UN: Mental illness, fake info emerging threats to children

NEWDELHI: Climate crisis, mental illness in young people, online misinformation and protracted conflicts are some of the biggest emerging threats to children, the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) said.

On the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Unicef executive director Henrietta Fore wrote an open letter, raising alarm on the emerging challenges for children. “Our climate is changing beyond recognition. Inequality is deepening. Technology is transforming how we perceive the world. And more families are migrating than ever before. Childhood has changed, and we need to change our approaches along with it,” says the letter which outlines a path to stepping up efforts to address these concerns.

Among the eight threats that Fore highlights in her letter are mass migration and population movements, statelessness, future skills for future work, data rights and online privacy.

She says the number of countries experiencing conflict is the highest since the adoption of the Child Rights Convention in 1989, with one in four children living in countries affected by violent fighting or disaster. As for climate change, the rise in extreme weather patterns, prolonged drought and flash floods are all part of this crisis, and are disproportionally affecting the poorest, most vulnerable children.

“Governments and business must work hand in hand to reduce fossil fuel consumption, develop cleaner agricultural, industrial and transport systems and invest in scaling renewable energy sources,” Fore writes.