Bangladesh slum kids ‘are at greatest risk’

HUNDREDS of millions of urban children don’t have access to vital services such as healthcare and education, said the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in a report launched yesterday.

Titled “The State of the World’s Children 2012: Children in an Urban World,” the UNICEF report said children living in the urban slums are the most disadvantaged groups in the world.

“When we think of poverty, the image that traditionally comes to mind is that of a child in a rural village,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake in a press statement.

“But today, an increasing number of children living in slums and shantytowns are among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in the world, deprived of the most basic services and denied the right to thrive.”

The report further states that a majority of children will be raised in urban areas in the future and that children born in cities already account for 60 percent of the increase in urban populations, according to a UNICEF press statement.

Report from ucanews.com