The United Nations Children’s Fund seeks record $ 6.4 billion for 2021



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According to a statement, there is a 35% increase over the funds required for 2020, an indication of growing global humanitarian needs in the midst of the pandemic.
“When a devastating pandemic coincides with conflict, climate change, disaster and displacement, the consequences for children can be catastrophic,” said Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF. “Today we are facing a children’s rights emergency where COVID-19 and other crises are combining to deprive children of their health and well-being.”
This unprecedented situation calls for an equally unprecedented response, he said. “We are urging our donors to join us so that together we can help the children of the world overcome these darkest times and prevent a lost generation.”
The statement says routine immunization services for children have been stopped in more than 60 countries, while nearly 250 million students around the world are still affected by COVID-19 school closures, the fund said, providing some examples of increased expenses. Economic instability disrupts essential services and makes it harder for families to make ends meet and increases the risk of domestic and gender-based violence.
In addition, new humanitarian crises have emerged this year, UNICEF said.
The conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has left 2.8 million people in dire need of assistance. In Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, more than 425,000 people, including 191,000 children, have been displaced, the statement said. Reports of killings, kidnappings, recruitment and use of children as soldiers are on the rise, he said.
At the same time, the pandemic has exacerbated protracted emergencies in countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, South Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela. This March will mark 10 years of conflict in Syria and six years of conflict in Yemen, leaving nearly 17 million children in need of humanitarian assistance in these two countries alone.
The number of climate-related disasters has tripled in the past 30 years, threatening food security, increasing water scarcity, forcing people to leave their homes, and increasing the risk of conflicts and public health emergencies, said the UNICEF.
Powerful storms devastated vulnerable communities in Central America, affecting 2.6 million children and in East Asia, affecting 13.4 million children in the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia.
The top five appeals based on funding requirements for 2021 concern Syrian refugees ($ 1.0 billion), Yemen ($ 576.9 million), the Democratic Republic of the Congo ($ 384.4 million) , Syria ($ 330.8 million) and Venezuela ($ 201.8 million)). (ANI)



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