution.
  • By 2050, as the report has cautioned, children, not only in India, but also worldwide, will face dramatically increased exposure to extreme climate and environmental hazards.
  • It predicts that nearly eight times more children will be exposed to extreme heat waves compared to the 2000s.
  • The digital divide remains stark. In 2024, over 95 percent of people in high-income countries are connected to the internet, compared to nearly 26 percent in low-income countries.

Q1: What is the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF’s)?

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established in 1946, in the aftermath of World War II. Its mandate is to help children and young people whose lives and futures were at risk – no matter what role their country had played in the war. It works in over 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. UNICEF’s work is funded entirely through the voluntary support of millions of people around the world and our partners in government, civil society and the private sector.

News: Today’s children are confronting a more unpredictable, hazardous environment than any previous generation: UNICEF report

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