Don’t switch off – the world’s children have never needed you more | Opinions

The successive crises the world has witnessed this year are making child rights advocates like me pause to think: What is the way forward and how can we all ensure that all children have access to their rights and have a chance at a brighter future?

In my role as CEO of Save the Children International, I get to meet children from many complex and fragile environments facing situations that most of us cannot imagine – situations no child should ever be in – and I am often overwhelmed by their emotions. Their resilience and hope. At a refugee transit center on the Sudan-South Sudan border this year, I met a 13-year-old boy who fled war in Sudan with his extended family. He talked about the heartbreaking loss of his parents in the war and how he suffered from constant nightmares. As we talked outside on a makeshift volleyball court, groups of teenage boys who had also fled war in Sudan laughed and cheered as they competed against each other to put the ball through the net, taking turns playing.

Whatever the case, children are children. They want to play. They want to laugh. They want to learn. They want the future. We have to be there to support them – and listen to them.

It can be very easy to feel overwhelmed by these heartbreaking stories, but quitting is not the answer, even though this is increasingly seen as the answer. The research he conducted Reuters Institute The Journalism Study shows news avoidance reached record levels in 2024 with 39 percent of people surveyed — compared to 29 percent in 2017 — saying they actively avoid news some or all of the time. They said that the volume of information and long stories such as the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, and the negative nature of the news, make them feel anxious and helpless.

Funding for humanitarian crises also decreased, as it did not exceed 43 percent United Nations Humanitarian Response Plan It will be completed by the end of November, helping about 198 million people. About $400 million less was raised than at the same time last year when about 45 percent of the requested amount was raised.

But now, more than ever, it is crucial that we do not turn our backs on the world’s children. Children make the least effort to cause the situations they find themselves in, yet they are the most affected. Deadly conflicts around the world and the climate emergency, for which children are paying a heavy price, are severely impacting their hopes and dreams.

This year we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Save the Children’s founder, Eglantine Gibb, demonstrating that children are persons in their own right, not merely the property of adults, and deserving of their basic rights. This was defined in the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child and paved the way for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to which we adhere today – the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.

Today, every child has rights – including the right to health, education, protection, security, to be themselves and to have their voices heard. But it is increasingly frustrating to see children’s rights eroded by the continuing threats of conflict, climate change and inequality.

Today’s children face unprecedented conflicts and geopolitical power struggles that ignore their mental, physical and emotional safety and rights. In addition, climate-related disasters are displacing record numbers of children from their homes.

Our latest report,Stop the war on childrenThe report showed that 473 million children – or one in five children globally – are living in or fleeing conflict areas. We are also seeing gross violations against children in times of war almost tripling since 2010. We know that children who face such violence are dealing with scenes that no child should ever have to experience.

During this year’s UN General Assembly, we hosted a session with Member States on the situation of children in the occupied Palestinian territories. One of the children who spoke with us was Rand* (name changed), a 17-year-old girl who lives in the West Bank. After living through the war years, she told us: I am not sure if what I told you today will bring about any change, and frankly I do not feel that it will bring about any change. But I really want change to happen. I want us to live a life like children in other parts of the world. As a Palestinian child, I really want our lives to change, for the war to end, and for us to be able to live freely with our rights respected.”

A new analysis conducted by Save the Children ahead of the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan last month shows this One in eight children in the world It has been directly affected by the ten largest extreme weather events so far this year, while the number of children suffering from hunger levels due to extreme weather events has doubled in five years. Children who are forced to leave their homes lose this sense of safety and security, as well as the opportunity to learn and shape their future lives.

At this COP, I met Naomi, a children’s activist who we supported to come to the event from South Sudan, where schools across the country were closed earlier this year for two weeks due to an extreme heatwave. As temperatures rise, making extreme weather events like these more frequent and severe, she said that without urgent action from leaders, there will be no future for her and her other children.

And on top of that Rates of violence against children Half of the world’s 2.4 billion children suffer physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect every year, leading to far-reaching consequences that can last into adulthood such as the risk of mental health conditions and social problems such as substance abuse.

It is not surprising that people are increasingly turning away from confronting the reality of daily news, but at a time of increasing challenges, we cannot continue to turn away. We need to participate in addressing these challenges and ensuring that children – who make up a third of the world’s population – have access to their rights today and in the future. We need to listen to children, give them a platform to share their ideas and promote their rights. Together, we need to make 2025 a better year for children.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.