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…

UNICEF recognizes, respects and strengthens the leadership and capacity of local communities, civil society organizations and authorities in humanitarian action. Preparing national and subnational actors for future humanitarian responses will better address the needs of children affected by humanitarian crises. This edition of UNICEF’s annual…

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 Latin America and the Caribbean region is home to one of the world’s largest and most complex child migration crises. ‘The Changing face of Child Migration in Latin America and the Caribbean: A region like no other’ examines the changing dynamics of child migration in the region through the lens of three key migration flows – northern Central…, chilren sitting on the floor reading, How many children are on the move? , Children are migrating through Latin America and the Caribbean in record numbers and now account for a larger share of the migrant population than in any other region in the world. Globally, children make up around 13 per cent of the migrant population, but they account for 25 per cent of people on the move in Latin America and the Caribbean. In…, What’s behind the crisis? , The root causes of migration in the region are highly variable, from socioeconomic factors like widespread poverty, limited livelihood opportunities, structural inequality, food insecurity and barriers to essential services, to a desire among families to secure a more hopeful future for their children. People may also leave their countries to…, Migrant journeys are long and dangerous… , families stepping of a small boat Families arrive at Lajas Blancas in Panama after crossing through the Darien jungle. The physical risks along these irregular routes are innumerable, especially for migrant children. In 2022, at least 92 migrant children died or went missing while moving through the region, more than any other year since 2014.…, …and marked by growing diversity, hand drawn poster A note included in a UNICEF-supported interactive exhibit called "Voices of Migrants" is displayed at the Museum of Tapachula in Mexico. More and more children are on the move of an increasingly young age, often alone and from diverse countries of origin, including as far away as Africa and Asia. The major flows in child…, With some groups particularly vulnerable, While all refugee and migrant children are likely to face limited access to services in transit or upon reaching their destinations, some groups are especially vulnerable, including children with disabilities, children identifying as LGBTQI+ and children from indigenous groups. Multiple studies have shown that indigenous children don’t have…, How is UNICEF responding?, A smiling little girl is getting washed by her mother in a big sink. A mother bathes her child at a migrant reception station in Panama. Regardless of the reasons for leaving their country of origin, or their migratory or legal status, children on the move and their families have rights, including protection and safe access to basic services.…, What is UNICEF calling for?, Most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are simultaneously points of origin, transit, destination and return. This means that an all-of-region, integrated approach will be needed to protect all refugee and migrant children and to alleviate the root causes of irregular and forced migration. mural of the silhuette of a person carrying a…, UNICEF CHILD ALERT September 2023 The Changing Face of Child Migration in Latin America and the Caribbean A region like no other 1 UNICEF CHILD ALERT SEPTEMBER 2023 Cover photo: Panama, 2023 UNICEF/UN0854849/Urdaneta UNICEF CHILD ALERT Contents I. Overview 1 II. Movement patterns 4 III. Root causes 9 IV. Dangerous journeys 15 V. Barriers to…

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…

Ten million children in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are in dire need of humanitarian assistance – twice as many as in 2020 – largely due to spiralling conflict, while nearly 4 million children are at risk in neighbouring countries as hostilities between armed groups and national security forces spill across borders. 'Extreme Jeopardy' looks at…, Benin. Two brothers sit outside their home in Tanguieta, northern Benin. Two brothers sit outside their home in Tanguieta, northern Benin., What’s happening in the central Sahel? , Caught between armed groups, national security operations and intercommunal violence children are finding themselves directly targeted by non-state armed groups who operate across large areas of the region. 2022 was a particularly violent year for children in the central Sahel, almost certainly the deadliest since armed conflict broke out in…, The crisis is marked by attacks on infrastructure…, Burkina Faso. A girl drinks water from a tap at a playground in Burkina Faso. A girl drinks water from a tap at a playground in Burkina Faso. In Burkina Faso, attacks include sabotaging water networks – cutting power lines and destroying generators or electrical panels at pumping stations that feed urban water supply systems – and damaging manual…, …and education, Niger. A boy writes on a chalkboard in Niger. A boy writes on a chalkboard in Niger. Some armed groups that oppose state-administered education burn and loot schools, and threaten, abduct or kill teachers. By 2022, more than 8,300 schools had shut down across the central Sahel because they were directly targeted, teachers had fled, or because…, A changing climate is layering one crisis on top of another, Côte d'Ivoire. Women and children collect water in Tougbo, in the north of Côte d’Ivoire. Women and children collect water in Tougbo, in the north of Côte d’Ivoire. The central Sahel is one of the most climate-affected and water-scarce regions on the planet. Temperatures are rising 1.5 times faster than the global average. Water tables have…, It’s time to turn the page, Burkina Faso. A child waves at site for internally displaced persons. A child waves at a site for internally displaced children and families in Barsalogho, in the north central region of Burkina Faso. UNICEF urges governments across the central Sahel and affected coastal countries, along with technical and financial partners, to prioritize…, How UNICEF is helping, Burkina Faso. A boy walks into a school in Kaya, in the north central region of Burkina Faso. A boy walks into a school in Kaya, in the north central region of Burkina Faso. UNICEF has a large operational footprint in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, with almost 600 staff members working across the three national offices and 12 sub-offices, including…, Ten million children in the central Sahel need humanitarian assistance amid spiralling conflict and punishing climate. U NIC EF/ UN 05 381 08 /Ke ta EXTREME JEOPARDY UNICEF | CHILD ALERT | March 2023 BeninGhana TogoCte dIvoire BurkinaFaso NigerMali EXTREME JEOPARDY: TEN MILLION CHILDREN IN THE CENTRAL SAHEL NEED HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AMID…

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…