Protection needs for children in emergencies from Ukraine to Gaza and Sudan have never been greater but the humanitarian funding forecast for 2024 is “increasingly bleak”.

That’s the message from the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, whose Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations, Ted Chaiban, said that flexible funding for aid is shrinking.

At the same time, attacks against humanitarian actors around the world have surged.

Innocent victims

“Children should not be paying the price of our inaction with their lives and their futures”, Mr. Chaiban said, stressing that youngsters need continued access to essential services including healthcare, safe water, basic sanitation and education.

Earlier this week UNICEF launched a $9.3 billion emergency funding appeal to reach close to 94 million children in 155 countries in 2024. 

Mr. Chaiban said that this year’s ask was only about 50 per cent met and listed a number of “critically underfunded emergencies”.

These include Sudan, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Myanmar, Haiti, Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Bangladesh. 

A lack of resources means that “choices will need to be made” regarding several essential interventions including immunisation, primary healthcare, treatment against severe acute malnutrition, and psychosocial support.

Also in jeopardy are the means of addressing grave violations against children such as recruitment by armed groups, and basic education which is also “a life-saving intervention in emergencies”, said UNICEF.

Source: UN News

https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/12/1144837