Press releases

An attack on El Fasher would endanger hundreds of thousands of children, warns UNICEF

NEW YORK, 3 May 2024 – “The increase of fighting in Sudan’s North Darfur state has taken a deadly toll on children in recent weeks. But the threat of an imminent military attack on El Fasher, a city sheltering at least 500,000 people displaced by violence elsewhere in the country, risks a catastrophic escalation, endangering the lives and wellbeing of 750,000 children in El Fasher, and potentially millions more.

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SOCCER AID FOR UNICEF LAUNCHES MASCOT DESIGN COMPETITION GIVING CHILDREN IN THE UK THE CHANCE TO BE PART OF THE BIG DAY AT STAMFORD BRIDGE

24 April 2024 – Soccer Aid for UNICEF is once again calling on primary and secondary school pupils across the country to unleash their creativity and compassion and design their dream mascot ahead of this year’s match at Chelsea’s iconic Stamford Bridge stadium on Sunday 9th June.

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Global immunization efforts have saved at least 154 million lives over the past 50 years

24 April 2024 | Geneva / New York / Seattle – A major landmark study in be published by The Lancet reveals that global immunization efforts have saved an estimated 154 million lives – or the equivalent of 6 lives every minute of every year – over the past 50 years. The vast majority of lives saved – 101 million – were those of infants.

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UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell briefing to the United Nations Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Haiti

Excellencies … good afternoon. It is good to be with you.Thank you to Ambassador Frazier for hosting this discussion during Malta’s Security Council presidency, and for inviting me to brief you on the worsening humanitarian situation in Haiti. 

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Gavi and UNICEF welcome approval of new oral cholera vaccine

GENEVA/NEW YORK, 18 April 2024 – Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and UNICEF welcome the news that a new oral cholera vaccine (OCV), Euvichol-S, has now received WHO prequalification and can be made available to countries around the world.

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Gavi and UNICEF welcome approval of new oral cholera vaccine

GENEVA/NEW YORK, 18 April 2024 – Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and UNICEF welcome the news that a new oral cholera vaccine (OCV), Euvichol-S, has now received WHO prequalification and can be made available to countries around the world.

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Statement by UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, following her two-day visit to the Middle East

"Today I completed a two-day visit to the Middle East, where escalating violence continues to take an unconscionable toll on the lives of children.

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Children disproportionately wearing the scars of the war in Gaza - Geneva Palais briefing note

Children disproportionately wearing the scars of the war in Gaza - Geneva Palais briefing note

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UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban remarks at the International Conference for Sudan and the Neighbouring Countries

UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban remarks at the International Conference for Sudan and the Neighbouring Countries

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Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on children in Sudan at risk of famine

NEW YORK, 8 March 2024 – Over 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), according to a newly released UNICEF report. The updated global estimates show a 15 per cent increase in the total number of survivors – or 30 million more girls and women – compared to data released eight years ago.

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Amid escalating violence in Mozambique, 60,000 children displaced within a month

NEW YORK, 8 March 2024 – Over 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), according to a newly released UNICEF report. The updated global estimates show a 15 per cent increase in the total number of survivors – or 30 million more girls and women – compared to data released eight years ago.

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Over 230 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to female genital mutilation — UNICEF

NEW YORK, 8 March 2024 – Over 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), according to a newly released UNICEF report. The updated global estimates show a 15 per cent increase in the total number of survivors – or 30 million more girls and women – compared to data released eight years ago.

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Frontline children: battling mental trauma, underground

Kyiv, 23 February 2024 – “UNICEF estimates that over the past two years of war, children in cities in Ukraine’s frontline areas have been forced to spend between 3,000 and 5,000 hours – equivalent to between four to seven months – sheltering underground.

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Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee: Civilians in Gaza in extreme peril while the world watches on

21 February 2024 – In the less than five months that followed the brutal 7 October attacks and the ensuing escalation, tens of thousands of Palestinians – mostly women and children – have been killed and injured in the Gaza Strip. More than three quarters of the population have been forced from their homes, many multiple times, and face severe shortages of food, water, sanitation and healthcare – the basic necessities to survive.

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