Over the past 25 years, the number of children living in war zones has soared, with roughly one-in-six kids living in conflict areas in 2016, according to a report by Save the Children charity released on Thursday.
“The number of children living in a conflict zone has increased by more than 75 percent from the early 1990s when it was around 200 million, to more than 357 million children in 2016 – around 1 in 6 of the world’s children,” the report said.
WATCH: 1 in 6 children live in areas affected by conflict. Warring parties are bombing schools and hospitals on a scale not seen for decades. Find out more in our new report. #MSC2018 #EndWaronChildren https://t.co/1Iilz7wiGO pic.twitter.com/gEPyXwKgCO
— Save the Children International (@save_children) February 15, 2018
About 165 million of the children live in the areas of high intensity conflicts, the charity specified. They often lack access to schools and healthcare. The majority of the children affected by conflicts live in Asia, but they are more likely to live in a conflict zone in the Middle East.
“In 2016, about 2 in 5 children in this [Middle East] region were living within 50 kilometers of a conflict event in their country, and children in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other warzones in the region are at high risk of all six grave violations. Africa is second, with 1 in 5 children affected by conflict,” the report said.
According to the charity, Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia are at the top three countries where it is most dangerous to be a child.
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