Millions of children living in countries affected by conflict and disaster lack access to vital child protection services, putting their safety, well-being and futures at risk, UNICEF warned today as it appealed for $3.9 billion to support its work for children in humanitarian crises.
“Today millions of children living through conflict or disaster are suffering horrific levels of violence, distress and trauma,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “The impact of our child protection work cannot be overstated. When children do not have safe places to play, when they cannot be reunited with their families, when they do not receive psychosocial support, they will not heal from the unseen scars of war.”
UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children sets out the agency’s 2019 appeal and its efforts to provide 41 million children with access to safe water, nutrition, education, health and protection in 59 countries across the globe. Funding for child protection programmes accounts for $385 million of the overall appeal, including almost $121 million for protection services for children affected by the Syria crisis.
“Providing these children with the support they need is critical, but without significant and sustained international action, many will continue to fall through the cracks,” said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes. “The international community should commit to supporting the protection of children in emergencies.”
The five largest individual appeals are for Syrian refugees and host communities in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey (US$ 904 million); Yemen (US$ 542.3 million); The Democratic Republic of the Congo (US$ 326.1 million); Syria (US$ 319.8 million) and South Sudan (US$ 179.2 million).
In total, working alongside its partners, UNICEF aims to:
Provide 4 million children and caregivers with access to psychosocial support;
Provide almost 43 million people with access to safe water;
Reach 10.1 million children with formal or non-formal basic education;
Immunize 10.3 million children against measles;
Treat 4.2 million children with severe acute malnutrition.
In the first 10 months of 2018, as a result of UNICEF’s support:
3.1 million children and caregivers received psychosocial support;
35.3 million people had access to safe water;
5.9 million children accessed some form of education;
4.7 million children were vaccinated against measles;
2.6 million children were treated for severe acute malnutrition.
ENGLISH 
Հայերեն
Русский
Դաս. հայերեն
French