Your Fall Supporter Update

“We survived terrifying shelling, we survived emigration, and now we’re finally home,” says Katya’s mother, Alyona. After enduring basement shelters during -18°C temperatures without electricity or heating, the family was forced to flee to Germany for nearly two years.

Thanks to your support, UNICEF is helping children like Katya adjust to life back in Ukraine. Though her local kindergarten remains closed amid ongoing security challenges, Katya attends UNICEF-organized early childhood education classes, where she’s making friends and developing crucial social skills. 

For Ukraine’s youngest children, who have only known war, UNICEF provides comprehensive support including home visits by health professionals offering guidance on immunization and nutrition, safe and inclusive early learning spaces for children ages 3 to 6, and specialized services for children with developmental delays or disabilities.

Amna lives with her family in Sudan, where ongoing conflict has led to severe food insecurity and a public health crisis. Thanks to you, a UNICEF-supported door-to-door nutrition campaign came to Amna’s village. When the volunteers examined her, they immediately recognized signs of malnutrition. They referred her mother to the local health centre, where a doctor confirmed the diagnosis and began immediate treatment.

As part of her treatment, Amna was given packets of high-protein emergency therapeutic food, to which her mother says she’s responding well. Therapeutic food like protein-packed Plumpy’Nut® can help a malnourished child gain up to two pounds a week!

Plumpy’Nut is a top product in UNICEF Canada’s Survival Gifts online store. Choose from more than 40 items to help children around the world while honouring a friend or loved one.

UNICEF continues to deliver essential support, including:

• Screening and treatment for malnutrition, including high-energy biscuits for children, ready-to-use therapeutic food, ready-to-use infant formula, and micronutrient supplements for pregnant women   
• Access to safe water for more than half the population of Gaza, including repairing and fueling water systems   
• Supporting more than 500 temporary learning spaces for children   
• Reuniting families who have been separated in the conflict and providing psychosocial support for children and caregivers   
• Educating children about how to recognize, avoid and report dangerous objects such as the explosive remnants of war (one of these sessions is pictured above)  
• Protecting vaccines in cold storage and providing critically needed vaccinations against deadly diseases, including tetanus, polio and more

Thanks to supporters like you, UNICEF was able to act immediately, bringing hope and help to children and families affected by the disaster. With over 263,000 children affected and entire villages destroyed, UNICEF worked around the clock to address the urgent needs of earthquake-affected areas, including:

• Deploying mobile health teams to treat trauma cases and perform emergency surgeries
• Screening children for malnutrition and providing therapeutic food
• Trucking clean water into affected areas and distributing hygiene kits to prevent disease outbreaks
• Reuniting children separated from their families and offering safe spaces
• Preparing for the coming winter with by prepositioning warm clothing, blankets, and shelter

Your support helps UNICEF reach children in the hardest-to-reach areas – bringing relief, protection, and hope when they need it most.

At only six years old, Leineda had already experienced more hardship than any child should. She was facing malnutrition when armed violence forced her family, including her five siblings, to flee their home. As they fled from place to place in search of safety, Leineda’s condition worsened. Now living in Boucan Carré, the family struggles without shelter, hygiene supplies or consistent access to food.

In response to massive displacement caused by armed groups, UNICEF and partners have deployed mobile clinics to reach children like Leineda and her siblings. Thanks to your support, these clinics provide free medical care to hundreds of mothers and children in urgent need.