Save the Children report says 1.2bn children at risk

Children worldwide face poverty, conflict, and "childhood-ending" events like being forced into work

More than half the world's children are at risk of poverty, conflict and discrimination against girls, according to a report by Save the Children.

The charity's second End of Childhood index says more than 1.2 billion children face these threats, with 153 million facing all three.

While the global situation has improved compared with last year, the charity says progress is not fast enough.

The report comes ahead of International Children's Day on 1 June.

Save the Children's index says one billion children live in countries rife with poverty, about 240 million in countries affected by conflict, and 575 million girls live in countries where discrimination against women is common.

"Because of who they are and where they live, these children risk being robbed of their childhoods and future potential," the report says.

Despite improvements globally, Save the Children say more needs to be done

According to the survey, released on Wednesday, the situation for children has improved in 95 of 175 countries surveyed, but deteriorated in about 40 nations.

Countries are ranked by a score system based on how much children in each country face death, malnutrition, lack of education and being forced into marriage, motherhood or work.

Singapore and Slovenia are joint first top of the childhood index rankings, followed by Norway and Sweden in joint third and Finland fifth.

At the bottom of the index is Niger, along with Mali and the Central African Republic - with eight of the bottom ten nations in west or central Africa.

Save the Children also point out that despite their dominance in economics and military might, the US (36th), Russia (37th) and China (40th) all trail countries in Western Europe.

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The charity identifies 10 key trends that they say require concerted action.

Rising adolescent pregnancies and rates of marriage for girls under 18, an increasing gap between rich and poor countries, worsening survival rates in sub-Saharan Africa, child labour and stalled efforts to increase education worldwide are all concerns, as well as the huge number of displaced persons worldwide.

The charity says 20 people are displaced every minute due to conflict or persecution.

In February, a Save the Children report said one in six children now live in a conflict zone, while in 2016 another report by the charity said one girl under 15 is married every seven seconds.

The charity has come under scrutiny for allegations of sexual misconduct amid a wider scandal of Western charity workers actions worldwide.