The war in the Middle East is pushing millions of children into deeper poverty by Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director   16 July 2026   Conflict, economic instability, rising costs pushing millions of children into deeper poverty, by Catherine Russell - UNICEF Executive Director   Over 23 million additional children are likely to fall into monetary poverty by the end of the year, as ongoing tensions in the Middle East and related shipping disruptions continue to have a damaging and potentially irreversible impact on children, according to a new analysis by UNICEF released today.   The Impact of the War in the Middle East on Children in Monetarily Poor Households draws on data from over 167 countries and highlights how rising food and energy prices, and broader economic shocks resulting from escalating hostilities – including disruptions linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz – are eroding what households can afford to buy. Children in the poorest households are disproportionately affected.   “Children are paying the price for the escalating conflict in the Middle East, including children far beyond the region,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.   “The longer this continues, the worse the consequences will be. Rapidly rising costs are making food and education unaffordable for many families. For children already living in poverty, these shocks deepen deprivation and can cause harm that lasts a lifetime.”   The report examines two possible scenarios: adverse and severe poverty. The adverse scenario reflects a moderate economic shock that could push an additional 18.3 million children into monetary poverty, while the severe scenario assumes stronger, more prolonged disruptions to prices and economic activity and projects that 23.4 additional children could be pushed into monetary poverty if the war continues.   The analysis shows that child monetary poverty is highly sensitive to macroeconomic shocks. Increasing food and energy costs, combined with limited fiscal space in many countries, are directly reducing families’ ability to meet basic needs.   The largest proportions of the global increase in monetary poverty are in Asia and Africa, with the two regions accounting for around 80 per cent of the total increase. Both continents reflect high baseline poverty rates and high vulnerability to external shocks.   For example, in Somalia, the Middle East crisis has had immediate consequences. Fuel prices in Mogadishu more than doubled within days of the escalation, increasing the cost of food, water, transport and humanitarian assistance as the country grapples with a deepening malnutrition crisis.   In Ethiopia, disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz have driven up fuel costs, with a knock-on effect on daily essentials. Diesel prices have risen by 31 per cent and humanitarian fuel costs have gone up by 50-70 per cent, making it more difficult to deliver aid to hard-to-reach communities.   In Nigeria, the economic shocks have exacerbated poverty. Low-income households spend between 60-70 per cent of their income on food and transport, meaning even a slight increase in prices reduces their purchasing power.   Across Bangladesh, the rising cost of staple foods such as rice, lentils, cooking oil, vegetables, fish and poultry, is putting increasing pressure on families, and an estimated 1.2 million more people could fall into poverty.   The report warns that the repercussions of the war are resulting in a reversal of years of global progress, and without timely and targeted policy responses, the crisis will push millions of children further behind, increasing the poverty gap and making it harder for families to recover. It is limiting families’ access to food, healthcare, education, and protection services, which are needed to ensure children’s physical and cognitive development.   UNICEF is calling on national governments, donor governments, and international financial institutions to protect children from the worst impacts of the crisis. Priority actions include:   Safeguarding domestic and international funding for services and supplies children rely on, including health, nutrition, education and child protection.   Scaling up and sustaining social protection systems, including child-sensitive cash transfers, ensuring continuity of support before subsidies are removed.   Facilitating children and families’ uninterrupted access to affordable essential services and supplies, including through minimum spending floors that rise with inflation.   Expanding fiscal space to protect domestic investment in essential services, including through debt-service suspension or debt restructuring in contexts where debt servicing exceeds spending on health, education, or social protection.   Setting up and implementing child-focused preparedness systems that allow support to reach children rapidly and at scale when shocks hit, including through global cooperation to mitigate the impact of evolving and future shocks.   “This crisis is putting the lives and futures of children at risk. If the world fails to act swiftly, the combined effects of conflict, economic instability and rising costs will push millions of children into deeper poverty,” said Russell. “We could see hard-earned development gains unravel.”   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/over-23-million-additional-children-risk-poverty-middle-east-conflict-drives-global http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/famine-harsh-reality-children-acute-hunger-numbers-double-over-past-decade http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/hundreds-health-and-nutrition-facilities-closed-somalias-child-crisis-deepens http://www.unicef.org/afghanistan/press-releases/unicef-calls-urgent-action-peak-wasting-season-nears-and-child-food-and-nutrition   16 June 2026   UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell remarks at the Annual Session of the UNICEF Executive Board. (Extract):   "I’d like to highlight an issue that has deeply concerning implications for whether children can realize their right to essential services and care – the fiscal burden of servicing huge and unsustainable debt.   “Today, nearly 400 million children live in countries where debt burdens are outpacing investment in health, education, and nutrition. In 37 countries, home to approximately 1.1 billion children, governments now spend more servicing debt than they do on health. This means less available resources for children’s vaccines, medicine, and primary health care.   “The consequences are profound. These countries account for an estimated 3.2 million under-five deaths, and 96 million stunted children each year.   “In other words, children are suffering and dying because their governments are spending increasingly high levels of their revenue to service their debts – resources that could otherwise be used on essential services.   “How the world responds to this debt crisis is one of the most consequential questions for children everywhere. The choices made now – on debt restructuring, on fiscal space, on what gets protected, and what gets cut – will shape the trajectory of an entire generation.   “Three decades ago, we saw some success in debt reduction. Debt relief initiatives helped create fiscal space for investments in child survival, education, and development. This created a fresh start for some fragile states. However, many countries eventually experienced a return to the high risk of debt distress due to global commodity price drops, climate shocks, and new borrowing.   “Debt sustainability is often discussed in financial terms. But for children, it is ultimately about whether schools remain open, whether health workers are paid, whether nutrition programmes continue, and whether governments can invest in the next generation.   “In this sense, debt is not only a financial issue. It is a child-rights issue. And protecting children's rights requires protecting investments in children."   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-executive-director-catherine-russell-remarks-annual-session-unicef-executive Visit the related web page
	The protection of children online by UN Office for Human Rights, agencies   May 2026   UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday called for more robust measures by both States and tech companies to make online platforms safer for children, insisting on effective regulation, oversight and accountability.   “The digital world that connects children to learning, community, and creativity also exposes them to real risks to their safety, privacy, and wellbeing,” Türk said. “Online harms to kids’ safety, privacy and wellbeing are not innate or inevitable; they result from design choices and business practices that undermine safety, including addictive design features, such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and persistent notifications from apps.”   “Enhancing protection of children online is an urgent priority that we need to make sure not only gets done - but that it gets done right,” he added.   To ensure the approaches to these complex issues are grounded in human rights, the Office has issued a set of guidelines to enhance children’s safety online and protect their rights.   “Blanket social media bans are not a one-off panacea for what is a multifaceted issue. Simply limiting access to platforms that remain unsafe cannot stand as the endpoint in effectively protecting children. We need much wider action – by Governments and companies – to ensure that the platforms themselves are made safer by design, that data is protected, that those responsible for harm can held to account, and that children’s rights and needs are fully respected throughout.”   Türk pointed out that regulations focusing solely on the ages of those who have access to specific digital tools and platforms can leave unaltered the design choices and algorithmic practices that render the platforms unsafe in the first place.   “States need to require tech companies to embed safety into their platforms by design, instead of shifting the burden to parents and children.”   Proposed social media bans for children are proliferating across many countries following Australia’s adoption of a regulation restricting access for children under 16 in December 2025 – with age-based restrictions coming into force in Indonesia and Malaysia. More than a dozen other countries are considering restricting social media access for children.   The UN Human Rights Office guidelines state that age restrictions on children’s access to specific services or content should be targeted to clearly-identified harms, and recommend a number of additional steps for effective regulation that avoids human rights risks.   Measures suggested include guardrails around age verification processes, mandatory child rights impact assessments, and including children when defining regulatory responses. These steps should be backed up by mandated transparency, strengthened oversight and accountability for companies, and access to remedy for children whose rights are violated.   “Whatever regulations are adopted, it is essential to avoid inadvertently causing further harms. For example, age verification done wrong can both fail at its goal and endanger the privacy of both kids and adults.” Türk said.   The UN Human Rights Chief also noted that experience so far shows that bans can be easily circumvented and expressed concern that such bans may end up pushing children to riskier, even less monitored platforms.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/05/protection-children-online-needs-be-done-right-un-human-rights-office-issues http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/children/getting-childrens-safety-online-right.pdf http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/1-5-children-across-21-countries-have-experienced-tech-facilitated-sexual http://www.savethechildren.net/news/global-coalition-tells-governments-make-ai-safe-children-ahead-un-summit http://www.savethechildren.net/news/child-sexual-abuse-increases-due-evolving-technologies-save-children-calls-public-health http://www.savethechildren.net/news/global-coalition-tells-governments-make-ai-safe-children-ahead-un-summit http://5rightsfoundation.com/100-organisations-call-for-mandatory-safety-testing-of-ai-used-by-children-ahead-of-un-summit/ http://childfriendlygovernance.org/me-and-ai http://www.ipsnews.net/2026/08/un-special-rapporteur-urges-the-protection-of-childrens-rights-amid-deepening-conflict-and-digital-threats/ http://docs.un.org/en/A/81/132 http://tinyurl.com/yp9nndha Visit the related web page
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