400 million children globally deprived in least two critical areas: UNICEF

More than one in five children in low and middle-income countries, about 400 million globally, are deprived of least two factors critical for their health, development and wellbeing, according to UNICEF’s flagship report, The State of the World’s Children 2025: Ending Child Poverty – Our Shared Imperative, released on World Children’s Day on Thursday (November 20, 2025).

UNICEF’s representative to India, Cynthia McCaffrey, noted that India is home to approximately 460 million children under 18 years of age. She highlighted India’s progress in poverty reduction and how India’s flagship programmes have supported investments in children, steering India to be on track to achieve the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal 1.2 ahead of the 2030 endline. The SDG 1.2 target is to “reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions”.

According to Niti Aayog’s National Multidimensional Poverty Index, India helped 248 million citizens, including children, escape multidimensional poverty between 2013-14 and 2022-23. The poverty index dropped from 29.2% to 11.3% over this period.

Investing in children

“The State of the World’s Children 2025 report reminds us that ending child poverty is achievable with the tools and knowledge we have. There is no greater return on investment than investing in children,” Ms. McCaffrey said.

The report calls on governments and partners to make ending child poverty a national priority by embedding child rights in policies and budgets, expanding inclusive social protection programs to safeguard vulnerable families, ensuring equitable access to quality education, healthcare, nutrition, sanitation, and housing, and promoting decent work and economic security for caregivers, essential for children’s wellbeing.