In light of World Children’s Day, our colleagues from RTL discussed the well-being of Luxembourg’s youngest citizens with a spokesperson for Unicef Luxembourg, who warned that poverty affects children across generations.
33 years on, Luxembourg can still improve when it comes to the rights of its future generations. According to a recent report from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (STATEC), around 28% of children living in the Grand Duchy are considered poor.
Unicef Luxembourg’s communication chief Paul Heber believes that the country’s politicians tend to relativise this number by comparing the Grand Duchy to other countries. In conversation with RTL, he drew attention to the fact that many children in Luxembourg are socially ostracised due to their financial situation.
Heber explained: “They are children without a place to do their homework, without winter clothes, not necessarily having their own room, and with no access to fresh fruit. Trivial things, some might say, but there is no hiding the fact that one is aware of the children’s disadvantage. And children who grow up in poverty rarely get out of it by the time they become adults. So, it is actually something intergenerational, which can be inherited, and that worries us.”
Although the difference between rich and poor might be smaller in Luxembourg than in other countries, it should still be acknowledged that the rift is growing, warned Herber.
Asked about children’s rights on a global scale, the spokesperson said that humanity is to blame for many of the existing problems: “War is man-made, and we already have enough problems with malnutrition, cyclical environment and climate change, which has troubled us for years. In short, there are enough problems. For us, it would therefore already matter to not add any further man-made problems. We could help make it easier for children and actually have the time to built instead of just repair.”
Due to the unfolding energy crisis, Unicef Luxembourg is not advocating for public buildings to be lit in blue light for the occasion of World Children’s Day this year. Instead, they ask people to turn off their lights, make a statement online, and wear the colour blue.
