Press releases
1.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine arrive in Afghanistan through COVAX global dose-sharing mechanism
More than 1.4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine arrived today in Afghanistan. Donated by the United States to COVAX, the 1,484,900 doses were delivered through the COVAX Facility’s dose-sharing scheme to the Government of Afghanistan.
UNICEF signs first COVID-19 vaccine agreement to supply African Union
UNICEF has signed an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV to supply up to 220 million doses of the J&J single-dose vaccine for all 55 Member States of the African Union (AU) by the end of 2022. Some 35 million doses are to be delivered by the end of this year.
Concerns deepen over attacks against children and child abductions in parts of West and Central Africa
7 July 2021 - Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
10 years after South Sudan’s independence, more children in need of urgent humanitarian assistance than ever before
4.5 million children – two out of three – in South Sudan are in desperate need of humanitarian support, UNICEF warned today, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the country’s independence.
The number of children facing education disruption in Yemen could rise to 6 million, UNICEF warns
Just over 2 million school-age girls and boys are now out of school as poverty, conflict and lack of opportunities disrupt their education. This is double the number of out-of-school children in 2015 when the conflict started.
Hurricane Elsa: UNICEF ready to provide lifesaving assistance in the Caribbean
While Hurricane Elsa is currently battering the Caribbean, UNICEF has prepositioned humanitarian supplies for vulnerable families in all countries likely to be affected.
First US donations of COVID-19 vaccines arrive in South Asia via COVAX
2 July 2021 - Statement on the first COVID-19 vaccines donated by the US Government to arrive in devastated South Asia.
More than 2.1 million children caught up in humanitarian crisis in Niger
Conflict, displacement, food insecurity, malnutrition, recurrent disease epidemics and outbreaks, cyclical floods and droughts in Niger have put more than 3.8 million people, including 2.1 million children, in need of humanitarian assistance, a 30 percent increase compared to 2020.
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore on obstruction of UNICEF humanitarian action in Mekele, Ethiopia
28 June 2021 — Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore on obstruction of UNICEF humanitarian action in Mekele, Ethiopia.
Geneva Palais briefing note on the worsening situation in Sub Saharan Africa as a result of secondary impacts of COVID-19
25 June 2021 - A summary of what was said by UNICEF spokesperson James Elder – to whom quoted text may be attributed – on the worsening situation for children in Sub Saharan Africa as a result of secondary impacts of COVID-19, at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Haiti: About 8,500 women and children displaced by ‘urban guerrilla’ in two weeks
Port-au-Prince, 16 June 2021 - A new wave of gang violence in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince forced nearly 8,500 women and children to flee their homes in just two weeks, UNICEF alerted today.
At least 33,000 children in parts of Tigray, Ethiopia, at imminent risk of death as conflict increases famine threat
NEW YORK, 14 June 2021 – “At least 33,000 children in inaccessible parts of Tigray, Ethiopia, are severely malnourished and face imminent death without immediate help.
UNICEF welcomes G7 leaders’ commitments to donate COVID vaccine doses, calls for accelerated timetable
13 June 2021 - Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore on G7 Leaders' commitments to sharing doses of Covid-19 vaccines
Geneva Palais briefing note on the situation of children in Tigray, Ethiopia, and Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
11 June 2021 - Summary of what was said by UNICEF spokesperson, James Elder, to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Response to UK Government’s Covid-19 vaccine commitment
10th June 2021 - UNICEF UK response to UK Government's Covid-19 vaccine commitment ahead of G7 in Cornwall
UN agencies concerned by looming famine in northern Ethiopia, call for urgent life-saving action to avert it
he Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF call for urgent action to address the dramatic acute food insecurity in northern Ethiopia. The three agencies are particularly concerned about the situation in Tigray region where the risk of famine is imminent, unless food, livelihood assistance and other life-saving interventions continue to be scaled-up, unimpeded access is guaranteed, and hostilities cease.
James Arthur, Tom Grennan, Micah Richards, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes to star in September Soccer Aid for UNICEF with Alex Scott set for presenting debut
8 June 2021 - Soccer Aid for UNICEF is back on Saturday 4 September at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium raising money to help UNICEF deliver 2 billion Covid-19 vaccines around the world, get children back to school and beat malnutrition. It's us against Covid for every child, everywhere!
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, David Beckham, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Whoopi Goldberg, Angélique Kidjo, and Liam Neeson join 28 high-profile UNICEF supporters in urging G7 countries to donate Covid-19 vaccine doses to poor countries now or risk ‘putting us back where we all started’
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Priyanka Chopra Jonas, David Beckham, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Whoopi Goldberg, Angélique Kidjo, and Liam Neeson have joined an extraordinary call by 28 high-profile UNICEF Ambassadors and Supporters demanding that G7 leaders commit to donating doses of Covid-19 vaccines to poorer countries now.
UNICEF supports 26 oxygen plants and sends over 4,000 oxygen concentrators, and other critical supplies as India continues to grapple with COVID-19
3 June 2021 – UNICEF continues its emergency support to India’s COVID-19 pandemic response.