Press releases

17 September 2021 – Schoolchildren around the world have lost an estimated 1.8 trillion hours – and counting – of in-person learning since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

16 September 2021 – Eighteen months into the COVID-19 pandemic, schools for nearly 77 million students in six countries continue to be almost completely closed, according to an updated data analysis released today by UNICEF.

PORT-AU-PRINCE / PANAMA CITY, 15 September 2021 – One month after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake jolted southwest Haiti, an estimated 650,000 people, including 260,000 children, still need urgent humanitarian assistance, UNICEF warned today.

GENEVA, 13 September 2021 - “Children in Afghanistan have long suffered disproportionately from the humanitarian, security, social and economic crises that have plagued the country for decades. Their suffering is far from over and they need our help."

NIAMEY (Niger), 9 September 2021 – To mark the 5th Anniversary of the Safe Schools Declaration, on 28th May 2020 the UN General Assembly designated 9th September International Day to Protect Education from Attack. In Niger, UNICEF took this opportunity to call for greater attention and mobilization on the situation of children deprived from education due to insecurity while conflicts in affected regions become more brutal, intense and widespread over the past months.

9 September 2021 – School closures have led to alarming inequities in learning opportunities for children in South Asia, despite significant efforts by governments and partners to expand remote learning, according to UNICEF research conducted in India, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

NEW YORK, 7 September 2021 – “Since 14 August, hundreds of children have been separated from their families amidst chaotic conditions, including large-scale evacuations, in and around the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Some of these children were evacuated on flights to Germany, Qatar and other countries.

4th September 2021 - Soccer Aid for UNICEF on ITV raises record £13 million for children around the world

Those least responsible for this crisis, are paying the highest price -- including the children killed and injured in a series of atrocities in Kabul since last Thursday.

29 August 2021 - Statement by UNICEF Regional Director, George Laryea-Adjei, upon his return from Kabul

KABUL, 27 August 2021 – “UNICEF strongly condemns the attacks at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday, which reportedly killed at least 60 people and injured over 120, including women and children.

UNICEF is deeply concerned after the reported deaths of a 10-year-old child on 24 August in Diyala by the detonation of an explosive remnant of war (ERW) and of an 11-year-old child on 25 August in Muradiya Village, South of Baquba, due to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED.)

"Twenty-five years ago, Graça Machel released her report to the United Nations, ‘The impact of war on children’, which urged the international community to take concrete action to protect children from the scourge of war and called on the United Nations and the global community to act to protect children.

25 August 2021 – The UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jon Sparkes as Executive Director (Chief Executive) of the charity, to take effect in early 2022. Steven Waugh, Chief Financial Officer, will continue as Interim Executive Director until then.

24 August 2021 – A child's first day of school—a landmark moment for the youngest students and their parents around the world—has been delayed due to COVID-19 for an estimated 140 million young minds, UNICEF said in a new analysis released as summer break comes to end in many parts of the world.

23 August 2021- Nearly 9 out of 10 children in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region live in areas of high or extremely high water stress with serious consequences on their health, nutrition, cognitive development and future livelihoods.

LONDON, 23 August 2021 – “Today, around 10 million children across Afghanistan need humanitarian assistance to survive. An estimated 1 million children are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the course of this year and could die without treatment."

22 August 2021 - “Child casualties continue to increase with the escalation of violence in northwest Syria. On Friday, four children from the same family were killed while they were asleep in their home in Idlib governorate. In another attack, two siblings were injured in western Aleppo."

21 August 2021- In response to the powerful earthquake that struck Haiti last week, the first UNICEF shipment of 9.7 tonnes of medical, water and hygiene supplies has arrived in Port Au Prince, Haiti.

LONDON, 20 August 2021 – Young people living in the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau are the most at risk of the impacts of climate change, threatening their health, education, and protection, and exposing them to deadly diseases, according to a UNICEF report launched today.