UNICEF seeks $3.9bn for 41mn children

Health Desk-Jan 30, 2019: UNICEF on Tuesday appealed for $3.9 billion to support its work for children in humanitarian crises, said a press release.

UNICEF warned that 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.

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.

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, the executive director said. 

UNICEF estimates that more than 34 million children living through conflict and disaster lack access to child protection services, including 6.6 million children in Yemen, 5.5 million children in Syria and 4 million children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

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.