The main issues affecting children globally according to the document are child poverty, material deprivation, and lack of opportunities for healthy development. Child poverty is damaging to children's mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual development and inhibits their potential. Rates of child poverty vary by region. A life cycle approach is useful for understanding age-specific vulnerabilities and targeting interventions to improve outcomes for children at different stages of development, from in utero to adolescence. Key vulnerabilities faced by children include poor nutrition, lack of health services, inadequate sanitation and education opportunities, and HIV/AIDS.

1. “ Imagine the faces and bright futures of our own children -- then support those the world has forgotten. Help dedicated groups and governments care for those children as if they were our own. As, in a real sense, they are” -Anthony Lake Executive Director, UNICEF

3. Child poverty by region