Press releases

NEW YORK/PORT SUDAN, 14 April 2026 – As the conflict in Sudan hits the three-year mark, children continue to pay the heaviest price. Between January and March this year, at least 160 children have been reportedly killed and 85 maimed across the country – a 50 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2025.

NEW YORK, 9 April 2026 – “The intensification of hostilities in Lebanon continues to exact a devastating and inhumane toll on children. In just minutes yesterday, as news of a regional ceasefire agreement briefly ignited hope across the country, deadly Israeli airstrikes struck across Lebanon, reportedly killing 33 children and injuring 153.

TEHRAN, 8 April 2026 - UNICEF welcomes the ceasefire as a critical step that offers hope to children and families in Iran who have endured immense suffering. Even as the skies fall silent and the strikes cease, the impact of violence on children will have long-lasting consequences and must not be overlooked.

NEW YORK, 7 April 2026 – “Children in Iran and across the region are exposed to physical harm and psychological distress, alongside attacks and rising threats to the essential infrastructure upon which their survival depends.

NEW YORK, 30 March 2026 – More than one month into the military escalation in the Middle East, conflict continues to exact a devastating toll on children across the region. More than 340 children have reportedly been killed and thousands injured.

BEIRUT, 27 March 2026 – “In just three weeks, more than 370,000 children have been forced out of their homes in Lebanon, an average of at least 19,000 girls and boys displaced every single day. To grasp the scale, this is the equivalent of hundreds of school buses filled with children fleeing for their lives every 24 hours.

Dr Philip Goodwin, Chief Executive Officer of The UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK) said:  “It’s critical to remember that behind today’s figures are real children and families going without essentials, falling behind their peers, and making impossible choices just to get by."

NEW YORK, 23 March 2026 – “Twenty-three days into the escalating conflict in the Middle East, children across the region are paying a devastating price. A further descent into a wider or protracted conflict would be catastrophic for millions more. 

“The UK Government’s decision to cut the aid budget was always going to result in a deadly reality for some of the world’s most vulnerable children. UNICEF UK has repeatedly called for the world’s children to be protected from these cuts and the consequences of these decisions. 

GENEVA/NEW YORK, 18 March 2026 – An estimated 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including 2.3 million newborns, according to new estimates released today. Most of these deaths are preventable with proven, low-cost interventions and access to quality health care.

AMMAN, 17 March 2026 – “Violence has again claimed the lives of Palestinian children in the West Bank. On 14 March, two siblings, aged 5 and 7, were shot and killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tammun in the West Bank alongside their parents inside their car.

LONDON, 17 March 2025 – UNICEF UK has released its latest pay gap report, with the charity reporting a reduction in pay gaps across gender, ethnicity, disability and LGBTQIA+. For the first time, the report also looks at data on socio-economic background.

PORT SUDAN, 12 March 2025 – Reported drone attacks struck a secondary school and a primary healthcare centre in Shukairi village in White Nile State, Sudan, yesterday morning. At least eight students, four of them under the age of 18, and a health worker were killed. Many more were injured, and the schools in the locality have been closed as a result.

NEW YORK, 11 March 2026 – “Ten days into the intensifying conflict in the Middle East, the situation is becoming catastrophic for millions of children across the region. Since 28 February, more than 1,100 children have been reported injured or killed in the violence. This includes 200 children reportedly killed in Iran, 91 in Lebanon, four in Israel and one in Kuwait. These numbers will likely climb as the violence intensifies and spreads.

A-Listers out in force as world’s biggest celebrity football match set to celebrate twentieth anniversary – and smas massive £121m donations record!

"UNICEF is deeply alarmed by new reports that at least five children have been killed and three others injured in deadly airstrikes that hit Ponnagyun Township, Rakhine State, and Myinmu Township, Sagaing region between 23 and 24 February.

This is a summary of what was said by UNICEF Chief of Communication in the State of Palestine Jonathan Crickx – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva

This is a summary of what was said by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Muzoon Almellehan – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva

UNICEF is deeply concerned by the reports that children arrested in connection with the recent public unrest in Iran remain in detention.

The lives and safety of children in Sudan continue to be threatened by unchecked violence. On Monday 16 February, at least 15 children were reportedly killed and 10 wounded after a drone strike on a displacement camp in Al Sunut, West Kordofan.