The death toll for under-fives was 4.8 million in 2023 – a significant decline – with stillbirths falling marginally to around 1.9 million, data released by the UN shows. Despite this, decades of hard-won progress in child survival is under threat as a result of funding cuts, health system challenges...
UNICEF’s representative in Haiti, Geetanjali Narayan, told journalists that just last month, armed groups destroyed 47 schools in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, adding to the 284 schools destroyed in 2024. “The relentless attacks on education are accelerating, leaving hundreds of thousands of children without a place to learn,” she said. Speaking...
“I was married at 14, and I lost my first child at 16 during pregnancy,” Ranu Chakma said. Child marriage is common in her village of Teknaf Upazila, on the southern coast of Bangladesh, even though it is illegal and a human rights violation. Those violations occur even at a time...
Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, expressed deep concern over the devastating impact on children and families. “In North and South Kivu provinces, we are receiving horrific reports of grave violations against children by parties to the conflict, including rape and other forms of sexual violence at levels surpassing anything we...
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was hailed as a historic agreement when it was adopted by world leaders in 1989, and it has inspired governments to pass laws protecting children from violence and exploitation. Around a decade later, a protocol prohibiting the recruitment and use as...
In November, following several failed attempts, politicians of all stripes approved a bill to overhaul legislation that has been in effect since 1887, reflecting a deep-rooted practice that violates the rights of children and adolescents: according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). one in five girls aged between 14...
According to the latest estimates, children now comprise up to half of all armed group members, with recruitment driven by widespread poverty, lack of education and collapse of essential services. “Children in Haiti are trapped in a vicious cycle – recruited into the very armed groups that are fuelling their...
“Over the last six days, children and families, and the infrastructure they rely on have come under attack in Dnipro, Lviv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, and other populated areas”, said Munir Mammadzade. With schools and health facilities destroyed and damaged, “Ukraine’s youngest citizens continue to bear the brunt of these attacks....
A large number of fighters from the militant Islamist group JNIM attacked a military base, homes, and a camp for displaced people in the city of Djibo, on Sunday. At least 40 people were killed and more than 42 injured. The attackers also set fire to 20 shops and three sites for displaced people....
“About 160 children are killed every day; that’s one every 10 minutes,” said UN World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier, echoing concerns from the UN Children’s Fund about the serious additional threat of a mass disease outbreak in the enclave. “If youngsters continue to have restricted access to water...
In Protecting maternal, newborn and child health from the impacts of climate change, the World Health Organization (WHO), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) jointly underscore the neglect, underreporting, and underestimation of climate events’ effects on maternal and child health. It also draws attention to the importance...
Convened by the Government of the United Kingdom, the day-long conference brought together representatives from more than 20 countries to shore up efforts to achieve zero hunger and end malnutrition, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Far off track Speaking during a session on creating new approaches to...