Press releases

“The conflict in Yemen has reached a tragic milestone – over one decade of largely unrelenting conflict, with only brief and fragile periods of reduced hostilities, that has stolen childhoods, shattered futures, and left an entire generation fighting to survive.

GENEVA/NEW YORK/WASHINGTON D.C., 25 March 2025 – The number of children dying globally before their fifth birthday declined to 4.8 million in 2023, while stillbirths declined modestly, still remaining around 1.9 million, according to two new reports released today by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).

“I’m horrified by reports of yet another attack devastating children’s lives, this time injuring at least 17 children and damaging a school this afternoon in Sumy, north-eastern Ukraine

“Spending four days with communities and partners in Haiti, still grappling with an ongoing crisis often forgotten by the international community, underscored how heavy the toll is for children and young people in the country. Vulnerable families are being pushed to the edge of catastrophe in the centre of the country as chaos continues to deprive children of lifesaving services and exposes them to severe protection risks. Their present and future are literally under attack.

NEW YORK/PORT SUDAN, Sudan, 21 March 2025 – UNICEF condemns in the strongest possible terms the looting of vital humanitarian supplies—intended to save the lives of malnourished children and provide critical healthcare to mothers and newborns from Al Bashair Hospital in Jabal Awlia, Khartoum. The looting, which included at least 2,200 cartons of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), has put the lives of over 2,000 children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) at risk.

In the last 25 years, we have made significant progress in tackling the global malnutrition crisis for children. Since the year 2000, the number of stunted children has decreased by 55 million, or one third. In 2024, UNICEF and our partners reached 441 million children under five with services to prevent all forms of malnutrition, while 9.3 million children received treatment for severe wasting and others forms of severe acute malnutrition.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Millie Bobby Brown met adolescent girls and young children while in São Paulo, Brazil, this week, to hear about their lives, the challenges they face, and how they are pursuing their dreams.

“Reports and images emerging from the Gaza Strip following today’s attacks are beyond horrifying. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed, including more than 130 children, representing the largest single-day child death toll in the last year.

I have just concluded a four-day mission to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The situation is extremely concerning.

The resurgence of conflict in the province of South Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has forced more than 850,000 people—nearly half of them children—to flee their homes. Many are living in precarious conditions, taking shelter in schools, churches, or in the open, with limited access to clean water and sanitation, healthcare, and education.

GENEVA/COPENHAGEN, 13 March 2025 – 127,350 measles cases were reported in the European Region in 2024, double the number of cases reported for 2023 and the highest number since 1997, according to an analysis by WHO and UNICEF.

DHAKA/GENEVA, 11 March 2025 – “Children in the world’s largest refugee camp are experiencing the worst levels of malnutrition since the massive displacement that occurred in 2017.

DHAKA/COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh, 11 March 2025 – The number of children needing emergency treatment for severe acute malnutrition in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh has surged by 27 per cent in February 2025 compared to the same period last year, as worsening conditions push more young children into life-threatening hunger.

NEW YORK, 5 March 2025 – “Announced and anticipated funding cuts will limit UNICEF’s ability to reach millions of children in dire need.

NEW YORK, 4 March 2025 – Armed men are raping and sexually assaulting children, including infants as young as one, amid the nationwide conflict rippling across Sudan.

London, 3 March 2025 - The UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK) welcomes the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the UK, published today.  

GOMA, DR Congo, 3 March 2025 – UNICEF and its partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are providing life-saving clean water supplies to 700,000 people a day – around 364,000 children – in the main eastern city of Goma after breaks in the water supply during fighting.

NEW YORK / AMMAN, 3 March 2025 – UNICEF is warning that the stoppage of aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip will quickly lead to devastating consequences for children and families across Gaza who are struggling to survive.

GENEVA/BEIRUT, 28 February 2024 – “I am speaking to you this morning from Beirut to share alarming findings of the new UNICEF survey we conducted in January 2025, after more than a year of war and bombardment.

GENEVA, 28 February 2025 – “In just one month, January this year, armed groups destroyed 47 schools in Haiti’s capital. With 284 schools destroyed in 2024, the relentless attacks on education are accelerating, leaving hundreds of thousands of children without a place to learn.