UNICEF launched 2.8 billion US dollar humanitarian appeal for children

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) launched a 2.8 billion US dollar appeal to reach 43 million children in humanitarian emergencies worldwide on 26 January 2016. It included the 54.3 million US dollar appeal to help conflict-affected children in eastern Ukraine in 2016.

It is for the first time ever that the largest portion of the appeal, that is, 25 per cent is dedicated towards educating children in emergencies.

It planned to increase the number of children in crises who are given access to education from 4.9 million at the beginning of 2015 to 8.2 million in 2016.  More than half of 5 million will be Syrian children inside the country or in neighbouring countries.

UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children 2016

• Its appeal targets a total of 76 million people in 63 countries.

• The largest section of the appeal 1.16 billion US dollars are allocated to life-saving aid needed for Syria and the Syrian refugee crisis in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Key needs include safe water, immunizations, education and child protection.

• 30.8 million US dollars are being requested by UNICEF to respond to the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe.

• It is appealing for 180 million US dollars for children in Yemen where almost 10 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian aid in a conflict which is heading towards its first anniversary.

• It is appealing for 25.5 million US dollars to help protect children in Burundi, one of the poorest countries in the world and to provide aid to Burundian refugees who have fled to Rwanda and Tanzania.

• It is asking for 188.9 million US dollars to respond to the humanitarian needs in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, including addressing the consequences of the violence in northeast Nigeria.

• The other appeals of UNICEF covers severely underfunded emergencies including protracted crises in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan which were all less than 40 per cent funded in 2015.

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