India is expected to have 350 million children out of the one billion by 2050 with a representation of 15 percent in world child population. Even though the number of children is expected to shrink by 106 million from today's levels, this country stands at a crossroads where it must fundamentally rethink how it deals with crucial challenges that Climate Crises, Demographic Shifts, and Technology divide in the world. As per the UNICEF in its flagship report 'State of the World's Children 2024', launched on World Children's Day, November 20, 2024 these exigent risks that threaten the development of children in India demand action to build a better future for children.
Among them the most urgent issue can be named the climate change. Extreme heat waves affect children in India, and by 2050 the children in India will experience eight times more heat waves from the early 2000s. Flooding and air pollution, the effects of extreme weather events, storm, and cyclones are predicted to severely affect the rural and low-income resident. These effects of climate can affect children by exposing them to various diseases or a lack of proper and safe schooling as well hinder them access clean water. In particular, India is at the 26th position in the Children’s Climate Risk Index matrix proving the severe threats the country’s children are exposed to.
Another threat is the relatively fast rate of urbanization in India. Estimations are that half of all people in the country will live in cities by 2050, so it is into this context that the urban home is being designed. That is why sustainability and child guides structures in cities have to be a priority. Education, health and skill development remain important children assets that require investment for a better future. Moreover, investments in health education and skilling can go a long way towards securing children’s future. The demographic change also poses intriguing riddles to their citizenship status that children in some societies will constitute less than one-tenth of the total population density.
The major opportunities and threats that AI and other related frontier technologies hold for Indian children are crucial. With just 26% of people in low-income countries having internet access, compared to nearly 95% in high-income countries, the digital gap is still quite noticeable. Perishable and progressive digital developments must not be solely exclusive to some while children can be left unprotected. Climate education and more especially resilient urban planning are highlighted in the report as potential ways of reducing these technological disparities.
Both the climate and environmental crises will harm children’s health, learning, and water and food supplies. Currently, 900 million children are vulnerable to high impact climate related risks, and this numbers can triple if there are no efficient actions taken. Children in India are to severe hazardous heat, floods, and air pollution, especially in rural areas and in low-income households. To eliminate these vulnerabilities calls for spending on health, education and access to safe water to be undertaken.
UNICEF focuses its practice on the involvement of children in different processes and their consequent roles of agents of change. When equipped with information and resources, they can be able to contribute to solving those problems they experience. However, the report insists on putting children and child rights at the heart of the strategies and policies for prosperity and sustainable future.
The Key Observation of UNICEF Report on children of India in 2050
The UNICEF report brought out in detail in November, 2024 on the World Children’s Day outlines some key facts about children in India. According to Census projections, India will have number of children by 2050 would be 350 million or 15 percent of the global children. Highlights:
- Climate Crisis: Indian children will experience much of the extreme weather events than they have ever been exposed to. They estimate that they will suffer eight times more severe heat waves by 2050 than levels that were seen at turn of the 21st century.
- Urbanization: the report has highlighted the call to have sustainable child friendly urban developments since half of the India population is expected to live in urban area by 2050.
- Technological Disparities: However, the issue of digital divide persists and currently, only 26% of persons in low income countries using internet. Technology must be made available to all so that the resultant education and opportunities are fairly available in the future.
- Health and Education: Global climate change and environmentally related issues shall affect children’s well-being, learning, and available resources such as water in the rural and poor neighbourhood.
- Children as Agents of Change: Educating those children about the challenges mentioned and providing them with tools to counter-act those challenges is vital. In the report, the UNICEF advocates for the child and their rights to be at the heart of actions and plans.
How India can serve to overcome the challenge?
After, the research done by UNICEF, India has been estimated to have 350 million children in 2050 this gives rise to the following four emergent tasks that require immediate attention in India to child development and safeguard its interests.
Climate and Environmental Accomplices
A major issue of concern is therefore the vulnerability of large population of India’s children to the consequences of climate change. Children can be affected badly by heat island effects, hail storms, and outdoor air pollution such as threatening air quality. According to the report, it estimates that by 2050, Indian children will endure eight times more dangerous heat levels than those recorded at the beginning of this century. These conditions may result in several other health complications, such as respiratory problems, heat-rise illnesses, diseases sensitivity, etc.
Dealing with Climate Concerns:
- Strengthen Climate Resilience: Incorporate best practices that will increase the community’s ability to respond to climate shocks. This includes supporting individuals through climate adaptive investments such as infrastructure development; improving climate change alarm for the worst weather conditions and encouraging agricultural friendly practices.
- Promote Renewable Energy: Replacement of fossil fuels by renewable resources in order to decrease greenhouse gases emission and combating climate change. It can also bring about change in employment opportunities and foster economic development.
- Educate and Empower Communities: Inform people about climate change options and its effects on health. In a unique manner teach children or communities about sustainable practices and how an individual can make the country green.
Urbanization and infrastructure
Indian population is already on the move to urban contexts, with a prediction of 50% of Indian population living in urban areas by 2050, the question of developing child-friendly cites gains more and more urgency. The crowded environment that characterizes most urban areas is further characterized by poor standards of hygiene, poor ventilation and poor access to well-endowed playgrounds, all of which significantly the health and wellbeing of children.
Addressing Urbanization Challenges:
- Invest in Sustainable Urban Planning: Create urban environment that would be beneficial to the child and their proper growth. This comprises developing Children friendly play zones, provision of clean water, and sanitation facilities, and provision of clean air.
- Enhance Public Services: Enhance the standard of basic human services in urban centres including health and education. Make it possible to have these services provided for the children irrespective of their enjoyable bracket of the population.
- Promote Inclusive Growth: Adopt measures that enhance economic development that will ensure that all the children within the urban setting are benefited by the developments.
Technological Disparities
The issue of digital divide is still prevalent and only a quarter, 26%, of the population of the low income countries has the internet. Such disconnections prevent children’s educational and development experiences especially in rural and impoverished regions.
Bridging the Digital Divide:
- Expand Internet Access: Make necessary investment to ensure that all parts of the country are connected to the internet. This can embrace such as the creation of cheap Access to Broadband networks & Mobile connectivity solutions.
- Integrate Technology in Education: Provide schools with technologies that contribute positively to learning environment.
- Support Digital Literacy: Establish strategies for enhancing children’s as well as their parents’ use of technology safely. This will assist them to overcome the challenges of the digital world and survive completely.
Health and Education
The level of threat to environment and population growth resulting to increase in centres of population density will intensify problems relating to health and education. It is important that leaders work toward seeing that children are able to effectively access health care and education since it will determine their future.
Improving Health and Education:
- Strengthen Healthcare Systems: Enhance the availability of appropriate health care in prime need areas and especially in the rural regions. This includes spending on provision of maternal and child health, nutrition and other diseases which can easily be prevented.
- Enhance Educational Opportunities: Make it possible that all children have an equal chance and opportunity to quality education. Establish measures that enforce early childhood development and offer other means through which schools may enhance learning.
- Promote Equity: Address socio-economic disparities that affect access to health and education services. Implement programs that support disadvantaged and marginalized communities.
High Number of Children in a Country is it a Problem or Asset for country?
Children in a country can be seen in a number of ways, all having different considerations of opportunities and threats. Actually, whether too many children presents a boon or bane is a relative subject that depends on countless parameters such as the socio-economic status of the country, policies and measures towards children and family, and above all the extent to which any country can steward this demographic dividend.
Potential Challenges
- Resource Allocation: Many children are demanding and can put a lot of pressure on a country. Governments have to invest sufficient statutory health, education and social services needs of a large proportion of youthful population. Lack of adequate capital may be found in overcrowded schools, health and other social facilities lacking basic amenities might not be available for children hindering over development.
- Economic Pressure: Caring for many children in a country can be an economic burden for this nation thus the need to address the issue. This basically means that a higher investment in social services and structures is required for children, and this can be a real problem for states in the development process. School-based economic factors result in quality education services delivery, thus influencing children development.
- Environmental Impact: Population brings pressure on the natural resources base and it also has consequences on the quality of the environment. More food, water and energy resources are required, and this may create problems such as deforestation, scarcity of water and water pollution leading to poor quality of life among the next generation.
Potential Benefits
- Demographic Dividend: Large population of children is definitely an advantage if the countries properly address the problem investing in children’s education and healthcare in the country. These children, as they become a productive youth, and later adults, can be of great impact on the economy. The demographic dividend is the improvement in economic progress relating to the enhancement in the working population in the condition that they are healthy, educated and employed.
- Innovation and Dynamism: The young people are always more active, flexible, and creative. It’s also a source of people with new ideas and different mind-sets that have potential to inject new technologies to economy. Ensuring that the youth is highly productive and takes part in experiments that drive the growth of nations helps make countries competitive in the world market.
- Labour Force Expansion: A large number of children today means a larger workforce tomorrow. When done effectively, probably with the right skill and training, it has the potential of boosting the rate of production, and thus, economic growth. As for young population, the countries having a problem with aging population can bring youth in demographic that support economic activities and growth.
Strategies to Leverage the Potential
To turn a high number of children into an asset, countries need to adopt comprehensive strategies:
- Invest in Education: Promote education of all children, as well as concern for primary/secondary education and job readiness. This will help prepare them for the future to enable them come out with solutions to the ever emerging challenges.
- Improve Healthcare: Ensure all over access to facilities that would provide adequate treatment hence children turn into healthy adults. Several measures, vaccinations, as well as nutritional programs should be included.
- Promote Economic Opportunities: Ensure development of new jobs and employment for innovation in order to address the increasing population working force. Investment policies in industries as policies that can create employment and boost the growth of the economy.
- Environmental Sustainability: Promising environment quality and minimizing the depletion of natural assets ensure environmental conservation to develop sustainable environment for the successive generations.
UNICEF
UNICEF or United Nations International Children’s Education Fund is an international non-governmental organization that promotes children’s rights and necessarily provides humanitarian assistance. Created in the year 1946 during the end of the World War-II to help and supply the food and health needs of children in countries affected by the war.
Mission and Vision
UNICEF depends on the mission of the United Nations concerning the rights and sanitation of every child with an emphasis on breaching the ones in need most. It operates in more than 190 countries and territories focusing on challenges child face in their lives through health, education and protection as well as social justice. UNICEF mission is to promote the rights and wellbeing of every child, in every country in the world.
Key Areas of Focus
- Health and Nutrition: By investment on child survival and development, UNICEF focuses on the improvement of child health through effective delivery of health care, sufficient nutrition and feeding. This organization provides backing to immunization, maternal and child care and malnutrition control. UNICEF is also involved in the fight against health crises such as, measles and Ebola.
- Education: A child has the right to education and UNICEF aims at ensuring that all children have access to education and especially on children in the most need society. Its goals include enhancing educational facilities, building the capacity of teachers and coming up with gender sensitive education programs. Other areas that UNICEF concentrates are on education where the organization targets; overcoming culture, legal, financial and other barriers that hinder girls from attending school.
- Child Protection: UNICEF has policy especially for children’s protection from violence, exploitation, and abuse. This comprises; child labour, trafficking, child marriage and other forms of abuse that may be detrimental to the child. The organization calls for enhanced legislation and has been offering resources to children who have been impacted on by these concerns.
- Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH): Clean water supply, good sanitation and hygiene practices for children improves their health. School water and sanitation are the areas in which UNICEF focuses on improving water and sanitation facilities in schools, hygiene promotion and ensuring availability of safe water for children’s drinking.
- Emergency Response: In emergency situations UNICEF delivers humanitarian aid to children and their parents in countries affected by natural disasters, wars and other disasters. This entails providing basic needs including food, water, medical, shelter, and basic needs.
Achievements and Impact
One can remember what a great work UNICEF does for the entire world. For several years now the organization has been a key player in enhancement of child survival, education and child’s rights. For instance, through its immunization efforts, UNICEF has been instrumental in a reduced incidence of diseases such as polio and measles and elimination of the disease as a threat to human life. The organization work in education makes millions of children and, particularly, girls go to school and fulfil their potential.