UN committee ‘deeply concerned’ for children in Argentina amid cutbacks

A top United Nations committee says it is “deeply concerned” by government cutbacks in Argentina to policies that help and protect children.

At a press conference in Geneva this week, members of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) highlighted the magnitude and severity of the current situation facing kids nationwide as it presented a critical report assessing the state of play in Argentina.

This followed a presentation in Geneva by Arnoldo Ariel Scherrer Vivas, the head of Argentina’s delegation and Undersecretary for Family Policies at the Human Capital Ministry.

Presenting the report, Hynd Ayoubi Idrissi, a member of the UN Committee, underlined “concern about standard of living” in Argentina, highlighting an “increase in extreme monetary poverty and food insecurity.”

Data released this week by Argentina’s government indicated that 52.9 percent of the population currently lives in poverty. Among those aged under 14, the figure rises to 66.1 percent. Around 27 percent of children live in extreme poverty.

Calling on Argentina’s government to introduce new policies to protect the nation’s youngest citizens, Idrissi expressed concerns about cutbacks to programmes that assist and support children.

“Children lack [a] protection policy,” said the UN official, warning of a “high level of mortality due to malnutrition, disease and lack of access to water”

The full 17-page report dives deeper into the UN’s concerns, specifically addressing concerns over the Milei administration’s “chainsaw” approach to the national government.

The document says officials are “seriously concerned about the institutional and political changes being proposed since the end of 2023” and “by the continuing drastic decrease in the budget allocations for children.”

This included “disinvestment in health and education in recent months” as well as the “reduction, merging and abolition of Ministries” and “lack of coordination between the different institutions and agencies responsible for child protection.”

The UN also said it is “deeply concerned” by both “the high rates of sexual violence and abuse during childhood”, and current child marriage laws. 

The CRC was also alarmed by Milei’s decision approving the “closure” of institutions “responsible for addressing violence and abuse against children,” as well as the shuttering INADI anti-discrimination watchdog.

Other concerns included the Milei administration’s proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13, "high rates of sexual violence and abuse during childhood," and the "exponential increase" in the use of children in pornographic materials.

Coordination, as it was tagged in the report, is Argentina’s biggest challenge, though the UN signalled that Milei’s decisions to reduce, merge, abolish, and disconnect the institutions and ministries that protected Argentina’s children is the foundational worry. 

According to the report, this leads to “duplication of efforts, gaps in coverage, and lack of continuity in care for children at risk.”

The only “positive element” outlined in the press conference was the 2021 adoption of the abortion law that was conceived and signed by former president Alberto Fernández, Milei’s predecessor in office.