The war in Ukraine and the resulting inflation have plunged millions of children into poverty in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in recent months, warned a study by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) published on Monday.
In these regions, “the war in Ukraine and rising inflation have plunged another four million children into poverty, an increase of 19% since 2021”, says the study, which highlights that children suffer the worst consequences of the economic crisis caused by the conflict. .
Although they are only 25% of the population, children represent almost 40% of the 10.6 million more people in poverty this year, details the study, which covers 22 countries.
With an additional 2.8 million children in poverty, Russia accounts for three-quarters of the total increase recorded by UNICEF.
This is explained both by its high population and by the 8% drop in Russian GDP estimated by Unicef, the second worst number of the countries analyzed.
“The repercussions of the conflict in Ukraine are extremely important in Russia, because the war reduces access to a certain number of basic products,” Adeline Hazan, president of Unicef France, told AFP.
In turn, Ukraine has over half a million children in poverty, the second most relevant number, followed by Romania with 110,000.
“UNICEF raises a cry of alarm about the consequences of this war and calls on governments to provide extremely strong support for social protection and launch assistance programs for the most vulnerable families with children,” urges Hazan.
The consequences of child poverty go beyond the financial difficulties of families.
The poorer a family is, the more part of the budget is allocated to basic needs such as food and fuel.
With the price of these products rising, the money available for other needs, such as health or education, decreases.
Consequently, the poorest children have fewer options for accessing essential services and are more exposed to violence, exploitation and abuse, explains the UN organization.
This increase in child poverty in Eastern Europe and Central Asia could cause the death of 4,500 children before their first birthday and cause learning difficulties for 117,000 children due to school dropout in 2022, warns Unicef.
