“Many of us take our gender identity for granted, but for many children it is not so easy,” said Mahesh Mahalingam, the UNAIDS Director of Communications and Global Advocacy. “It’s a matter of daily survival, a daily struggle. Children all around the world must be supported in expressing their identity...
Children in conflict zones must be protected, not punished, said the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, together with Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN Special Rapporteur on the protection and promotion of human rights while countering terrorism, in a joint statement. “It is now time to bring them home,”...
The study, released on Monday ahead of the historic UN Water Conference, reviewed household access to WASH services, the burden of WASH-attributable deaths among children under five, and exposure to climate and environmental hazards, revealing where children face the biggest threat, and where investment in solutions is desperately needed to...
“Brutal” armed conflict has left 10 million children in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in need of humanitarian assistance – more than double the number in 2020, UNICEF warned in a new report. And hostilities spilling over into neighbouring countries, are putting an extra four million children at risk. “The conflict may...
“Families forced from their homes by the earthquakes have spent the past four weeks focused on survival, their lives on hold while aftershocks continue to rumble,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, Afshan Khan. She said it is now critical “to do all we...
Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, briefed journalists in Geneva on her recent visit to the region, where she saw first-hand some of the destruction. “Children in Türkiye are at risk of developing anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder; they need to be able to resume...
Lending his support to a call for more funding for education in emergencies spearheaded by the UN global fund Education Cannot Wait (ECW) the UN chief insisted in a video message that no-one should be denied their chance to learn. A full 222 million children today experience blighted education today, Mr. Guterres...
Virginia Gamba, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, who is currently preparing her latest report, said data gathered so far reveals that trends showing high levels of violations are continuing. Nearly 24,000 grave violations were verified in 2021, the last reporting year. Most involved killing and maiming,...
The first ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance to end AIDS in children marked a step up in action to ensure all boys and girls with HIV can access life-saving treatment, and that HIV-positive mothers can have babies free from the virus. Ministers and representatives laid out plans which include...
The war in Ukraine, has resulted in high food and energy prices, global hunger, and inflation – just one example of the way that crises, affecting millions around the world, including children, affect each other. The report, “Prospects for Children in 2023: A Global Outlook”, also looks at a range...
While “the rains have ended…to a great degree, so has media attention,” UNICEF Representative in Pakistan, Abdullah Fadil, told reporters in Geneva adding that, with homes destroyed, children are facing a “bitter winter, without decent shelter”. Deadly floods hit Pakistan last summer, and have now only partly receded. 33 million...
Swarming the office of President Csaba Kőrösi, the children – who ranged in age from toddler to high-school teen – pulled on the UN and Hungarian flags that flank a UN seal in the office and ran around to look at the skyline outside of the balcony. Meanwhile, parents tried...