Humanitarian action and emergencies

As dawn breaks over Darfur, my return after two decades feels heavy. Many millions are suffering once again. Twenty years ago, I was part of the humanitarian effort to make a difference. That was in the early 2000s, when celebrities and world-famous journalists would make the trek in a well-intentioned effort to focus attention on the atrocities…

I wasn’t ready for the devastation I saw in the Gaza Strip when I was there a few months ago. I wrote then that in my 20 years with UNICEF I’d never seen anything quite like it, as panicked families fled one bombardment after another. The desperation of families constantly on the move – families who already had nothing – was palpable. Somehow,…

At the start of 2024, we stand at a critical juncture: Geopolitical tensions are escalating, economic integration is unravelling, and multilateral cooperation is faltering. This global fragmentation threatens to undermine decades of progress made for children worldwide. The choices we make today – whether to continue on this path or whether we…

Afghanistan has mostly disappeared from the global news cycle, but the hardship faced by its people, especially children, has worsened over the last two years.   I wanted to see the situation for myself, and how our colleagues have adjusted their efforts under the new circumstances. For a week I travelled the breadth of Afghanistan, from Herat in…, Herat: After the earthquakes , Inside the tent, it’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Fifteen adolescent girls watch me expectantly. It’s been a while since I’ve spoken Farsi – a language readily understood by the Dari speakers of Western Afghanistan. I pause, then try again. This time they understand me, and their laughter lights up the place.  The tent we sit in is a…, Torkham border: Families returning from Pakistan , Baby Kolsum pulls a face when I drop the polio vaccine in his mouth. The fight against polio was where my UNICEF career began, and my heart was set on successfully vaccinating one of the kids returning from Pakistan at the Torkham border crossing today.   I ask for another try. A second baby boy, Shabir, his tiny body swaddled in warm blankets, is…, Daikundi: Supporting communities on health, nutrition and education , Daikundi Province is perched among the jagged peaks of Afghanistan’s central highlands. Buffeted by crosswinds, the little Kodiak plane comes in to land on a flat piece of land the length of two football pitches.   We drive deeper into the mountains, past mud-bricked villages, women shouldering bundles of firewood, and boys herding shaggy goats.…

Nothing could prepare me for my recently concluded mission into the Gaza Strip, where children face catastrophic conditions. In my twenty years with UNICEF, traveling from one humanitarian crisis to the next – from famines to floods and war zones to refugee camps – I’ve simply never seen such devastation and despair as is happening in Gaza. The…

I pen these words following a recent visit to Artibonite, in northern Haiti, a visit that has left an indelible mark. I heard firsthand how children and families have been thrust into the abyss of despair. How they are grappling with fear, uncertainty, and unimaginable hardships. Violence, poverty, school closures, and a resurgence of cholera and…

As soon as you meet 17-year-old Francis*, you know his childhood hasn’t been one that anyone deserves. He struggles to make eye contact while we’re talking, and his expression remains mostly blank. When he says he was only six when it all started, I immediately think of my own six-year-old son. It makes it even harder to hear what Francis has been…

The needs of Afghanistan’s children and families are immense. So are the efforts of those supporting them: teams of community workers made up of family members, teachers in community-based schools, vaccinators, and health workers working around the clock to bring life-saving services in the face of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe. UNICEF…

Noor is only 22 years old, but she has already experienced heartbreaking losses. The first time was due to complications during pregnancy. The second was amid devastating flooding in 2022 that destroyed her home in Sindh Province. Just days after giving birth at home, Noor was forced to evacuate with other members of the community in a makeshift…, Muhammad Hassan teaches at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre in Mairpurkhas, Sindh Province., UNICEF/UN0847805/Haro Pakistan. Muhammad Hasnain, 9, stands outside a UNICEF temporary learning centre in Rajanpur District, Punjab. Pakistan climate story, Muhammad Hasnain, 9, stands outside a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre in Rajanpur District, Punjab., UNICEF/UN0847820/Haro Pakistan. Children take part in activities at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre in Rajanpur District. Pakistan climate story, Children take part in activities at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre in Rajanpur District., UNICEF/UN0847822/Haro Pakistan. Children study at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre in Mairpur Khas, Sindh Province. Pakistan climate story, Children study at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre in Mairpur Khas, Sindh Province, Pakistan., UNICEF/UN0847794/Haro Pakistan. Muhammad Hassan teaches at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre in Mairpurkhas, Sindh Province. Pakistan. Muhammad Hasnain, 9, stands outside a UNICEF temporary learning centre in Rajanpur District, Punjab. Pakistan. Children take part in activities at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre in Rajanpur…, Zahida, chief of UNICEF’s Hyderabad field office, talks with children in Shaheed Benazirabad District, Sindh Province., UNICEF/UN0847807/Haro Pakistan. Children are pictured at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre for children affected by the 2022 floods in Sindh Province. Pakistan climate story, Children are pictured at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre for children affected by the 2022 floods in Sindh Province., UNICEF/UN0847816/Haro Pakistan. Children draw at a UNICEF-supported safe space for children in Umerkot District, Sindh Province. Pakistan climate story, Children draw at a UNICEF-supported safe space for children in Umerkot District, Sindh Province., UNICEF/UN0847793/Haro Pakistan. Zahida, chief of UNICEF’s Hyderabad field office, talks with children in Shaheed Benazirabad District, Nawabshah, Sindh Province. Pakistan. Children are pictured at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre for children affected by the 2022 floods in Sindh Province. Pakistan. Children draw at a UNICEF-supported…

2022 was incredibly difficult for people around the world. We were confronted by a series of major crises, including a continuing pandemic, a major war in Europe, an energy crisis, rising inflation and food insecurity.  These events hit children particularly hard, compounding the already severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of…

When Camsus Joseph became pregnant, she decided to leave Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. Joseph moved back to her home village, Toirac, in the southwest of the country. For her, the instability and violence in Port-au-Prince was overwhelming. Joseph also wanted to be closer to her family. For the time being her husband, Claudy Delice, stayed…, Serving a community recovering from an earthquake, This region continues to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake and a longstanding lack of infrastructure. That presents significant challenges when it comes to providing primary health care services to children like Anne-Djounaïka.   A street scene in the centre of Les Cayes, a small city in the south of Haiti that was badly impacted by the…, Challenging circumstances in Haiti's capital, Back in Port-au-Prince, health workers are faced with difficult circumstances. The aftermath of natural disasters, political instability, violent protests over price hikes, fuel shortages and continued clashes between armed groups have all served to increase the challenges.   Motorcyclists and other drivers crowd around a gas pump at a station in…

NASIRABAD, Pakistan – Driving across the Bolan Pass, a valley in southwest Pakistan, I’m reminded again of the sheer devastation wrought by recent flooding around much of the country.   As we continue the hours-long journey along what used to be the road to Jhal Magsi, a district of Balochistan, the receding waters reveal more and more evidence of…