Coronavirus Pandemic is pushing 120M Southeast Asian children to poverty

Last updated on May 18th, 2021 at 05:47 am

More than 100 million children in the Southeast Asia region are in danger of slipping into poverty caused by the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic.

According to United Nations report there have been a rapid acceleration in the number of infected people with India leading the caseload with over 440,000 infections.

In the UNICEF report “Lives upended: How COVID-19 threatens the futures of 600 million South Asian children,” it has reported that while children are less susceptible to the virus, they are being impacted by the fallout it causes. That includes economic and social consequences of the government imposed lockdowns and other measures to curve the spread of the virus.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan have an estimate 240M children living in poverty.

The impact of pandemic may cause additional 120 million children over the poverty line in the next six months.

According to the report, Since the immunization, nutrition and other vital health services have been severely disrupted, its a potential risk that may put the lives of young children and mothers in danger. Other key concerns reported were risks of domestic violence, depression and mental health issues.