ISLAMABAD, Dec 9: Over half of the world's children population, which is over one billion, is being robbed of their childhood by conflict, Aids and poverty.

This has been stated in the annual "State of the World's Children (SOWC) Report for 2005" issued by the Unicef on December 9, says a press release here on Thursday.

The report, "Childhood Under Threat" details how over 1 billion children are being robbed of their childhood by conflict, AIDS, and poverty. The report's message was reiterated by Ms Carol Bellamy, the executive director of Unicef, on last Monday during her visit to Pakistan saying, "When childhood is lost for so many children, our shared future is compromised. We will not reach any of the Millennium development goals without accelerated efforts to protect children in these crucial years."

According to the press release the report states that childhood is far from where it should be, judged against the standards set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), ratified by almost all governments of the world 15 years ago. "Although there have been gains for children over the last decade, there could have been more.".

The report explains that children experience poverty differently from adults. It presents a way of measuring poverty that looks at how children experience life, rather than using a country's income or consumption indicators.

On the impact of HIV/Aids on children, the report says over two million are living with HIV/Aids, and millions more are in households with chronically ill family members.