Press releases

The Mayor has today launched a new initiative to help clean up toxic air and protect the health of young children at nurseries in some of the most polluted parts of London.  20 nurseries in pollution hot spots across the capital will receive new ‘air quality audits’, to help identify measures to reduce children’s exposure to toxic air pollution. Five nurseries will trial new air quality filtration systems to test their effectiveness at reducing indoor pollution.  

3 December 2018 - "In the past 12 days, more than 150 women and girls have sought assistance after suffering sexual violence, including rape, near Bentiu in South Sudan.

2 December 2018 – More than 100 children and young people from around the world gathered in Johannesburg this weekend to draft a global manifesto calling on world leaders to end violence in and around schools.

30 November 2018 – “More than 60,000 boys and girls are out of school because of the fighting in and around the port city of Hudaydah in Yemen. The violence has forced over a third of all schools there to close, with 15 located on the frontline and others badly damaged or being used as shelters for displaced families

30 November 2018: Five years after Bangui descended into bloodshed, life in the Central African Republic is even harsher and more dangerous for children. Despite the escalating crisis, international funding and attention are critically low.

29 November 2018: Reported measles cases spiked in 2017, as multiple countries experienced severe and protracted outbreaks of the disease. This is according to a new report published today by leading health organizations.

29 November 2018 - Some 360,000 adolescents are projected to die of AIDS-related diseases between 2018 and 2030. This means 76 adolescent deaths every day – without additional investment in HIV prevention, testing and treatment programmes, UNICEF said in a new report released today.

27 November 2018 – The poorest urban children in 1 in 4 countries* are more likely to die before their fifth birthday than the poorest children in rural areas. And the poorest urban children in 1 in 6 countries are less likely to complete primary school than their counterparts in rural areas, according to a new UNICEF report released today.

20th November 2018: Eric Cowell, age four, has today been spotted taking over his dad’s job for the day, as Simon Cowell and partner Lauren Silverman embrace World Children’s Day for Unicef UK – a day of action for children, by children – by allowing Eric to dress up as his famous father and make all of the decisions for the day.

16 November 2018 – “UNICEF is alarmed by recent reports of up to 30 children who have been killed in recent violence in Al Shafa village, in eastern Syria.

16 November 2018 – More than 1.3 million children under five years of age in need of treatment for severe acute malnutrition across six Africa’s Sahel countries are expected to receive care in 2018 – the highest number in at least a decade.

6 November 2018 – The Government of Ecuador yesterday signed a new protocol for the protection of uprooted children, including those arriving from Venezuela. Led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility and the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, the ‘Protocol for the assistance of children, adolescents and their families in contexts of human mobility in Ecuador’ establishes protection mechanisms for migrant children – both those coming alone or with their families – who have arrived without official documentation. UNICEF, working alongside with the Government, has advocated for this Protocol and provided technical assistance.

6 November 2018 - “Intense fighting in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah is now dangerously close to Al Thawra hospital - putting the lives of 59 children, including 25 in the intensive care unit, at imminent risk of death."

30 October 2018 – Living in a rich country does not guarantee equal access to quality education, according to Report Card 15 from UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti. Children in less wealthy countries often perform better at school despite fewer national resources, the report says.

29th October 2018 - Amy Gibbs, Director of Advocacy at Unicef UK said: "Today’s Budget was a wasted opportunity by the Government to address the key issues impacting children’s rights to survive and thrive in the UK. Unfortunately, while it showed willing to focus on children’s needs with some funding for mental health and social care support, there are still significant shortfalls."

26 October 2018 – Almost a month after a deadly earthquake and tsunami struck Palu and the surrounding areas of the northwestern part of Sulawesi, Indonesia, an estimated 375,000 children remain in need of lifesaving supplies and services.

 5 October 2018: UNICEF and a team of social workers from the Ministry of Social Affairs have started the process of identifying separated and unaccompanied children. 

1 October 2018 – Three days after the earthquake that shook the island of Sulawesi and the devastating tsunami that swept through Palu City, UNICEF says the situation for tens of thousands of children remains extremely precarious in the days ahead. Children in Palu, Donggala and other affected sites in Sulawesi need urgent help to recover. Many have lost their loved ones, homes, neighbourhoods and all things familiar in their lives.

28 September 2018 – Recent survivors of the Ebola virus and UNICEF are partnering to help prevent further transmission of the deadly disease in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As part of this effort, the survivors share their stories during public events and through public radio in Ebola-affected communities.