Sekou becomes wistful when I ask him about his village. “Before, things were good. At night, we’d sit around the campfire and tell stories with our parents. And during the day, we’d dance and play the drums.” He comes from a tiny village in Mopti, the central region of Mali that has increasingly become the theater of violence and… Read more →←
Topic: Children in emergencies
Over 7,000 new Syrian refugees – nearly half of them children – have fled the conflict in northeastern Syria and arrived into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Many of them are women, children and the elderly. Almost all of them walked long distances through the night, hoping to reach safety. They arrive in physical and mental distress.… Read more →←
The drive alongside lake Lanao is idyllic. Surrounded on one side by the lush greenery of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao and on the other by the vast ocean-like expanse that forms the largest lake on the island. But the horror of what took place alongside the lake’s northern shores hits you when you enter the devastated… Read more →←
If I know about a malnourished child, I will go to the family’s house every day to check on the child. If they don’t have food, I will buy it myself and give it to them. I just can’t look away. I’m South Sudanese and these are my people. Recently, I have been working in South Sudan documenting the treatment of three children… Read more →←
Amidst the ear-piercing noise of the helicopter, I could hear 11-year-old Jahmaurae Moreau say that to fly in a helicopter was “pretty cool”. He was smiling but, minutes later, as we were leaving the island behind, a few tears rolled slowly down his cheeks His mother Marianise and his 4-year-old sister Katheleh sat in front of us.… Read more →←
How a passionate mother in Sudan is learning to give her baby girl the best start in life. For Sarah Mohammed, the journey to motherhood was not an easy one. The 34-year old from El Obeid, Sudan, spent six years desperately visiting doctors and taking test after test to unearth any potential cause delaying her pregnancy. However, nothing… Read more →←
Iraq’s southern city of Basra was once a thriving port city. In its heyday, it was described as the “Venice of the east” due to the numerous canals and bridges all over the city. The comparisons with Venice are long gone. Today, the situation is bleak. Basra’s canals are polluted with filth, algae and bacteria. The riverbanks are… Read more →←
The sound of students reciting the alphabet is replaced by silence. The stillness is only broken by wind rattling the dry grass surrounding the pole stumps in straight lines on the barren plain. The poles used to hold Ogweni primary school, then the conflict came. One hour by plane from the capital Juba and 15 minutes by boat on the… Read more →←
2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the seminal document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, which seeks to protect and preserve the right of every child to a safe, healthy environment in which to develop and grow. In May 2002, the final Declaration of the United Nations… Read more →←
Being responsible for UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme in the Middle East and North Africa region, I’ve served in many countries affected by conflict. These include Syria, Pakistan and Iraq and prolonged stints in countries like Yemen. I will never forget my time in beautiful Syria – a country very close… Read more →←