Corona crisis makes UN development goals a distant prospect
UN development goals offside: More poverty and violence, less education and medical care - the corona pandemic is leading to drastic deterioration for children worldwide, not only acutely but also in the long term.
"Without immediate action to mitigate the corona crisis for families and children, we will not achieve the UN Development Goals by 2030," says Erika Dittli, program manager at SOS Children's Villages Switzerland. "Families who have only just managed to break the vicious cycle of poverty and lack of education are facing a severe setback."
Dittli expects poverty and hunger to increase dramatically in the wake of the Corona crisis. Violence against children is also steadily increasing in Corona isolation, while the opportunity to receive education and medical care continues to decline. A momentary assessment of the UN development goals:
Poverty
Since 1990, the number of people living in extreme poverty had fallen from 36 to ten percent. "Due to the global economic crisis, millions of families are currently losing their only income and can no longer provide adequately for their children," emphasizes Erika Dittli. According to estimates by the 'UN-University', the number of people in extreme poverty - depending on economic development - will increase by 80 to 420 million. The billion mark could be exceeded this year - for the first time since 2010.
Hunger
Even before Corona, the number of hungry people had risen again for three consecutive years. "This trend is being further fueled by the Corona crisis. Because if you lose your job today because of the Corona crisis, you will go hungry tomorrow in many countries," explains Dittli. Moreover, many countries are already severely burdened by climate change, wars or other disasters such as the locust plague in North Africa. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) fears that ten million more children will be affected by malnutrition - an increase of 20 percent. If young children do not get enough to eat, this often leads to irreversible damage or even death after only a short time.
Education
The global Corona measures have meant that, at times, more than 90 percent of all students have had to stay home. "Instead of learning at home, many of these children have to go back to work in the fields or in the family business," says Dittli. The longer this situation continues, the more likely it is that a child, will never resume his or her education. Before the crisis, nine percent of all children worldwide were not in school. "We fear that this number will rise again. Girls in particular are at risk, as they are usually the first to be affected when their families can no longer afford to send them to school," says Dittli.
Infant Mortality
"When parents run out of money for medicine and hygiene supplies and at the same time health systems are overburdened, an increase in child mortality is foreseeable," says Dittli. While the number of annual deaths among children under five has been more than halved since 1990, from 12.7 million to about 5.3 million, current UN projections indicate that it could rise again. Before the corona crisis, an average of 15,000 infants under five died every day worldwide. Now, there could be about 6,000 more every day. "These deaths will be largely due to preventable diseases such as diarrhea. Unimaginable in this country," explains Dittli.
Violence, abuse, exploitation
Even the declared goal of the United Nations to protect all children from violence, abuse and exploitation by 2030 will not be achieved, according to fears of SOS Children's Villages - on the contrary: "Where large families, living together in a very small space, are confronted with unemployment and existential fears, we have observed an increase in domestic violence since the beginning of the crisis," reports Erika Dittli. Exploitative child labor or forced marriages are also on the rise. "Faced with the choice of letting their own daughter starve or marrying her off, many parents opt for the latter," explains Dittli.
The conclusion of the SOS program manager: "If we as humanity want to take a step forward by 2030 and recover sustainably from this crisis, we need to invest in the next generation - in education and in supporting families. Because today's children will determine how sustainable and crisis-resistant our future will be."
