ISLAMABAD: An estimated 14,161 babies will be born in Pakistan on New Year’s Day, according to UNICEF.
As the calendar turns to 2021, UNICEF is again celebrating the new lives being brought into the world on January 1. Fiji in the Pacific will welcome 2021’s first baby. The United States, its last. Globally, over half of these births are estimated to take place in 10 countries: India (59,995), China (35,615), Nigeria (21,439), Pakistan (14,161), Indonesia (12,336), Ethiopia (12,006), the United States (10,312), Egypt (9,455), Bangladesh (9,236), and Democratic Republic of the Congo (8,640) Pakistani babies will account for nearly 3.8 per cent of the estimated 371,504 babies to be born on New Year’s Day.
Their average life expectancy is expected to be around 73 years. “This has been a difficult year for all of us, and there is perhaps no better way to turn the page than to welcome new young lives into the world,” said Aida Girma, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan. “With the challenges of 2020 behind us, and the opportunities of 2021 before us, now is the time to begin to build a better world. Children born today will inherit the world we begin to build for them—today.”
2021 marks the 75th anniversary of UNICEF. Over the course of the year, UNICEF and its partners will be commemorating the anniversary with events and announcements celebrating three-quarters of a century of protecting children from conflict, disease and exclusion and championing their right to survival, health and education.
Today, as the world faces unprecedented challenges caused by the pandemic, economic slowdown, rising poverty and inequality, we are reminded that the need for UNICEF’s work is as great as ever. “There is no more appropriate year than this – the year of UNICEF’s 75th Anniversary – to renew our commitment to end preventable newborn and child deaths, and give every child, the best start in life. We owe it to the young lives who will inherit the world we leave,” said Aida Girma.
