This policy brief represents the first attempt to map the number of children living in conflict settings around the world. More than half of the world’s children live in a conflict-ridden country, and more worryingly, one in six children lives very close to a conflict zone – that is, less than 50 km from where the actual fighting takes place.
However, we lack sufficient data to tell us much about how these children are impacted by conflict. More resources should be invested in collecting and managing systematic data on the various ways in which these children are directly affected by armed conflict, such as through killing and maiming, child soldier recruitment, and sexual exploitation.
Brief Points
In 2016, approximately 1.35 billion children under the age of 18 (59% of all children) were living in a conflictaffected country.
In 2016, approximately 357 million children (1 out of 6) were living in a conflict zone.
In 2016, approximately 165 million children were living in high intensity conflict zones, i.e conflicts with more than 1,000 battle-related deaths.
The number of children living in conflict zones has been steadily increasing since the year 2000.
Asia is the world region with the highest total number of children living in conflict zones.
The Middle East is the world region in which a child has the highest probability of living in a conflict zone.