The report -- Lives Upended - How COVID-19 threatens the futures of 600 million South Asian Children -- covers eight South Asian countries namely Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. It says that an estimated 240 million children already live in “multi-dimensional” poverty -- including factors such as poor health, lack of education, poor sanitation and poor quality of work – in these countries. An additional 120 million children could be pushed into poverty due to the COVID crisis, taking the total number to 360 million, it says. Hate speech of this kind has surfaced in different countries, including Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, the report said. “In India, school closures have impacted 247 million children enrolled in elementary and secondary education and 28 million children who were attending pre-school education in anganwadi centres.

Source: Hindustan Times June 24, 2020 07:54 UTC