Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - December 7, 2004
The conditions in effect deny them a childhood, Unicef says.
More than half of under-18s are affected, according to its report, The State of the World's Children.
"Too many governments are making informed, deliberate choices that actually hurt childhood," said Carol Bellamy, director of Unicef.
CHILDHOOD UNDER THREAT
Read some of the key points and see graphs from Unicef's report on child poverty
At-a-glance
"When half the world's children are growing up hungry and unhealthy, when schools have become targets and whole villages are being emptied by Aids, we've failed to deliver on the promise of childhood," Ms Bellamy said, launching the annual report in London on Thursday.
War casualties
Despite signing the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, many governments are failing to fulfil its principles, the report claims.
Unicef says poverty for children is less a factor of income than of basic rights.
It says more than one billion children do not have access to at least one of seven commodities deemed essential: shelter, water, sanitation, schooling, information, healthcare and food.
Another scourge detailed in the report is war.
Unicef estimates that nearly half of the 3.6 million people killed in wars since 1990 have been children.
Millions more were displaced by conflict, or even forced to take part as child soldiers.
Aids is a growing threat to children, the report finds - not just through HIV infection, but because millions have been orphaned by the disease.
Unicef urges governments to adopt "a human rights-based approach" to social and economic development, and to bear in mind the effects on children when making policies.
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