UNITED NATIONS: In relation to World Children’s Day, which falls on Sunday, the United Nations Children’s, UNICEF has revealed in a report that hateful incidents based on race, lingual background, and faith are rampant globally.
The document evaluates the effect on children suffering these incidences of discrimination. The disclosed facts include the severity of the impact on their literacy development, medical safeguards, smooth facilities that allow birth to be registered without hassles, along with a justice system based on justice and equality.
The United Nations write-up reveals widespread disparities among minority and ethnic groups.
An exclusion that can last the entire life
“Systemic racism and discrimination put children at risk of deprivation and exclusion that can last a lifetime,” UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, said in a statement.
“This hurts us all. Protecting the rights of every child – whoever they are, wherever they come from – is the surest way to build a more peaceful, prosperous, and just world for everyone.”
Data from 22 low and middle-income countries were examined, focusing on children from non-mainstream ethnic, language, and religious sections of society, which showed that they lag far behind their peers in reading skills.
On average, students aged 7 to 14 from the most advantaged group are more than two times more likely to have basic reading skills than those from the bottom-ranked group.
Read Also: UNICEF Launches World’s First Child-Focused Climate Risk Financing Initiative
Birth registration of children
An examination of collected information regarding the level of children registered at birth, which is a requirement for basic rights availability, found massive differences between children of differing religious and ethnic groups.
For instance, in Laos, 59 percent of children less than five years in the minority cultural group Mon-Khmer get births registered in comparison with 80 percent among the Lao-Tai people.
Lack of money and generational need for resources are much more than the baseline as they are excluded forcefully from mainstream society; this results in medical issues like higher chances of falling ill, not being able to get optimum nourishment, schooling opportunities, greater chances of falling into habits that increase the likelihood of going to jail, along with a greater number of teenage girls’ pregnancies and having fewer employment avenues and lower wages in adult life.
“On World Children’s Day and every day, every child has the right to be included, to be protected and to have an equal chance to reach their full potential,” said Catherine Russell. “All of us have the power to fight discrimination against children – in our countries, our communities, our schools, our homes, and our own hearts. We need to use that power.” – APP
