UNICEF warns that the “devastating” child crisis in Sri Lanka may be a prolegomenon for South Asia

Aug. 26 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned this Friday that the “devastating” crisis that the children of Sri Lanka are suffering, where half of them already need emergency food aid, may be the prolegomenon of what awaits the child population of South Asia in the coming months.

The pandemic and the economic crisis have dynamited the Sri Lankan economy after years of growth, mainly thanks to the tourism sector. The lack of liquidity, the rapid increase in inflation and, above all, the fuel shortage, became an unsustainable triple front for the country last month, the scene of a popular revolution that ended the government.

However, UNICEF recalls that the suffering of the child population goes back before this latest crisis in a country that already had the second highest rate of severe acute malnutrition in South Asia. The pandemic and the subsequent crisis have only aggravated what was already happening even more.

Nearly five million children’s education was interrupted for two years and still hasn’t picked up, they no longer receive hot meals at school, they lack basic school supplies and their teachers have to deal with transportation difficulties.

All this has resulted, UNICEF warns, in the increase in abuse, exploitation and violence against boys and girls, as well as their forced transfer to institutional care due to the inability of their families to support them. Right now, according to the fund’s estimates, some 10,000 children in the country live under the guardianship of the state.

“If this trend continues,” warns UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia, George Laryea-Adjei, after a visit to the country, “the hard-earned progress for Sri Lankan children is at risk of being reversed and, in some cases, to disappear completely”.

SOUTH ASIA, IN DANGER

UNICEF warns that this critical situation is in danger of spreading to other countries in South Asia, a region “which was already home to a fifth of the world’s people in extreme poverty.”

“If we don’t act now to protect children in the world’s most populous region from the worst effects of the global economic downturn, they will sink further into poverty and their health, nutrition, education and safety will be compromised” warns Laryea-Adjei.

“We cannot allow children to pay the price of a crisis they have not caused. To secure their future tomorrow, we must act today,” stresses the UN’s South Asian regional director.