(MENAFN- Live Mint) New Delhi: Child poverty has declined globally over the past two decades, but staggering disparities and overlapping crises continue to push millions of children into deprivation, Unicef said in a report on Thursday.

Severe child deprivation has decreased by one-third since 2000, marking a significant milestone in global development, the UN children's agency said in its report The State of the World's Children 2025.

“So far this century, countries have made progress towards reducing child poverty as measured by severe deprivation. Estimates show that poverty based on severe deprivation in at least one area has fallen by one third since 2000 in low- and middle-income countries,” the report said.

However, about two in five children worldwide still faced severe deprivation, the report noted.

In India, as many as 206 million children experience at least one deprivation, but fewer than one-third, or 62 million, experience two or more, according to the report.

Unicef defines child deprivation as the absence of resources children need to survive, develop, and thrive, reflecting shortfalls across several essential categories like nutrition, clean water, sanitation, healthcare, education, and adequate housing.

Nearly 412 million children, or one in five globally, still live in extreme monetary poverty, surviving on less than $3 a day, with the burden most acute in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the report said.

Also Read | No more free pass: Govt plans to regulate cough syrup sales in villages

The agency highlighted five policy strategies that have helped countries sharply reduce child poverty: elevating it as a national priority; creating fiscal space that protects child-related spending; expanding inclusive social protection, such as universal and targeted cash transfers; strengthening access to quality public services; and promoting decent work and social security for caregivers.

But the report cautioned that these gains are increasingly under threat with climate change, rising armed conflict, and severe funding pressures converging to create an immediate and escalating risk to children's well-being.

“Each year, four out of five children face at least one extreme climate hazard, such as a heatwave, flood, or drought. In 2023, nearly 9 million children were displaced by such disasters,” the report said.

“Projections for 2050 show that about eight times more children will be exposed to extreme heatwaves, three times more to extreme river floods, and nearly twice as many to extreme wildfires,” it added.

Also Read | Climate-driven poverty: Why it's a threat the world can't ignore

In conflict settings, Unicef recommended that governments and aid agencies prioritize humanitarian access, continuity of education, and rapid restoration of basic services.

“Traditional solutions – debt cancellation, increased aid, austerity or borrowing from new sources – have fallen short or deepened the crisis. Instead, debt restructuring is needed to transform obligations into opportunities for governments to make robust, sustainable investments in children,” the Unicef report said.

“The key is to align incentives around reducing child poverty and enhancing children's well-being,” it added.

Also Read | AI is like a mind-altering drug: Should our children be test subjects?

MENAFN20112025007365015876ID1110373517