UNICEF seeks $3.6bn in emergency assistance for children in 2018

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appealed for $3.6 billion to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance to 48 million children living through conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies in 51 countries in 2018. Conflicts that have endured for years continue to deepen in complexity, bringing new waves of violence, displacement and disruption to children’s lives […]

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appealed for $3.6 billion to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance to 48 million children living through conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies in 51 countries in 2018.

Conflicts that have endured for years continue to deepen in complexity, bringing new waves of violence, displacement and disruption to children’s lives around the world thereby driving humanitarian needs to critical levels, with children especially vulnerable, UNICEF stated.

UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes, Manuel Fontaine said, children cannot wait for wars to be brought to an end, with crises threatening the immediate survival and long term future of children and young people on a catastrophic scale.

“Children are the most vulnerable when conflict or disaster causes the collapse of essential services such as healthcare, water and sanitation. Unless the international community takes urgent action to protect and provide life-saving assistance to these children, they face an increasingly bleak future.”

Fontaine said 84 percent (around $3.015 billion) of the 2018 funding appeal has been approximated for work in countries affected by humanitarian crises borne of violence and conflict.

"Parties to conflicts are showing a blatant disregard for the lives of children. Children are not only coming under direct attack, but are also being denied basic services as schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure are damaged or destroyed.

“The world is becoming a more dangerous place for many children, with almost one in four children now living in a country affected by conflict or disaster. For too many of these children, daily life is a nightmare,” Fontaine said.