Press Releases

UNICEF calls for the protection of children and adolescents amid public unrest in Iran

Publication date: January 11, 2026

Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder

Children in Sudan have endured “1,000 days of agony”

Publication date: January 9, 2026

Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder.

A small child sits on an adult's lap, holding a packet of nutritional paste to their mouth. The child's expression is thoughtful. The adult wears a patterned brown garment.

Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Statement, Revoke planned international NGO ban, humanitarian leaders urge Israeli authorities

Publication date: January 5, 2026

We urge the Israeli authorities to reconsider their plan to ban many of the international NGOs operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). International NGOs are central to humanitarian operations in OPT, collectively delivering close to $1 billion dollars in assistance each year.

Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder on the death of children in the Gaza Strip due to severe winter weather conditions

Publication date: December 31, 2025

This tragedy underscores the extreme vulnerability of children in Gaza’s hardest-hit areas, where the near-total destruction of homes and water and sewage infrastructure has left families exposed to the elements.

Sexual violence against children “entrenched” and rising across Democratic Republic of the Congo – UNICEF

Publication date: December 30, 2025

More than 35,000 cases of child rape and sexual assault recorded nationwide in 2025.

Nutrition survey finds unprecedented level of child malnutrition in part of Sudan’s North Darfur

Publication date: December 30, 2025

Comprehensive nutrition survey in Um Baru locality found more than 50 per cent of children under five acutely malnourished

A child's arm is measured with a MUAC tape by two adults, wearing a red and white garment. The scene conveys care and urgency in a healthcare context.

UN agencies welcome news that famine has been pushed back in the Gaza Strip, but warn fragile gains could be reversed without increased and sustained support

Publication date: December 19, 2025

FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO say hunger, malnutrition, disease and the scale of agricultural destruction remain alarmingly high.

Statement by UNICEF on children displaced by escalating violence in eastern DRC

Publication date: December 15, 2025

UNICEF is deeply concerned about the rapid escalation of hostilities in eastern DRC, which has displaced over 500,000 people, including 100,000 children, since the beginning of December.

UNICEF calls for urgent investment in life-saving services for children as global humanitarian needs reach new extremes

Publication date: December 10, 2025

As UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children 2026 (HAC) appeal is launched today, US$7.66 billion is urgently required to provide life-saving assistance to 73 million children - including 37 million girls and over 9 million children with disabilities – across 133 countries and territories next year.

Child is screened for malnutrition at UNICEF-supported mobile site in Haiti

UNICEF Executive Director warns of deepening protection crisis in Sudan as violence and displacement intensify

Publication date: December 9, 2025

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell called for urgent action to safeguard children and essential services on her visit to the country.