“I have three kids whom I have to put on their feet; I want them to live happily and to prosper in their future,” Andrii, 35, tells me. It’s a goal that most parents share, but for Andrii one that became a lot tougher when Ukraine’s conflict escalated in mid-2014. “Our children were frightened a lot; they kept hiding under the… Read more →←
Topic: Children in emergencies
Children pay the highest price for war. They suffer from the fear of death and injury. Those who survive are grieving for lost loved ones, leaving them with lifelong psychological scars. Working as a health and nutrition facilitator with UNICEF in north-eastern Syria for the past three years, I have seen many families uprooted from their… Read more →←
Presevo, Serbia, November 2015 “I don’t have any hope, I was born without hope,” says Sajad Al-Faraji, a 15-year-old boy traveling from Basra, Iraq. Sajad is with his older sister, younger brother and his mother on his way to a train station that’s exclusively serving refugees in southern Serbia. I’m on assignment for… Read more →←
The heavy door to the prison closed behind me and I’m locked in, sitting in a circle with children exchanging greetings. Smiles, fidgeting hands, “How are you? Can you believe this heat?” Always the same smiles — despite the fact they’re locked up. I’m struck by their good nature. A thousand kilometres from here, in the… Read more →←
1. Children can’t wait. Famine, drought and armed conflict are devastating lives and futures Famine has already been declared South Sudan and is looming in other countries. Children are suffering from malnutrition and disease and need our help. 2. Children are being hit hardest. Millions are on the verge of starvation Nearly 1.4… Read more →←
Right now, across east Africa, millions of children and their families are facing starvation as a result of civil war, drought and lack of food. In South Sudan, famine has already been declared in parts of the country – the first time in six years famine has been declared anywhere in the world – and more than 270,000 children are… Read more →←
It’s now more than a month since famine was declared in parts of South Sudan. For children in the world’s youngest country, the worsening food crisis comes at a time when they already face countless challenges on a daily basis. The scale of the crisis engulfing the country is staggering. Over 4 million children are in need of… Read more →←
“Mother, this area has a nice echo…” said 10 year-old Ansam when she reached a destroyed town in rural Damascus that serves as the shocking backdrop of our music video marking six years of a horrifying conflict in Syria. I first met Ansam when she walked onto the stage of the Damascus Opera house last December, with so much… Read more →←
What would you do without water? Some of us are lucky enough not to have to ask that question, but many around the world are not. Especially in emergencies, UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) teams work to make sure that water is available, along with hygiene measures and supplies to protect people from disease. In… Read more →←
“I will return to my home, love will return,” Ansam’s melodic voice reverberates around a packed Damascus opera house. The audience is transfixed by the 10-year-old’s singing and the harmony of the forty-strong children’s choir who accompany her. Born blind, Ansam lives in Syria’s capital after being displaced by fighting… Read more →←
