Press releases
Tenfold increase in number of children requiring treatment for acute malnutrition in Tigray, northern Ethiopia
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.
Comment on the UK Government’s announcement on plans to start donating millions of COVID-19 vaccines overseas
“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.
UNICEF hails Bhutan’s successful completion of full COVID-19 vaccinations for 90% of the eligible population
“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.
Water supply systems on the verge of collapse in Lebanon: over 71 per cent of people risk losing access to water
23 July 2021 – More than four million people are at immediate risk of losing access to safe water in Lebanon.
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham to attend Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2021
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
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore on children deprived of parental care due to COVID-19
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
Syria: Up to 1 million people at risk due to severe interruptions to Alouk Water Station
15 July 2021 - Joint statement by United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Imran Riza, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, Muhannad Hadi, and UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Ted Chaiban.
Escalation of violence in northwest Syria as at least three children killed, and two others injured
“UNICEF confirms that only this morning, three children were killed in two separate attacks in the area. The attacks have taken place in the de-escalation zone despite the ceasefire from March last year.
Statement on the arrival of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines in Haiti
Haiti was the only country in the Americas without a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. On the 14th July 500,000 doses of vaccine donated by the U.S government through COVAX landed in Port-Au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti
COVID-19 pandemic leads to major backsliding on childhood vaccinations, new WHO, UNICEF data shows
23 million children missed out on basic vaccines through routine immunization services in 2020 – 3.7 million more than in 2019 - according to official data published today by WHO and UNICEF.
UK Aid Commons Vote, UNICEF UK response
13th July 2021 - Statement from (UNICEF UK) Director of Advocacy, Joanna Rea.
UNICEF signs supply agreement for Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine
13 July 2021 - UNICEF and Sinopharm sign a long-term agreement for the supply of the BBIBP-CorV inactivated virus vaccine against COVID-19 on behalf of the COVAX Facility.
1 in 3 countries are not taking action to help students catch up on their learning post-COVID-19 school closures
13 July 2021 - A new UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank and OECD report documents education responses to COVID-19 in 142 countries
UN report: Pandemic year marked by spike in world hunger
There was a dramatic worsening of world hunger in 2020, the United Nations said today – much of it likely related to the fallout of COVID-19. While the pandemic’s impact has yet to be fully mapped, a multi-agency report estimates that around a tenth of the global population – up to 811 million people – were undernourished last year. The number suggests it will take a tremendous effort for the world to honour its pledge to end hunger by 2030.
Statement by UNICEF and UNESCO - Reopening schools cannot wait
12 July 2021 - Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay calling for the re-opening of schools ahead of the Global Education meetings on 13th July 2021
1.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine arrive in Afghanistan through COVAX global dose-sharing mechanism
More than 1.4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine arrived today in Afghanistan. Donated by the United States to COVAX, the 1,484,900 doses were delivered through the COVAX Facility’s dose-sharing scheme to the Government of Afghanistan.
UNICEF signs first COVID-19 vaccine agreement to supply African Union
UNICEF has signed an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV to supply up to 220 million doses of the J&J single-dose vaccine for all 55 Member States of the African Union (AU) by the end of 2022. Some 35 million doses are to be delivered by the end of this year.
Concerns deepen over attacks against children and child abductions in parts of West and Central Africa
7 July 2021 - Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
10 years after South Sudan’s independence, more children in need of urgent humanitarian assistance than ever before
4.5 million children – two out of three – in South Sudan are in desperate need of humanitarian support, UNICEF warned today, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the country’s independence.