Briefing Papers

"The principle of ‘all children, all rights’ is still much too far from being a reality.": Secretary-General Kofi Annan in "The Progress of Nations 2000"

Vital Statistics

Over half-a-billion children in developing countries are struggling to survive on less than $1 per day.
About 2 million children in developing countries die every year from a lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate hygiene and sanitation facilities.
Over 110 million primary school age children worldwide are not enrolled in school.
500,000 children under 15 years of age died from AIDS in 1999, and 3.8 million died since the beginning of the epidemic.
11 million children die each year from largely preventable causes.
More than 33 million children suffer from vitamin A deficiency, placing them at risk of blindness and death from such common diseases as measles and diarrhoea.
An estimated 250 million children aged 5 to 14 are working around the world.
Close to 2 million children have been killed in armed conflicts during the past decade.