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UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore says children born on 1S t January 2021 enters a world very different from a year ago, and a New Year brings a new opportunity to reinvent it.
The Pacific island nation of Fiji will see the first baby of the new year and the United States the last.
It is estimated that more than half of these births worldwide take place in the 10 countries of India: 59,995; China: 35,615; Nigeria: 21,439; Pakistan: 14,161; Indonesia: 12,336; Ethiopia – 12,006 – United States (10,312), Egypt – 9,455; Bangladesh: 9,236; and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – 8,640.
In total, UNICEF estimates an average life expectancy of 84 years for the 140 million children it projects will be born in 2021.
The year will also mark the 75th anniversary of UNICEF.
In the course of 2021, UNICEF and its partners will mark the anniversary milestone with events and announcements that celebrate three-quarters of a century of protecting children from conflict, disease and exclusion, and defending their right to survival, health and the education.
“Children born today will inherit the world we began to build for them today,” recalled the head of UNICEF.
“Let’s make 2021 the year we start to build a more just, safer and healthier world for children,” he added.
Meanwhile, as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, so do the needs of children and their families, the UN agency said.
From delivering life-saving health supplies to building water and hygiene facilities to keeping girls and boys connected to education and protection, UNICEF is working to slow the spread of the pandemic and minimize its impact on children around the world.
(With contributions from UNICEF)
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