New York: On a report released ahead of the World Children's Day (November 20), the UNICEF stated that racism and discrimination against children based on their ethnicity, language and religion are widespread across the world.
Children from marginalised ethnic, language, and religious groups in an analysis of 22 low and middle income countries lag far behind their peers in reading skills, Xinhua news agency quoted the report titled, 'Rights denied: the impact of discrimination on children'.
Discrimination and exclusion deepen intergenerational deprivation and poverty, and result in poorer health, nutrition, and learning outcomes for children, higher likelihood of incarceration, higher rates of pregnancy among adolescent girls, and lower employment rates and earnings in adulthood, it added.
The organisation responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to the countries worldwide has also stated that on an average, students aged 7-14 from the most advantaged group are more than twice as likely to have foundational reading skills as those from the least advantaged group.
"Exclusion and discrimination during childhood cause harm that can last a lifetime," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on Friday.
"This hurts us all. Protecting the rights of every child, whoever they are, wherever they come from, is the surest way to build a more peaceful, prosperous, and just world for everyone."
The Executive director said that on World Children's Day as well as every day, every child has the right to be included, to be protected and to have an equal chance to reach their full potential.
"All of us have the power to fight discrimination against children in our countries, our communities, our schools, our homes, and our own hearts. We need to use that power," She added.
-IANS with Inputs