WORK

You must not perform any work that harms your health or prevents you from going to school. You have the right to be protected from being exploited for financial gain. Children under the age of twelve are not allowed to work at all.

The number of children forced to work has increased in recent years to 160 million children, 1 in 10 children. In the poorest countries, about 1 in 4 children work. For 79 million children, work is very detrimental to their safety, health, development and schooling. Girls in particular are exploited in commercial sexual exploitation, CSEC. Around 300,000 children are used in war as soldiers, porters or deminers. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, another 9 million children risk being forced to work in 2022. More boys than girls work, and more children in rural areas work than children in cities. And of all the millions of people trafficked each year, a third are estimated to be children.

THE ENVIRONMENT

Climate change is expected to cause more droughts, more floods, heat waves and other extreme weather conditions. Children may die and become injured, but natural disasters can also increase food shortages and clean water. It can also increase the spread of diarrhea and malaria, which severely affect children. Already, about 7 million children are estimated to be fleeing due to extreme weather and natural disasters such as floods. In addition, circa half a million children under the age of five die annually from pollution and far more suffer damage to their lungs.

A GOOD LIFE

You have the right to a good home where you can develop, feel safe and feel good and get help with your studies.

Children in low-income families have less access to all of this than children in high-income families. Around 400 million children in the world live in poverty and the number is expected to increase in coming years due to the Covid pandemic. Millions of children live in homelessness, some live alone or with other children on the streets.

DIGITALIZATION

Access to technology and the internet is increasing in the world. It has given many more children increased opportunities to find information, make their voices heard and influence society. However, access to the internet is not equal. 3 out of 10 children in the world do not have access to the internet at all. The children who live in the countryside have the worst access to the internet and digital devices. Less than 1 in 10 children and young people in low-income countries have access to the internet, compared with 9 in 10 in high-income countries.

FREEDOM

About 7 million children in the world are detained, often in prisons or in prison-like conditions. Of these, 330,000 are imprisoned in refugee camps, and 19,000 children are imprisoned together with a parent.

According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, you may only be locked in as a last resort and for the shortest possible time. Children who have committed a crime must receive care and help and they must never be punished with life imprisonment or death. No child may be subjected to torture or other cruel treatment. However, violence, solitary confinement and other abuses of children deprived of their freedom are common.

REFUGEES

Children who have been forced to become refugees have the same rights as other children. Approximately 34 million children in the world are currently on the run, many more than just a few years ago. Many are fleeing wars and conflicts, others due to persecution or natural disasters. The vast majority of those who have been forced to flee their country settle in a neighboring country. Children who are refugees are often not able to go to school and many suffer from mental and physical ill-health.

VIOLENCE

You have the right to be protected against all forms of violence, neglect, abuse and mistreatment. However, many countries allow corporal punishment (using violence) in schools.

Only circa 64 of the world's countries have banned all forms of physical punishment of children. 1 in 3 children say that they have been subjected to bullying and/or abusive treatment at school. Children are also exposed to hate crimes or sexual abuse on the internet. Girls are particularly vulnerable to violence. About 1 in 3 girls in the world is estimated to be exposed to physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives, often by a close relative such as a family member, relative, neighbor, teacher or partner.

EDUCATION

You have the right to go to school. Compulsory school should be free for all. Almost 9 out of 10 children in the world go to primary school and more children than ever before start school today. But many are forced to quit before they can finish their education. About 7 out of 10 children in the poorest countries do not finish high school, and 8 out of 10 do not finish high school. Of those who do not go to school, more than half are girls.

MINORITIES & INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Children belonging to minority groups or indigenous peoples have the right to their own language, culture and beliefs. Examples of indigenous peoples, meaning those who lived first of all in their country, are Aborigines in Australia and the Inuit in Greenland and Canada.

Children from indigenous peoples and minorities are often exposed to injustice. Some are not allowed to speak their own language. Others may not believe in or love whomever they want. Many are discriminated against. For example, some do not get the same opportunities as other children, when it comes to school, sports and health care.

DISABILITIES

If you have a disability, such as impaired vision or hearing, ADHD or Down syndrome, you should have the same freedoms and rights as all other children. You also have the right support so that you can live a good life.

But children who have a disability of some sort are often among the most vulnerable and discriminated against in society. In many countries, children with disabilities are not even allowed to go to school, play or participate in society on the same terms as other children. There are at least 93 million children with disabilities in the world, but the statistics are uncertain and there are probably many more.

IDENTITY

You have the right to be yourself. It can be about what you want to look like, what you want to do in life, or how you want to dress or wear your hair. It can be about who you want to hang out with and who you love. Your identity contains everything that makes you who you are. You may feel that you are someone completely different from who people around you think or think you are. You have the right to live as you wish, and the right to receive support if you need it.

Sources: Unicef. Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children.