Press releases
Geneva Palais Briefing on the situation of children in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
GENEVA, 30 March 2021 – “UNICEF teams were at Pemba airport yesterday to receive children evacuated from Afungi by UN Humanitarian Air Services. There were at least seven children on that plane who were completely alone. All the children are disoriented and afraid. Many had spent days hiding in the bush without food and water."
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore on situation of children following attack on Palma, Mozambique
“Palma was already hosting well over 35,000 people forcibly displaced from other areas of the province due to previous attacks. Half of them are children. The district has been cut off by road due to insecurity for the past months, with minimum supplies and assistance provided by air and sea. Until small amounts of food and other supplies started coming in recently, much of the district beyond the provincial capital had been virtually inaccessible to humanitarian workers struggling to provide assistance. As of today, the three remaining functional health facilities are no longer operational and the main hospital has been destroyed.
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore's remarks at the Security Council briefing on the humanitarian situation in Syria
29 March 2021 - "Council members — this year marks an anniversary no one wanted to see: the 10th year of the Syria crisis. "
New Global Tracker to Measure Pandemic’s Impact on Education Worldwide
March 26, 2021—The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education for 1.6 billion children worldwide over the past year. To help measure the ongoing global response, Johns Hopkins University, the World Bank, and UNICEF have partnered to create a COVID-19 – Global Education Recovery Tracker.
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore on the fire at Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
26 March 2021 – Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore on the fire at Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Two children killed in Al-Hol camp in Syria
DAMASCUS, 24 March 2021 – “UNICEF received reports of a 15-year-old boy killed in the Al-Hol camp in an act of violence yesterday. Two weeks ago, another boy, 16 years old, was shot dead.
Niger: attacks on children and families must stop, once and for all
"UNICEF is deeply shocked and outraged by the terrible attacks directed against families and children and perpetrated by unidentified armed groups in the villages of Intazayene, Bakorate et Wistane in the Tillia department of Tahoua region, March 21.
Give the World a Shot – VaccinAid campaign launches to vaccinate the world against Covid-19
22 March 2021 - VaccinAid campaign launches to help UNICEF deliver nearly 2 billion Covid-19 vaccines to everyone around the world, no matter where they live
Occupation of schools by security forces in Myanmar is a serious violation of children’s rights
19 March 2021 - Joint statement by Save the Children, UNESCO and UNICEF.
One in five children globally does not have enough water to meet their everyday needs – UNICEF
Globally, more than 1.42 billion people, including 450 million children, live in areas of high, or extremely high, water vulnerability, according to a new analysis released by UNICEF. This means that 1 in 5 children worldwide does not have enough water to meet their everyday needs.
Statement by UNICEF Regional Director Marie-Pierre Poirier on attack in western Niger
“UNICEF condemns in the strongest possible terms the horrific killings of civilians perpetrated by unidentified armed groups in the villages of Darey-dey and Sinégogar, Tillabery region, in western Niger, reportedly killing at least 58 people – including six children aged 11 to 17. We are deeply saddened and outraged that civilians, including children, are among the casualties.”
Scotland votes to incorporate children’s rights in law
16 March 2021 – In a landmark moment for children’s rights, the Scottish Parliament has voted to incorporate the UNCRC into Scottish Law.
Virtual visit to Syria and Jordan and press briefing: ten years on the crisis in Syria
11 MARCH 2021: Remarks as delivered by Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Across virtually every key measure of childhood, progress has gone backward, UNICEF says as pandemic declaration hits one-year mark
11 March 2021 – One year since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the latest available data from UNICEF uncover a devastating and distorted new normal for the world’s children.
Syria conflict 10 years on: 90 per cent of children need support as violence, economic crisis and COVID-19 pandemic push families to the brink – UNICEF
10 March 2021 – The war in Syria has left the lives and futures of a generation of children hanging by a thread, UNICEF warned today, as the conflict nears the 10-year mark.