The report, based on a UNICEF study on child poverty and a child-focused rapid assessment (CFRA), shows that much of the progress towards achieving children’s basic rights – including the right to health, education, protection, play and recreation – has been eroded by the economic crisis and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreover, Soaring prices and widespread unemployment have plunged thousands of families into multidimensional poverty – a concept that considers a wide range of deprivations – severely affecting their ability to provide for their children’s basic needs.
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The report also shows that children are keenly aware of the effect the crisis is having on their lives and on the country as many children no longer dream of a better future in Lebanon and believe emigration is their only hope.
At the same time, children are feeling let down and losing trust in their parents for being unable to meet their basic needs, which in turn increases tensions in the household.
As children are increasingly sent out to work in Lebanon, and adults become unemployed, the traditional parent-child relationship is being destroyed.
“The crisis is affecting every aspect of children’s lives. Children are growing up without enough food, without proper access to healthcare, and, in some cases, working to support their families,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon, in a media release on Thursday.
“Critical reforms are needed to safeguard children’s future. The Government should implement urgent social protection measures, ensure access to quality education for every child and strengthen primary health care and child protection services,” Beigbeder stated.
UNICEF CFRAs are carried out twice a year in Lebanon.
The latest was conducted by telephone 13-27 June 2022 among some 1,500 households with at least one child (700 Lebanese, 300 Syrian refugees and 400 Palestinian refugees).
(WAH)
Artikel ini bersumber dari www.medcom.id.
