UNICEF seeks $3.6bn to help 48mn children caught up in humanitarian crises

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) appealed Tuesday 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.

Around the world, violent conflict is driving humanitarian needs to critical levels, with children especially vulnerable, the UN agency reported. Conflicts that have endured for years “ such as those in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen, among other countries “ continue to deepen in complexity, bringing new waves of violence, displacement and disruption to children's lives, it 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," UNICEF's Director of Emergency Programmes, Manuel Fontaine, said, launching the emergency appeal.

UNICEF said that almost one in four children live in a country affected by conflict or disaster and has therefore set aside about 84 per cent of its appeal (over $3 billion) these zones.

Destruction of schools, hospitals and health and sanitation systems due to violence has meant that the spread of water-borne diseases is now one of the greatest threats to children's lives in crises.

Girls and women face additional threats, as they often fulfil the role of collecting water for their families in dangerous situations.

"Some 117 million people living through emergencies lack access to safe water and in many countries affected by conflict, more children die from diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation than from direct violence," said Fontaine.

As the leading humanitarian agency on water, sanitation and hygiene in emergencies, UNICEF provided over half of the emergency water, sanitation and hygiene services in humanitarian crises around the world. It also helped hospitals and medical centres treat deadly diseases and repaired water and sanitation systems.

In the first 10 months of 2017, UNICEF provided almost 30 million people with access to safe water, 13.6 million children with vaccination against measles, 5.5 million children with some form of education, 2.5 million children with treatment for severe acute malnutrition and 2.8 million children with psycho-social support.