The percentage of children at or below the poverty line in Cyprus reached 18.1 per cent in 2022, equivalent to approximately 31,000 children, according to Eurostat data. The news was reported on Friday in a joint statement released by the commissioner for the protection of children’s rights, the National Network Against Poverty in Cyprus (Edef), the Pancyprian Coordinating Committee for the Protection and Welfare of Children (Psepep), the Cyprus Children’s Parliament, and SISTEMA Cyprus.
The statement added that 2024 “will be dedicated to combating child poverty.”
Joint Actions for a Brighter Future
The organisations decided to work together in 2024 to conduct a series of joint actions aimed at public education, information dissemination, and raising awareness. A key goal is to involve children themselves in these actions.
The statement also added that a series of roundtable discussions will be held to draw conclusions and promote positions to decision-making bodies and relevant state services. Efforts will aim to eliminate child poverty and social exclusion and to mobilise the state, stakeholders, municipalities, communities, organisations, and citizens in the fight against child poverty.
“Child poverty is one of the most serious problems facing today’s societies,” the statement continued, explaining that ongoing economic crises, the Covid-19 pandemic, wars, high costs of living, housing issues, high inflation, climate change, reductions in real wages, and the living standards of workers “impact children worldwide, including those in Cyprus.”
At the same time, it noted that one per cent of the global population has accumulated more than 50 per cent of the world’s wealth. According to Unicef and World Bank data, 330 million children worldwide live in conditions of extreme poverty and material deprivation. In the European Union, one in four children live at the poverty line and face social exclusion.
