UNICEF launches $3.3 bn appeal to assist children in conflict zones

PanARMENIAN.Net - Against the backdrop of ever increasing number of children driven from their homes due to conflict, disasters and climate change, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday, January 31 launched a $3.3 billion appeal to provide emergency assistance in 48 countries around the globe.

“From Syria to Yemen and Iraq, from South Sudan to Nigeria, children are under direct attack, their homes, schools and communities in ruins, their hopes and futures hanging in the balance,” noted the UN agency in a news release.

“In total, almost one in four of the world's children lives in a country affected by conflict or disaster,” it added.

UNICEF's Humanitarian Action for Children sets out the agency's 2017 appeal and its goals to provide children with access to safe water, nutrition, education, health and protection in some of the world's worst conflicts and humanitarian emergencies.

The largest single component of the appeal ($1.4 billion) is for children and families caught up in the conflict in Syria, which will soon enter its seventh year. This also includes Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries, such as Jordan where, according to estimates, almost half of all refugee families have a child who is a breadwinner.

With enough funding, UNICEF hopes to reach 81 million people, including 48 million children with access to safe water, nutrition, education, health and protection.