Future Impaled

“Keep me away from the wisdom

that does not cry, the philosophy

that does not laugh, and greatness

that does not bow before children.”

— Kahlil Gibran

We live in a world where childhood is under siege. Millions of children wake up each day not with the promise of play, education or growth, but with the anxiety of survival. They open their eyes to many ugly questions: will they have enough to eat, drink safe water, have a toilet or a roof overhead? This is not a dystopian fantasy, but reality. At least 417 million children in low- and middle-income nations, (more than one in every five) are deprived in at least two of six essential areas—nutrition, sanitation, health, education, housing and water. More disturbing, 118 million live with three or more severe deprivations, while 17 million face four or more.

This crisis is fuelled by a convergence of toxic forces. Worldwide, rising debt, escalating conflict and the fury of the climate are eroding hard-won gains. In its ‘State of the World’s Children 2025’ report, UNICEF reveals that many developing nations globally now spend more on interest payments than on healthcare, while nearly half of all children live in countries at extreme risk from climate hazards; from flooding to droughts to blistering heat.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell captures the moral urgency for concerted and targeted action: “When governments commit to ending child poverty, they can unlock a world of possibilities.”

Global Backlash Intensifies

The progress of recent decades is being tested. Conflict is no longer an outlier; it is the norm. Nearly 19 per cent of all children, as many as 473 million, live in conflict zones, their numbers having doubled in the last 30 years. Wars are shattering communities, destroying schools, displacing families and cutting children off from critical services. Further, countries facing heavy debt are getting strangled at the joints. In 45 developing nations, governments spend more on debt servicing than on health, and in 22, more than on both health and education combined. As funds get squeezed, vital child-centered programs face cuts. Aid from richer nations has been shrinking as well, as they are getting hit too.

Then there is climate change, which is not just a multiplier but an accelerant as well. Every year, billions of children face at least one extreme climate hazard—a heatwave, a flood, a drought—and those already facing poverty are brutally exposed. The cycle is vicious. Already-poor children suffer the most, with climate shocks plunging their families further into precarity.

The triad listed above is daunting, but it can still be fought off. Nations can action a five-point potion: making child poverty a priority; embedding children’s rights in macroeconomic planning; scaling up social protection; ensuring work opportunities for caregivers; and expanding access to services like health, education, water, sanitation and housing.

Some nations have already done this and the rewards can be seen. Tanzania has cut multidimensional child poverty by 46 percentage points since 2000, driven by cash grants and inclusive social policies. Children in Bangladesh saw a 32-point drop, thanks to investments in housing, sanitation, education and energy. These are not fairy tales, only evidence that change is possible.

India’s Hard-Won Gains

Against this hackneyed global backdrop, India is distinctive. In the past decade, economic growth has translated into social gains, particularly for children. As per NITI Aayog’s National Multidimensional Poverty Index Progress (MPI) Review 2023, India’s MPI headcount fell from 24.85 per cent in 2015-16 to 14.96 per cent in 2019-21, with 135 million people overcoming poverty in that span. More recently, the MPI fell further, to 11.28 per cent in 2022–23, representing a dramatic shift.

The gains are not accidental or incidental, but the result of careful policy design and implementation. Projects like ‘Swachh Bharat’, ‘Har Ghar Jal’, direct bank transfers, expanded school infrastructure, and access to electricity and banks, have all contributed. NITI Aayog has reported improvement in all 12 MPI indicators, especially sanitation (a drop of 21.8 points) and cooking fuel (14.6-point drop).

On nutrition too, India has made headway. Data from NFHS-5 (2019-21) reveals that stunting among children under five fell from 38.4 per cent to 35.5 per cent, underweight from 35.8 per cent to 32.1 per cent, and wasting from 21 per cent to 19.3 per cent. The UNICEF-supported POSHAN 2.0 scheme helped address not just undernutrition, but also anaemia and childhood obesity.

UNICEF India representative Cynthia McCaffrey, welcoming these numbers, says India’s scale of social protection now reaches 940 million people, up significantly from 19 per cent coverage in 2015. These are not just numbers; they are lives made more secure, healthier, more hopeful…

Promises Can Be Fragile

Yet, India’s progress, as heartening as it is, carries caveats. While real, the decline in MPI conceals vast internal disparities. Rural poverty remains higher than urban, and gains in nutrition and education have not been uniform across regions and communities. Many of the still-deprived are the hardest to reach, being most marginalized, disabled or those living in conflict-prone or climate-fragile regions.

On the global front, India’s success cannot be divorced from the larger context of rising stress on public finances. The same three threats that impact the world’s children—debt, climate risk and conflict—loom for India as well, given its size, population and economic disparity. As rich nations cut development assistance and multilateral creditors demand overhauls, India needs to navigate a treacherous path, somehow safeguarding its gains while preparing for macroeconomic headwinds.

Globe Has to Join Hands

There is a way forward that can help, but it has to be walked carefully. One, the world must treat ending child poverty not as a moral luxury but as an existential necessity. Debt restructuring cannot be merely technical, it must also be transformative. Two, governments must embed child needs at the heart of economic planning. Policies must integrate social spending as non-negotiable, not as a contingent add-on. For India, this may mean ring-fencing budgets for child nutrition, clean water, sanitation and school infrastructure, even as it addresses fiscal constraints… so be it.

Three, social protection systems must expand and adapt. Cash transfers and child allowances should reach every low-income family, especially caregivers in informal employment. As nations like Tanzania and Bangladesh have shown, social protection is not just a safety net, it is a ladder out of deprivation. Four, the world needs to invest in climate resilience, not just for infrastructure but for social services.

Five (specific to India), while successes are defended carefully, the agenda needs to be championed globally too. With its hard-won drop in poverty, India is well-placed to call for debt justice, climate finance and child development aid. By bridging its achievements with global leadership, India can argue that investing in children is not charity; it is smart economics and a moral responsibility as well.

Shared Central Imperative

The world stands at a crossroads. Hundreds of millions of children are trapped in a vicious cycle of deprivation, a reality made urgent by debt, war and climate crises. The world needs to look at the board, for the blueprints for change are clear. Tested policies, proven social investments and global institutions need to be retooled. While India’s journey from deep poverty to some social progress is proof that transformation is possible, it is not an endpoint. It is but a call to collective action.

To protect and nurture its children, the world has a shared responsibility. If governments act with courage, if multilateral systems reform with justice, and if societies commit to investing in the youngest, the world can ensure that poverty does not define childhoods. Leaders can build a planet where every child, anywhere, has the chance to survive, thrive and fulfil his or her potential. Mind you, this is not an imperative; it is a planet’s obligation to its future.

He can be reached on narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal. The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist