One billion children live in urban areas, a number that is
growing rapidly. Yet disparities within cities reveal that many lack
access to schools, health care and sanitation. These children are at
“high risk of exploitation and trafficking, as well as becoming victims
of violence.”
The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history, says the UN Children Fund (UNICEF) in its flagship report, ‘The State of the World’s Children 2012: Children in an Urban World’, which was launched on 28 February in Mexico City.
The report stresses that despite growing up in close proximity to
modern facilities and basic services, “many children in urban areas lack
access to electricity, clean water and education. They are also at high
risk of contracting diseases due to unsanitary conditions and suffering
from malnutrition.”
According to UNICEF, one in three city dwellers lives in slums, while
in Africa the proportion increases to six in ten. These children are at
“high risk of exploitation and trafficking, as well as becoming victims
of violence.”
“[Children’s] situations and needs are often represented by aggregate
figures that show urban children to be better off than their rural
counterparts, obscuring the disparities that exist among the children of
cities,” says Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director, in the report’s
foreword.
Children’s Killers
“Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions facilitate transmission of
disease – notably pneumonia and diarrhea, the two leading killers of
children under the age of five worldwide,” says the report.
“Outbreaks of measles, tuberculosis and other vaccine-preventable
diseases are also more frequent in these areas, where population density
is high and immunization levels are low.”
While global vaccine coverage is improving, the report warns that it
remains low in slums and informal settlements, increasing the
population’s vulnerability.
The report also states that children who live in slums “face hunger
and malnutrition. Poor nutrition is responsible for more than a third of
deaths globally for children under the age of five.”
“Even the apparently well fed – those who receive sufficient calories
to fuel their daily activities – can suffer the ‘hidden hunger’ of
micronutrient malnutrition,” the report warns. In addition to poor
health, the report points out that children living in slums are the
least likely to attend school.
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