Almost half of the worlds hungry children live in South Asia: UNICEF

The latest UNICEF report titled Progress for Children has highlighted the poor condition of children living in developing countries, particularly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

New York, Dec 10 : The latest UNICEF report titled 'Progress for Children' has highlighted the poor condition of children living in developing countries, particularly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The report in its findings has stated that among the 143 million children under the age of five who suffer from under nutrition and hunger, more than half of them live in South Asia.

"There are many countries that still have unacceptably high levels of child mortality, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and have made little or no progress in reducing the number of child deaths in recent years," the report states.

"Many of these countries have been affected by conflict or ravaged by the AIDS epidemic," it adds.

The report states that over 19 million infants in the developing world are born with low birth weight, among which 8.3 million are in India.

The latest report, which is the UNICEF's sixth report in last three years, however, also highlights 'considerable progress' made in improving the condition of children across the world, but adds that still "much more remains to be done" to achieve the targets laid down in the 2015 Millennium Development Goals.

The major improvements have been noted in the fields of measles immunisation, breastfeeding rates, malaria prevention and supplements of vitamin A, which can help prevent common illnesses.

ANI