Press releases

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.

18 August 2021 - Remarks by UNICEF Afghanistan Representative on the situation of children in Afghanistan and UNICEF’s presence

NIAMEY/DAKAR/GENEVA/NEW YORK, 18 August 2021 - UNICEF is deeply shocked and outraged by the terrible attacks against children and families by unidentified armed groups in the village of Darey-dey, in the rural commune of Banibangou, Tillabery region, in western Niger that took place on 16 August 2021.

17 August 2021 – UNICEF estimates that about 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, have been affected by the powerful earthquake that hit Haiti on Saturday.

16 August 2021 - Statement by Yukie Mokuo, UNICEF representative in Lebanon as three children are affected by explosion in Akkar

15 August 2021 – “This latest tragedy comes 11 years after another major earthquake hit southwest of Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and causing incalculable suffering and destruction."

14 August 2021 - A 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook Haiti early this morning. It was felt in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, but the epicenter was detected in the southern parts of the country. Serious damage, injuries and casualties are reported in in the Grande Anse, Sud and Sud-Est departments. 

AMMAN, 10 August 2021-  “An ongoing escalation of violence in Syria, especially in the north, has killed and injured at least 45 children since the beginning of July.“A few days ago, an attack killed four children from the same family in Al-Qastoun town in Hama, north of Syria. The attack hit a residential area killing and injuring scores of civilians. “Parties to the conflict should protect children at all times.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 09 August 2021 – "UNICEF is shocked by the rapid escalation of grave violations against children in Afghanistan. In the last 72 hours, 20 children have been killed and 130 children have been injured in Kandahar province; 2 children were killed and 3 were injured in Khost province; and in Paktia province, 5 children were killed and 3 were injured..."

UNICEF is extremely concerned about the escalation of violence against children in Afghanistan, and is outraged by a report that a 12-year-old boy from Shirin Tagab district, Kohsayyad village, in Faryab province, suffered a brutal flogging by a member of an anti-government element.

One year after the devastating explosions in Beirut, a UNICEF survey shows the needs of affected children and families remain acute, magnified by a collapsing economy, political instability and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Having secured access to up to 400 million doses of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine, the African Union (AU), African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and UNICEF are partnering to ensure the seamless procurement and delivery of vaccines to AU Member States. This partnership will help ramp up efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic as less than 2 per cent of people on the continent are fully vaccinated so far.

As UNICEF reaches areas of Tigray that were inaccessible in past months due to insecurity, our worst fears about the health and wellbeing of children in that conflicted region of northern Ethiopia are being confirmed.UNICEF estimates that over 100,000 children in Tigray could suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the next 12 months – a tenfold increase compared to the average annual caseload.

“Sharing COVID-19 vaccines now is crucial to ending the pandemic and the UK Government’s plan to donate 9 million vaccines in the coming weeks is a welcome step. At a time when the delay in global vaccine supply is impacting millions of people around the world this is the action needed to end this pandemic, for everyone everywhere.

“A total of 2,401 health workers helped to vaccinate the eligible population with the second dose from 20 to 26 July across the country, arguably the fastest vaccination campaign to be executed during a pandemic. The precision with which Bhutan conducted mass vaccination campaigns within a week is an extraordinary achievement.

23 July 2021 – More than four million people are at immediate risk of losing access to safe water in Lebanon.

22 July 2021 - UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham to attend Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2021 and announces the Children's Investment Fun Foundation (CIFF) will match public donations, fundraising and the value of tickets - up to £6.3 million

As the official COVID-19 death toll around the world passed 4 million earlier this month, UNICEF is increasingly concerned for children left without one or both parents