MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A UNICEF report says that millions of children around the world are growing up in squalid urban areas and denied basic services despite living close to them.
The report by the United Nations agency released Tuesday says that children living in slums and shantytowns often lack water, electricity and health care.
It says that about one-third of the world's urban population lives in slum conditions.
The agency says that many poor children in urban areas don't go to school and often work at dangerous jobs.
UNICEF says nearly 8 million children died in 2010 before reaching the age of 5. Most died of pneumonia, diarrhea or birth complications. In urban areas, poor sanitation and overcrowding drive up child mortality.
