UNICEF accuses rich countries of creating 'unsafe environment' for children

Rich countries are creating unsafe living conditions for children both at home and around the world, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said as it called on countries to reduce waste and cut pollution. In its latest report, which was released on Tuesday, the UN agency emphasised the harms caused by chemical products and household waste on kids. For this purpose, UNICEF's Innocenti Research Center studied 39 countries from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union (EU) according to different criteria, including pesticide use, home humidity, and lead exposure, access to light and waste generation.

Following analysis, they concluded that the majority of first world countries were creating a rather toxic environment for children. The kids, it said, were breathing poisonous air, both indoors and outdoors. But marking an exception, three wealthy countries-Spain, Portugal and Ireland, performed relatively well in providing a safe environment for children. 

Meanwhile, the centre's director Gunilla Olsson in a statement stated that “not only are the majority of rich countries failing to provide healthy environments for children within their borders, they are also contributing to the destruction of children's environments in other parts of the world.” Three countries-Finland, Iceland and Norway were in the lead for providing a healthy environment for their own youth, but their ranking slipped to the last rank on the planet for their emissions rates, electronic waste volume and consumption level.

The COVID challenge

This comes as a recent report released by the UNICEF revealed that the COVID-19 outbreak has been reversing the progress on important childhood issues including poverty, health, and access to education, further describing it as the largest worldwide disaster for children since the organisation was created 75 years ago. As per the report, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced an additional 100 million children into poverty, a rise of 10% since 2019. Since the outbreak was proclaimed in mid-March of last year, roughly two youngsters have died every second. The UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has been the biggest threat to progress for children in our 75-year history. In a year in which we should be looking forward, we are going backwards,” as per the UN report.  (Image: Unsplash)