GNNEVA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Research shows that worldwide more than 80 percent of the children in orphanages are not orphans but are placed there due to reasons such as poverty, disability, and marginalization, or because of trafficking, a diplomatic source here said in a background statement on Monday.
In light of World Children's Day which falls on every Nov. 20 to mark the United Nations General Assembly's adopting the Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1989, the EU Delegation to the UN in Geneva said in the statement that worldwide, 152 million children are victims of child labor.
"And over 15 percent of the victims of trafficking in human beings registered in the EU in the period 2012 -- 2014 are girls and boys," the statement added.
According to the EU delegation's figure, across the world, 16,000 children die every day, mostly from preventable or treatable causes.
What's more, every five minutes, a child dies as a result of violence in their homes, schools, and communities.
"Children are particularly vulnerable in conflict and crisis situations," the statement said, adding that the United Nations recorded at least 15,500 violations against children in armed conflict in 2016.
The statement also said that around the world, more than 50 million children have migrated across borders or been forcibly displaced, and to the EU, more than 250,000 children asylum seekers arrived by sea to Greece and Italy in the year 2015.
"Our children are the most vulnerable citizens in our societies. They are the present and the future of our world. We will stand up to our commitment and leave no child behind," the EU delegation said in its statement.
