Press releases

ANTANANARIVO, 17 February 2026 — At least 6,000 children have been displaced and nearly 29,000 are unable to attend school in the aftermath of Cyclone Gezani, which struck eastern Madagascar on 10 February with winds exceeding 200 km/h. The second cyclone to hit the country in just two weeks, Gezani has affected more than 270,000 people and displaced over 16,000, according to preliminary reports, many of them children.

GENEVA/KYIV, 17 February 2026 – More than a third of Ukraine’s children – 2,589,900 – remain displaced as the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year. This includes more than 791,000 children inside Ukraine and nearly 1,798,900 children living as refugees outside the country. 

GENEVA/JUBA, 13 February 2026 – “Since late December 2025, a devastating escalation of violence has swept across northern and central parts of South Sudan. At least 280,000 people have been displaced in Jonglei State alone. The majority are women and children. For some, this is the second or third time they have been forced to run.

ISLAMABAD, 07 February 2026 - “UNICEF strongly condemns the devastating attack at a place of worship in Islamabad yesterday, that reportedly claimed the lives of six children. The killing of children is unconscionable and constitutes a grave violation of their rights.

NEW YORK, 6 February 2026 – In 2026 alone, an estimated 4.5 million girlsare at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation.

NEW YORK, 4 February 2026 – “UNICEF is increasingly alarmed by reports of a rapid rise in the volume of AI-generated sexualised images circulating, including cases where photographs of children have been manipulated and sexualised.

JUBA, 03 February 2026 - More than 450,000 children are at risk of acute malnutrition as the hostilities are causing mass displacement and halting of critical health and nutrition services in Jonglei state, warned UNICEF in South Sudan.  

London, 27 January 2026 - “This announcement is a grave warning about the state of children’s health in the UK. When vaccination rates fall children are left painfully exposed to risks of serious illness, life-long complications, and even death.”  

NEW YORK/MAPUTO, 5 December 2025 – Over 100,000 people, around two thirds of them children, have been displaced in northern Mozambique during the month of November, following attacks against civilians.

London, Thursday 4 December 2025: Today the Child Poverty Taskforce has revealed their strategy to tackle child poverty in the UK - UNICEF UK responds.

Wednesday 26 November 2025, London: Today the Government has announced a full scrap of the harmful two-child limit policy on Universal Credit from April 2026. 

Geneva/New York/Copenhagen, 24 November 2025 – Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and UNICEF today announced a new agreement that will make the R21/Matrix-M™ malaria vaccines significantly more accessible and affordable, paving the way to protect more children from one of the world’s deadliest diseases.

DAKAR/ABUJA, 22 November 2025 – Scores of children and teachers were reportedly abducted from a secondary school in Niger State, Nigeria, in the early hours of Friday, just days after a separate attack in Kebbi State on Monday led to the abduction of 25 girls from a boarding school.

More than 1 in 5 children in low- and middle-income countries – or 417 million – are severely deprived in at least two vital areas critical for their health, development, and wellbeing, according to UNICEF’s flagship report issued on World Children’s Day today. Record numbers of children are living in poverty across the UK. The UK saw a 34% increase in relative child income poverty between 2013 and 2023. The UK has the highest increase in relative child income poverty of the 37 high-income countries reviewed.

PANAMA CITY, 17 November 2025 – Three weeks after Hurricane Melissa hit the Caribbean, nearly 477,000 children are experiencing significant disruptions to their schooling due to damaged or temporarily closed schools across Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica.

London, UK, October 10 2025 - UNICEF UK Ambassador Arlo Parks joined pupils at Moreland School in Islington for a Dove Self-Esteem Project workshop (DSEP) focused on building body confidence and self-esteem.

PORT-AU-PRINCE/NEW YORK, 9 October 2025 – The number of children displaced by violence in Haiti has almost doubled in the past year, with 680,000 now uprooted from their homes, according to a new UNICEF Child Alert report released today. Overall, more than 1.3 million people are displaced across the country as spiraling violence, collapsing services, and lack of humanitarian access push Haiti deeper into crisis. 

GENEVA/KYIV, 28 August 2025 – “A wave of deadly attacks hit Kyiv during the early hours of this morning – reportedly killing four children, including a toddler. At least 10 children were reportedly injured. The children were at home in their beds, trying to sleep.  

ADDIS ABABA — An estimated 8.2 percent of the global population, or about 673 million people, experienced hunger in 2024, down from 8.5 percent in 2023 and 8.7 percent in 2022. However, progress was not consistent across the globe, as hunger continued to rise in most subregions of Africa and western Asia, according to this year’s The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2025) report published today by five specialized agencies of the United Nations.