Give to an Emergency

Too often, it is children who suffer the most in emergencies. UNICEF is already on the ground in virtually every country, so when disaster strikes we can move quickly to save and safeguard children, return them to school, and help families re-establish their lives.

A combination of escalating violence, inaccessible services and disruption of livelihoods has put the lives of 1.5 million people at risk and in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

In the early hours on December 4, 2012 Super Typhoon Bopha, locally known as Pablo, hit the east coast of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. It was the most powerful typhoon to hit the country this year with accumulated rainfall of 500 mm per day and winds as strong as 175 km per hour.

The UN is reporting that almost 2 million Haitians were affected by Hurricane Sandy, and 27,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by the storm, along with hospitals, schools, roads and other buildings. Thirty water networks have been destroyed by flooding, leaving more than 820,000 people in need of clean drinking water, and at higher risk of contracting cholera.

More than one million children are in danger of becoming severely malnourished in the Sahel region of Africa. Children in eight countries—Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal—are at risk.

A deadly combination of drought, on-going conflict and escalating food prices has placed over 13.3 million people in need of life-saving aid across Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti – an area known as the Horn of Africa.