Today, more children than ever are living in conflict zones. They urgently need protection. UNICEF stands up for these children. And together with you, we never give up.
The situation
There are around 500 million children currently living in conflict zones around the world. That’s double the number from 1990. The fighting in the Middle East and Ukraine gets media coverage, but there are also children in “forgotten” crisis regions like Sudan and the Sahel. These children are constantly exposed to the threat of violence, bombs, mines, exploitation and human trafficking. Growing up in the midst of so much death and destruction has devastating effects on their psychological health.
These children are experiencing childhood during wartime and they urgently need protection – now, but also sustainably for the long term.
Meet Katia, 13, from Ukraine:
“I took a photo of my mother at the Kramatorsk railway station, and this picture became the last photo of her life,” recalls 13-year-old Katia. Katia was at the station on April 8, 2022, with her sister, mother and aunt when a missile strike killed dozens of civilians there.
The family was trying to get to another city that day because it had become too dangerous to stay in their home. Katia’s mother died in the attack. “These days, I'm seeing a psychologist and other doctors who are helping me work through all the terrible things that happened. It is still emotionally extremely difficult for me,” she admits.
Meet three brothers from Sudan:
Djibril is just 4 years old. His brothers Mahamat and Oussam are 15 and 17. The pain and shock of the past hours is written on all their faces. They’d had to flee their hometown of El Geneina in Sudan, walking until they came to the town of Adré, in neighboring Chad. Here is how they describe their experience: “People came on motorbikes at dawn and attacked us in our neighborhood in El Geneina. Our mother was killed in front of us. And we don’t know where our father is. The night we arrived in Adré, we had nothing to eat. It was only this morning that another refugee shared his food with us.”
Meet Shaima, 5, who lives in Gaza:
“I was at home with my family. We children were playing a card game. My father had just made a fire outside and my mother wanted to cook pasta. Suddenly, bombs fell on the neighbor’s house and a piece of burning metal hit me. I looked down at my hand, but it was cut off at the elbow. My father stopped a passing car to take me to the hospital. But there were bombs falling in the street and I lost my leg. I wish I could have my hand and my leg back so that I could play with other children again.” This is how five-year-old Shaima from Gaza City describes the most horrifying hours of her young life. Now she wants to become a journalist so that she can tell the world about attacks on children in Gaza.
How your donation helps
UNICEF is on the ground, assisting children and families in difficult regions and forgotten crises – not just during armed conflicts, but also before and after.
Along with immediate humanitarian assistance like medical care, therapeutic food and safe drinking water, your support also helps UNICEF in
- reuniting child refugees and their families;
- ensuring that children have access to education;
- establishing child friendly spaces;
- providing psychosocial support and treatment for trauma;
- informing children on the dangers of mines and explosive weapons (mine risk education) and supporting mine clearance programs;
- providing individual care to victims of violence, human trafficking, sexual abuse and recruitment by armed groups.
In the TV spot “Life is not a play,” UNICEF ambassador Anatole Taubman puts the spotlight on children who have less visibility in everyday life. The actor shows life in war zones from the perspective of children.
Children in conflict zones urgently need protection. Join us as we work to give these children protection. And hope.