The United Nations Children’s agency UNICEF has criticised Germany for not doing enough to protect its young people. The agency has stressed that while Germany has made progress in this area over the last three decades, there are still serious shortcomings in terms of child rights. 

Child poverty is of particular concern in Germany

"Child poverty, unequal educational opportunities and the experience of violence have a particularly serious impact on the life situation and well-being of children," explained UNICEF ​​Germany. Children across Germany have also been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in the past two years as many parents have lost their jobs and now inflation is once again on the rise - worsening the situation even more. 

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was implemented in Germany in 1992 and was intended to help give countries a framework on which they could aim to improve conditions for children in their respective countries. The convention states the rights of children to healthcare, education, play and a non-violent upbringing, as well as stressing the protection of children’s identity and freedoms. 

Germany’s traffic light coalition aims to tackle some of UNICEF’S concerns

UNICEF has also flagged German law as problematic, arguing that Children’s Rights should be part of the Basic Law and that there should be basic child security available in Germany. The traffic light coalition agreement signed in 2021 already aims to address these concerns. 

UNICEF has called for "more comprehensive data on the situation of children" to be collected and "additional children's officers and complaints offices for children" to be created, so that Germany can make more progress on the rights of children. CEO of UNICEF ​​Germany, Georg Graf Waldersee, said that politicians must now "finally focus on the well-being of children" and that the commitments made by the coalition must now be "implemented quickly and comprehensively".