Huge toll: 2024 was one of the worst years for children in history UNICEF

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The number of children deprived of basic needs is expected to only increase.

Given the general trend of increasing grave violations – for example, thousands of children were killed and injured in Gaza, and in Ukraine the UN confirmed more child casualties in the first 9 months of 2024 than in all of 2023.

More than 473 million children – more than one in six children in the world – are now said to be living in conflict-affected areas, the world has seen the highest number of conflicts since World War II.

The percentage of children worldwide living in conflict zones has doubled, from around 10% in the 1990s to almost 19% today. UNICEF estimates that more than 52 million children in conflict-affected countries are out of school.

The war also leaves children without vital vaccines and critically malnourished. The number of children deprived of basic needs is expected to increase.

The situation of women and girls is particularly worrying. There have been numerous reports of rape and sexual violence in conflict zones. In Haiti, the number of such cases among children has increased by 1,000% this year.

596 children have died, 1,727 have been injured and 1,000 937 have gone missing since the start of the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the website of the National Police of Ukraine.