UNICEF: nearly 30 million children across Arab world live in poverty

A study conducted by the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) has found that one in four children in the Arab world lives in poverty and is deprived of basic necessities.

 

A study conducted by the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) has found that one in four children in the Arab world lives in poverty and is deprived of basic necessities.

The study released on Monday by UNICEF found that 29 million Arab children were living in poverty.

The UNICEF study, which is based on the analysis of 11 countries including Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Yemen, said lack of education was a key driver of poverty among the youth.

“Children who live in households that are headed by an uneducated family member are twice as likely to live in poverty. One quarter of children aged 5 to 17 are not enrolled in school or have fallen two grades behind,” the study found.

Arthur van Diesen, UNICEF’s social policy adviser for the Middle East and North Africa, said the children had often been deprived of the most basic necessities such as proper housing or safe water across the region.