The report says almost 19% of the world’s children now live in conflict zones. That compares with about 10% during the 1990s. By the end of 2024, conflict and violence had displaced 48.8 million children worldwide. The total was nearly triple the roughly 17 million recorded in 2010. It includes refugee and asylum-seeking children, along with millions uprooted within their own countries by conflict and violence. Climate hazards are adding another layer of risk for children around the world. Nearly half of all children, or 1.1 billion, face at least three overlapping climate hazards. Almost every child faces at least one such hazard, according to UNICEF’s 2026 climate risk assessment. More than 4 million children face as many as six overlapping threats. The hazards include drought, extreme heat, heatwaves, floods, fires, tropical storms and sand and dust storms.
