Press releases
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham visits Indonesia to meet children tackling violence and bullying in the classroom
28 March 2018 – UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham travelled to Indonesia this week to meet children who have experienced classroom violence and bullying, and to see how 7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund is supporting anti-bullying programmes in schools.
Brendan Cole Swaps Dancing Shoes for Football Boots as he Prepares for ITV Debut in Soccer Aid for Unicef Match at Old Trafford in June
27th March 2018 – Brendan Cole, former Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer and TV personality, has today announced he will be taking part in this year’s eagerly anticipated Soccer Aid for Unicef match on ITV.
1 million children in Idlib at increased risk due to violence and Reports of 17 children killed in Idlib, in north west Syria
23 March 2018- Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Regional Director in the Middle East and North Africa, said: “The war on children in Syria continues relentlessly and with no mercy.
Unicef NEXTGen London Doubles Fundraising Total to £2m
15 March 2018 – Today, Unicef Next Generation London, an innovative fundraising group based in the capital, announces it has raised more than £2 million for Unicef, supporting their vital work for the children of Syria.
Toxic air pollution in the UK putting children’s lives at risk
15 March 2018 - The joint Select Committees report on improving air quality has found that current air pollution levels in the UK are threatening to cause a children’s health crisis.
Sir Mo Farah Becomes First England Player to Sign for Soccer Aid For Unicef And Will Finally Go Head-To-Head With Usain Bolt At Old Trafford In June
15th March 2018 – Sir Mo Farah has today announced he will play for England in this year’s eagerly anticipated Soccer Aid for Unicef match on ITV.
No end in sight to seven years of war in Syria: children with disabilities at risk of exclusion
12 March 2018 – With no end in sight to the war in Syria, children with disabilities risk being excluded and forgotten. The conflict in Syria continued unabated through 2017, killing the highest ever number of children – 50 per cent more than in 2016.
UNHCR and UNICEF chiefs, on joint visit to Lebanon, call for more action to protect and empower Syrian refugee women and girls as world marks International Women’s Day
8 March 2018 – With women and girls making up more than half of the registered Syrian refugee population in Lebanon, and with nearly 40 per cent of refugee households in the country headed by women, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF, called for stronger action to protect and empower women refugees.
Usain Bolt To Play First Official Football Match At Old Trafford For Soccer Aid For Unicef
27th February 2018 – Olympic hero Usain Bolt and global popstar Robbie Williams today announced on social media that they will go head-to-head for the eagerly anticipated Soccer Aid for Unicef match, as part of a new look charity campaign for Unicef UK and ITV.
Statement from Deputy Executive Director: Government misses opportunity to reunite refugee families in the UK
22 February 2018 - Lily Caprani, Deputy Executive Director at Unicef UK, statement following today's Westminster Hall Debate, which offered a crucial opportunity for the government to announce a much needed change to its immigration rules.
Conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa take a brutal toll on children in a grim month of January
5th February 2018 - UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Geert Cappelaere, said: “In this dark month of January, conflicts and violence in the Middle East and North Africa have once again taken a devastating toll on children. They were killed in ongoing conflicts, suicide attacks, or frozen to death as they fled active warzones.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Violence in Tanganyika and South Kivu fuels one of the world’s worst displacement crises for children
25 January 2018 - Democratic Republic of the Congo: Violence in Tanganyika and South Kivu fuels one of the world's worst displacement crises for children.
Statement by Unicef Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore following two-day visit to conflict-ravaged South Sudan
19 January 2018 – "I have just spent two days in South Sudan where I saw firsthand how four years of a man-made conflict have left children sick, hungry and on the brink of death."
3 Million Children Born Into War In Yemen
16 January 2018 – More than 3 million children were born in Yemen since the escalation in violence in March 2015 according to a Unicef report.
A bloody start to a new year in Syria: Over 30 children killed in the first two weeks of 2018
14 January 2018 – "At a time when most parents are filled with new year’s hope for their children’s future, mothers and fathers in Syria are left grieving for the children they have lost."
WHO, WFP and UNICEF: Yemen’s families cannot withstand another day of war, let alone another 1,000
29 December 2017 – "We have passed the grim milestone of 1,000 days of war in Yemen. As violence has escalated in recent days, children and families are yet again being killed in attacks and bombardments."
Children under attack at shocking scale in conflicts around the world, says Unicef
28 December 2017 – Children in conflict zones around the world have come under attack at a shocking scale throughout the year.
220,000 children threatened by mines and other explosive weapons in eastern Ukraine – UNICEF
21 December 2017 - Eastern Ukraine is now one of the most mine-contaminated places on earth, endangering 220,000 children who live, play and go to and from school in areas littered with landmines, unexploded ordnance and other deadly explosive remnants of war
UNICEF airlifts nearly 6 million doses of vaccines for children in Yemen amid intensifying violence and import restrictions
20 December 2017 – A UNICEF-chartered plane landed today in Sana’a and delivered nearly 6 million doses of essential vaccines to protect millions of children at risk of preventable diseases, including the current diphtheria outbreak that has reportedly infected over 300 people and killed 35. Most diphtheria cases and deaths are in children.