Three years after Mosul was retaken from the so-called Islamic State, parts of west Mosul still resemble a warzone with entire neighborhoods laid waste. Buildings remain collapsed into each other like a deck of cards. They create a dangerous mashup of bricks and steel that loom over children and families fighting to resume their lives as… Read more →←
“I remember clearly one day when I was small, two men drilled a well near my brother’s house. They installed a hand water pump with the word UNICEF on it. I remember this vividly; it made a deep impression on my mind. I was so impressed because I could now use water from the pump and didn’t have to go to the river bank to take a… Read more →←
When our car pulled over to pick up Yvonne, I was at once struck by her elegance. In this small village in remote Nyagatare District, she stood out in her vibrant patterned pants and her deep blue cotton poncho lined with faux fur. Yvonne is one of Rwanda’s nearly 30,000 Inshuti z’Umuryango, or “IZU” as we call them colloquially,… Read more →←
The earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010 left more than 220,000 dead, 300,000 injured and 1.5 million homeless. Countless families were broken up and 750,000 children were directly affected. UNICEF staffers were there as well, suffering through the situation. Below is the story of Gabrielle Lafortune, a driver at UNICEF Haiti. During… Read more →←
“It’s calm now, but be ready to leave at any time,” come the instructions over the car radio. We’re driving east, through heavy snow, towards the mining settlement of Zolote 3, on the frontline of east Ukraine’s nearly 6-year old conflict. The so-called ‘frozen conflict’ in Europe’s backyard is still active and for the… Read more →←
As the New Year begins, it is time to bring new urgency to safeguarding the rights and protecting the lives of children affected by armed conflict. Around this time last year, I reflected on the failure of the international community to protect children living through war. Today, I am writing at the end of another devastating year –… Read more →←
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 →←
For every child, an identity and a future My name is Miranda Armstrong and I’ve been the Chief of Child Protection for UNICEF, Cote d’Ivoire for the last three years. As a specialist on violence against children and child labour, non-registered children issues — including the fact that many children aren’t registered at all —… Read more →←
I grew up in the suburbs of Ghana’s capital, Accra. Every four years, as elections approached, the nation was constantly reminded, through TV ads and tailored songs, to reject violence. In the months preceding the elections, our TV screens would be saturated with images of people in other countries who have been injured or displaced… Read more →←
In Ethiopia’s Tigray region, a preschool teacher fills her rural classroom with playful learning materials, creatively teaching her students and giving them the best start in life to learn. “I still remember the paper birds she made to teach us about numbers,” recalls Milkawit Getnet, age 12, and now in Grade 7. “I still love… Read more →←
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