28 Brazilian Children Murdered Every Day, Says UNICEF

Murders of children and teens in Brazil have doubled over the past 25 years, the United Nations Children’s Fund said in a report released Monday.

UNICEF’s report said 28 people under 19 were killed every day in Brazil, double the number when the country passed a law to protect minors in 1990. This death rate is higher than in war zones, according to the agency.

Brazil is the fifth most populous country in the world, with more than 195 million people, of which approximately 30 percent are under 18. The report said that 10,500 children and teen were killed in 2013.

The report comes as the country's Congress approved a bill few weeks ago, which, if signed into law, would lower the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16. The bill is set for another vote at the congress before it is sent for a vote at the country's senate.

25 ANOS DO ECA by Fernandes #ECA25anos pic.twitter.com/gulJKX2j6G

— Heber Dias (@prosapolitica) July 13, 201

“25 years of ECA [The Brazilian Child and Adolescent Rights Act] by Fernandes”

The report warned that lowering the criminal responsibility age from 18 to 16 would erode the efforts and advances that have been made over the past 25 years.

"You can see a push from parts of society to make adolescents responsible for the violence," the report said. "In reality, there are death sentences every day on adolescents, especially those who are black, across the whole country."

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The report shows most of the victims are black, from low-income families, living in the outskirts of big cities, where they are more likely to be exposed to a hostile environment. Black Brazilian minors are four times more likely to be murdered, the study said.

According to the report, which marked the 25^th anniversary of the passing of the Brazilian Child and Teenager Law, more than 3 million children do not attend school in the country.

Conheça o relatório #ECA25anos – Avanços e Desafios para a Infância e a Adolescência no Brasil http://t.co/jIwneKzjbv pic.twitter.com/JTX3MdA73v

— UNICEF Brasil (@unicefbrasil) July 13, 201

“Meet #ECA25anos report - Progress and Challenges for Children and Adolescents in Brazil”

Meanwhile, the report acknowledged that since the introduction of the 1990 law, the country has made significant strides in children rights in education, nutrition and infancy rates. More than 39 million people have been lifted from poverty, as the country grew to become the seventh largest economy in the world.

However, the report also warned that those advances do not reach certain groups and communities in the country. Children born to indigenous parents are twice as likely to die before their first birthday than other ethnicities.

"Analyzing the course of these 25 years, we can say that Brazil made the right decision to adopt the law," said Gary Stahl, UNICEF Representative in Brazil. "Brazil must now focus on the most excluded. For this, specific actions are required in order to reach children and adolescents who have been left behind."

UNICEF stressed that one of the most important tasks the country faces is improving the socio-educational system to help stop teenagers becoming involved in criminal activities and organizations.

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