Remarks by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell at the launch of UNICEF’s 2025 Humanitarian Action for Children Appeal
NEW YORK (December 5, 2024) - “Excellencies, colleagues … welcome to the launch of UNICEF’s 2025 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal.
“Let me start by thanking you – UNICEF’s friends and donors – for your ongoing support of UNICEF, and our work for the world’s most vulnerable children. With humanitarian need at historic levels in crises around the globe, your support is as critical as ever.
“As we speak today, millions of children are being denied their fundamental rights because of a broad array of interconnected crises – from conflict, and the consequences of climate change, to public health emergencies and rising poverty.
“We estimate that right now, more than 460 million children are living in or fleeing from devastating conflicts. They are being wounded and killed in their homes and communities. Their schools and hospitals are coming under attack. And they are losing out on access to the services they need – like protection, safe water, sanitation, vaccinations, and education.
“This includes the State of Palestine and Israel, where more than a year on from the brutal attack on Israel, the situation for children in the region almost defies description. Israeli children have been killed and taken hostage, while thousands have been displaced from their homes.
“In Gaza, more than 44,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed, up to 60 per cent of whom are women and children. All of Gaza’s nearly 1.1 million children need humanitarian assistance to survive, and most are now displaced inside an area smaller than 50 square kilometers. Hunger and acute malnutrition are widespread – especially in the north – and thousands of children have suffered grave rights violations.
“In nearby Lebanon, we hope the recently announced ceasefire will bring an end to the war which has killed more than 240 children, injured around 1,400, and upended the lives of countless others. This is an essential first step toward allowing communities to heal and rebuild after months of turmoil and loss.
“But the destruction of homes, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure inside the country has interrupted the education of over two million children … and left many without access to health care and basic services. Restoring these vital lifelines is critical to ensuring that children can recover and thrive.
“Meanwhile, the armed conflict in Sudan rages on, ravaging the country’s civilian population. Conflict, massive displacement, and constraints on humanitarian access have resulted in devastating food insecurity, malnutrition, and grave rights violations.
“In June, I visited Port Sudan and saw firsthand how children, especially girls, are impacted every day by a conflict that has left more than half of the country’s 24 million children in urgent need of assistance.
“While there, I met an 11-year-old girl named Areeg. She told me how she and her family had been displaced multiple times by the ongoing civil war, and that one of her closest friends had been killed. Life is difficult for Areeg, but she and her family are safe now. Each day, she visits a UNICEF-run Child Friendly Space where she can draw, play and be a child for a few hours. “I love to draw,” said told me because she can put all her emotions into her artwork.
“I must reiterate that in terms of scale, the humanitarian consequences of the war in Sudan are the most extraordinary we have seen in the past twenty years.
“Excellencies … beyond the crises which dominate the global headlines, we continue to see historic levels of children in need of humanitarian assistance amidst so-called ‘forgotten emergencies.’
“In Myanmar, for example, an estimated 3.4 million people – nearly 40 per cent of whom are children – have been displaced by violence. This includes intensifying conflict in Rakhine State where UNICEF has received alarming reports that civilians, particularly children and families, are being targeted or caught in the crossfire, resulting in deaths and severe injuries.
“Or in Haiti, where more than 700,000 people, including 365,000 children, are now internally displaced because of horrific violence perpetrated by armed groups. Across the country, six million people, including 3.3 million children, need humanitarian assistance … with most facing severe food insecurity.
“And in the Democratic Republic of the Congo … nearly 15 million children affected by conflict need humanitarian assistance and protection.
“At the same time, children are at growing risk from the intensifying climate crisis. Today, more than 1 billion children – nearly half the world’s children – live in countries that are at extremely high-risk for the impacts of climate change.
“As a result, they are increasingly exposed to droughts and heatwaves, more powerful storms and more extensive flooding, air pollution and disease. Disasters linked to climate change are disrupting children’s supplies of nutritious food and safe water; and they are undermining essential social service delivery.
“Climate change and conflict are also displacing children from their homes and communities – often multiple times. At the end of 2023, nearly 50 million children were displaced due to conflict, violence, and natural disasters – accounting for 40 per cent of all forcibly displaced people globally.
“We estimate that extreme weather including floods, droughts and storms are displacing 20,000 children every day. And, on average, children’s displacement lasts five years, meaning that many children spend up to a quarter of their childhood in host locations, often with their basic rights denied.
“Again, the scale of children’s humanitarian needs is at a historically high level, with more children impacted every day. Looking ahead to 2025, we estimate that 213 million children in 146 countries and territories will need humanitarian assistance over the course of the year – a staggeringly high number.
“It is UNICEF’s mandate to reach each of these children with the essential services and supplies they need, to ensure they are protected, and their rights upheld.
“Around the world, our organization has the field presence, dedicated staff, and partners to deliver on this mandate – even in the hardest-to-reach places. Through the first half of this year, UNICEF and our partners have reached millions of children and families with humanitarian assistance.
“This includes providing more than 26 million children and women with primary health care, reaching over 17 million people with safe drinking water, helping nearly 10 million children access education services, and screening more than 12 million children for wasting.
“Across our humanitarian operations, we are strengthening the systems that children rely on –including health care, water, sanitation, and education – to support longer-term development goals. UNICEF is also investing significantly in early warning systems, anticipatory actions, and preparedness measures. This is helping us to protect communities from future shocks, while enabling our teams to respond more quickly and effectively to emerging crises.
“These results show what we can achieve for children. But to succeed for every child, UNICEF requires flexible, predictable, and timely funding.
“Flexible funding ensures that we can respond quickly to emerging crises and anticipate future risks. It also enables us to equitably allocate resources to where they are needed most – which is critical for reaching children in emergencies that have been largely forgotten by the international community.
“Despite our continued appeal for flexible funding, it only accounts for 9 per cent of the total humanitarian funding received by UNICEF to date … with the majority earmarked for specific emergencies, leaving many children behind. We must urgently reverse this trend so that we can reach all children in humanitarian need, wherever they are.
“UNICEF is appealing for $9.9 billion to support our humanitarian action for children in 2025. These funds will help us to reach 109 million children living through humanitarian crises with both immediate life-saving services, and investments for their longer-term development.
“I have seen firsthand all that is possible when we place children first … and work together to reach those living in humanitarian crises with the support they need most. UNICEF is committed to these children, and our staff and partners will stay on the ground working tirelessly to deliver for them.
“I hope you will support us in these efforts … and be generous and courageous for children. They remain our world’s best investment. Imagine what we can achieve for children working together through principled humanitarian action. We can create a world where the rights of every child are protected and upheld, and where every child can develop and thrive. We can create a world fit for every child.
“Thank you.”
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For more information please contact:
Jenna Buraczenski, UNICEF USA, (917) 720-1432, jburaczenski@unicefusa.org