During a discussion on meaningful child and youth participation in society, an audience member asked this simple question: “Why is the youth voice important?” One panellist jumped at this opportunity with statistics, offering numbers that paint a youthful future, which “deserves to be heard.” Another delivered an impassioned… Read more →←
Topic: Impact
Beginning in August 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya men, women and children fleeing violence, the destruction of their homes and persecution in Myanmar, arrived on the beaches and paddy fields of Cox’s Bazar in southern Bangladesh. The scale and speed of the refugee influx was overwhelming and the magnitude reminiscent of the… Read more →←
Youssouf was born in a clean and safe environment in Koumantou, Mali — one of the top 10 countries with the highest neonatal mortality rates in the world. Access to clean water at the community health centre helped to protect him and his mother Hawa from infection and disease. When UNICEF constructed a well in 2017, the health… Read more →←
Sex is an important part of people’s lives, but it is somehow shrouded in secrecy, mystery and shame – which lead not only to misconceptions and myths, but also diseases and unintended pregnancies. Growing up as a child, I was luckily raised to talk openly about what changes I would experience during adolescence. I was ready when I… Read more →←
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Balance for Better”. UNICEF spoke to Kaiy Abdalstar, an Iraqi lawyer and activist working to improve the rights of girls and women in Iraq. “When I was 12 years old, my father told me I could no longer go to school. I remember being scared and sad on that day,” said Kaiy… Read more →←
How can products and services be designed for children in a way that upholds child rights? How can a rights framework be translated into business practices? These were the questions that designers, researchers and child rights experts from 14 countries tried to answer over a recent weekend in Copenhagen. The intensive 48-hour co-creation… Read more →←
Over the last decades, Nepal has experienced rapid demographic changes, resulting in a young and growing child population. However, many young children in Nepal remain exposed to poverty and hunger, especially those belonging to the most vulnerable groups. We know that the early years of a child are critical for their development because… Read more →←
My name is Laura Adema. I am 21 years old and studying for a bachelor of arts in education at Mount Kenya University. I was born HIV positive but was diagnosed only in 2006, when I was nine years old, after a series of sicknesses. I took my medication without knowing what was ailing me. My parents never disclosed my status to me, no… Read more →←
The Zambian town of Mongu sits on a small hill. From its modest height you get an elevated view of the horizon across the Barotse floodplain, one of Africa’s largest wetland areas. The flooded Zambezi shows few signs of movement, though the water here is gradually flowing South, and will eventually gather speed to plummet over the… Read more →←
Last year, Nhaveen, a 17-year-old boy, was beaten by a gang of boys in an empty field. They thought he was too effeminate and wanted him to “man up.” After, Nhaveen fell into a coma and never woke up. Bullying is an issue that is close to my heart. I grew up just 20 minutes from KLCC Twin Towers, in Kuala Lumpur, the tallest towers… Read more →←