There exists in 2021 a grim situation for children in developing nations, especially in those countries that do not offer social safety nets. Approximately 700 million children in developing nations are estimated to be living in monetary-poor households this year, up from 582 million in 2019, prior to the global pandemic. Children have been especially hard hit in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where two-thirds of the children in these households reside. It’s clear many more parents and caregivers have struggled economically due to COVID-19, however, the children are uniquely affected.

Adding insult to injury, rising global food prices have made acquiring sustenance even more difficult. Malnutrition for infants and children can severely affect physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Nearly half of all deaths in children under five years are attributable to malnutrition, and it also makes children more susceptible to the frequency and severity of infections. The benefits of breast milk are likewise diminished if mothers are unable to obtain necessary vitamins and minerals for themselves. Breast milk is crucial to an infant in the first six months of life as the developing immune systems at this stage can reduce the incidence of obesity and diabetes later in life.

Child health care, literacy rates, and other factors are also at risk of stagnating. Child rights deprivations may be hidden in national-level poverty statistics as parents simply may not be aware of the importance of taking their children to the local clinic, or do not or cannot send their children to school. illuminAid aims to help offset some of the rights deprivations of children in developing countries as some may be remedied by empowering communities with behavior change information. The importance of childhood nutrition, health care, and education is obvious to many in developed countries, but may be surprisingly unknown to those in isolated communities in impoverished regions.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately an additional 150 million more children are experiencing multidimensional poverty. Now is a crucial time for nonprofits to step in to mitigate what they can. illuminAid for instance recently completed a Video Education Workshop in Paraguay on reducing transmission of the virus itself--a nation with the world’s highest daily death rate. The task may appear daunting, but together we can do more for the most vulnerable people in the most vulnerable countries in the world.