Press releases
Response to announcement of UK Government's booster vaccine roll-out plan
14 September 2021- Joanna Rea, Director of Advocacy, The UK Committee for UNICEF UK, response to announcement of UK Government's booster vaccine roll-out plan.
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore at the High-level Ministerial Meeting on the Humanitarian Situation in Afghanistan
GENEVA, 13 September 2021 - “Children in Afghanistan have long suffered disproportionately from the humanitarian, security, social and economic crises that have plagued the country for decades. Their suffering is far from over and they need our help."
Over 300 schools forced to close in Niger due to insecurity, affecting more than 22,000 children
NIAMEY (Niger), 9 September 2021 – To mark the 5th Anniversary of the Safe Schools Declaration, on 28th May 2020 the UN General Assembly designated 9th September International Day to Protect Education from Attack. In Niger, UNICEF took this opportunity to call for greater attention and mobilization on the situation of children deprived from education due to insecurity while conflicts in affected regions become more brutal, intense and widespread over the past months.
Repeated school closures due to COVID-19 leading to learning loss and widening inequities in South Asia, UNICEF research shows
9 September 2021 – School closures have led to alarming inequities in learning opportunities for children in South Asia, despite significant efforts by governments and partners to expand remote learning, according to UNICEF research conducted in India, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Haiti earthquake: UNICEF seeks US$122.2 million to bring humanitarian aid to 1.6 million people
7th September 2021 - Emergency funding appeal nearly tripled to reach people affected by the earthquake and violence in Haiti.
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore on unaccompanied and separated children evacuated from Afghanistan
NEW YORK, 7 September 2021 – “Since 14 August, hundreds of children have been separated from their families amidst chaotic conditions, including large-scale evacuations, in and around the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Some of these children were evacuated on flights to Germany, Qatar and other countries.
SOCCER AID FOR UNICEF ON ITV RAISES RECORD £13 MILLION FOR CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD
4th September 2021 - Soccer Aid for UNICEF on ITV raises record £13 million for children around the world
Haiti earthquake: over half a million children at risk of waterborne diseases
2 September 2021 - About 540,000 children in the southwest of earthquake-stricken Haiti are now facing the possible re-emergence of waterborne diseases, UNICEF warned today.
Olivia Colman, Olly Murs, Alesha Dixon, David Harewood and Martin Compston to front Soccer Aid for UNICEF appeal films
1 September 2021- Olivia Colman, Olly Murs, Alesha Dixon, David Harewood and Martin Compston to front Soccer Aid for UNICEF appeal films
Afghanistan ‘a child protection crisis in a country already one of the worst places on earth to be a child’
Those least responsible for this crisis, are paying the highest price -- including the children killed and injured in a series of atrocities in Kabul since last Thursday.
We cannot abandon the children of Afghanistan in their time of need
29 August 2021 - Statement by UNICEF Regional Director, George Laryea-Adjei, upon his return from Kabul
UNICEF condemns Kabul airport attack
KABUL, 27 August 2021 – “UNICEF strongly condemns the attacks at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday, which reportedly killed at least 60 people and injured over 120, including women and children.
Alarming increase in children killed and injured by explosive devices in Iraq
UNICEF is deeply concerned after the reported deaths of a 10-year-old child on 24 August in Diyala by the detonation of an explosive remnant of war (ERW) and of an 11-year-old child on 25 August in Muradiya Village, South of Baquba, due to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED.)
Joint statement on seminal report on the impact of war on children
"Twenty-five years ago, Graça Machel released her report to the United Nations, ‘The impact of war on children’, which urged the international community to take concrete action to protect children from the scourge of war and called on the United Nations and the global community to act to protect children.
The UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK) appoints Jon Sparkes as Chief Executive
25 August 2021 – The UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jon Sparkes as Executive Director (Chief Executive) of the charity, to take effect in early 2022. Steven Waugh, Chief Financial Officer, will continue as Interim Executive Director until then.
First day of school 'indefinitely postponed' for 140 million first-time students around the world – UNICEF
24 August 2021 – A child's first day of school—a landmark moment for the youngest students and their parents around the world—has been delayed due to COVID-19 for an estimated 140 million young minds, UNICEF said in a new analysis released as summer break comes to end in many parts of the world.
“Running Dry”: unprecedented scale and impact of water scarcity in the Middle East and North Africa
23 August 2021- Nearly 9 out of 10 children in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region live in areas of high or extremely high water stress with serious consequences on their health, nutrition, cognitive development and future livelihoods.
Around 10 million children in Afghanistan need humanitarian assistance to survive, says UNICEF
LONDON, 23 August 2021 – “Today, around 10 million children across Afghanistan need humanitarian assistance to survive. An estimated 1 million children are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the course of this year and could die without treatment."
Seven children killed and two injured in northwest Syria in the last week alone
22 August 2021 - “Child casualties continue to increase with the escalation of violence in northwest Syria. On Friday, four children from the same family were killed while they were asleep in their home in Idlib governorate. In another attack, two siblings were injured in western Aleppo."
Amidst Kabul airport blockage, UNICEF and WHO call for assistance
KABUL/CAIRO/KATHMANDU, 22 August 2021 - As humanitarian needs in Afghanistan increase, the abilities to respond to those needs are rapidly declining. WHO and UNICEF call for immediate and unimpeded access to deliver medicines and other lifesaving supplies to millions of people in need of aid, including 300,000 people displaced in the last two months alone.