{"id":36116,"date":"2025-01-24T18:57:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T13:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=36116"},"modified":"2025-01-24T18:57:43","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T13:27:43","slug":"prospects-for-children-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/24-01-2025\/prospects-for-children-in-2025","title":{"rendered":"Prospects for Children in 2025: Building Resilient Systems for Children\u2019s Futures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The latest report, Prospects for Children 2025: Building Resilient Systems for Children\u2019s Futures, by the<strong> UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF)<\/strong> has warned that the world is entering a new era of crisis for children.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key highlights of the report<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Doubling of Children Living in Conflict Zones: <\/strong>Over <strong>473 million children<\/strong>\u2014more than one in six globally\u2014are currently residing in areas affected by conflict.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The proportion of children living in conflict zones has surged from <strong>10%<\/strong> in <strong>the 1990s to nearly 19% today,<\/strong> with the world witnessing the highest number of conflicts since World War II.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Debt Crisis Hurting Children\u2019s Futures:<\/strong> Nearly <strong>400 million<\/strong> children live in countries burdened by debt, a figure projected to rise without urgent fiscal reforms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate Crisis and Its Consequences: <\/strong>Only 2.4% of multilateral climate finance is allocated to child-responsive initiatives.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Children are disproportionately affected by climate-related events, from food insecurity to displacement caused by natural disasters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unequal Access to Technology:<\/strong> While internet access is nearly universal in high-income countries, only <strong>53% of youth aged 15-24 are online in Africa.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Adolescent girls and children with disabilities<\/strong> face the greatest exclusion, with <strong>90% <\/strong>of young women in low-income countries remaining offline.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Policy recommendations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>National Planning and Policy:<\/strong> Governments must integrate children\u2019s vulnerabilities and needs into <strong>Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate Financing: <\/strong>Despite commitments made at COP29, only 2.4% of multilateral climate finance is child-responsive, highlighting an urgent need for additional and targeted funding to address loss and damage impacting children.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Business Regulation:<\/strong> Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) frameworks must explicitly address risks to children.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Legal frameworks <\/strong>must prioritize intergenerational equity and the right of children to a sustainable future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Steps taken by India\u00a0 for Children<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015:<\/strong> Provides a robust framework for protecting children affected by conflict and exploitation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Operation Smile and Operation Muskaan:<\/strong> Initiatives to trace and rehabilitate missing children, including those affected by conflicts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>PM CARES for Children:<\/strong> Financial support for children orphaned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing their education and healthcare needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digital India Initiative: <\/strong>Aims to improve internet connectivity in rural and remote areas, reducing the digital divide for children.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP): <\/strong>Promotes education and empowerment of adolescent girls, addressing gender disparities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009:<\/strong> Guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged 6\u201314 years, ensuring equity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012:<\/strong> Provides safeguards for children against exploitation and abuse.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The future of children in 2025 hinges on building resilient systems that protect their rights and address their vulnerabilities.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>By prioritizing investments in children today, nations can secure a sustainable and equitable tomorrow.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/governance\/climate-change-conflict-digital-inequality-disrupting-childrens-lives-un-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>DTE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The latest report, Prospects for Children 2025: Building Resilient Systems for Children\u2019s Futures, by the UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that the world is entering a new era of crisis for children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36117,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36116\/revisions\/36117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}