New York, June 17 (QNA) - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) announced today that the number of children who have fled conflicts, violence and other crises worldwide has reached an unprecedented number since World War II by the end of 2021.
According to figures announced by the United Nations, about 36.5 million children have been forced to flee their homes, and nearly 22.8 million of them have been displaced due to conflicts and violence. The figures represent a 2.2 million increase in the number of refugee children globally since 2020.
The rise in numbers was a direct result of the conflict, UNICEF said, adding that an additional 7.3 million children were made homeless during 2021 due to natural disasters. UNICEF has called on governments around the world to strengthen the protection of refugees, migrants and children.
Since the numbers date back to late 2021, they do not include Ukrainian children who have left their homes or been forced to flee due to the conflict, which has led to an additional 2 million children being displaced since last February, and displaced another 3 million children inside the country.
In addition, children and their families have been displaced by extreme weather events, such as droughts in the Horn of Africa and severe floods in India, Bangladesh and South Africa.
More than a third of displaced children live in sub-Saharan Africa (3.9 million or 36%), a quarter of them in Europe and Central Asia (2.6 million), and 13% (1.4 million) in the Middle East and North Africa, UNICEF said in a statement.
UNICEF added that about two-thirds of all refugee children are enrolled in primary schools, while only about one-third of refugee adolescents receive an education.(QNA)
17 June 2022
UNICEF: Number of Refugee Children Reached Record High, Exceeding 36 Million
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