Singapore, Jan 6 (DPA) Governments should not abandon women and children who need their help most as tax revenues shrink because of the global financial crisis, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) warned Tuesday.

Anupama Rao Singh, Unicef director for East Asia and the Pacific, urged governments not to forget those dependent on public aid.

‘The UN Convention on Children’s Rights, which has been ratified by all nations, is clear: children should get help first, especially in economically difficult times,’ Singh told a conference here.

People around the world are losing their jobs because of the crisis, affecting families’ ability to pay for schooling, or forcing them to send the children out to work, Unicef said.

‘We must not endanger the future of our children,’ Singapore’s Minister for Youth Vivian Balakrishnan said at the conference