[ad_1]
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday issued its largest call for emergency funds of $ 6.4 billion for next year (2021), to reach 300 million people, including 190 million. of children. According to UNICEF, the appeal for the 2021 fund is 35% higher than the funds requested for 2020. The top five appeals under funding requirements for 2021 concern Syrian refugees (USD 1.0 billion ), Yemen (US $ 576.9 million), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (US $ 384.4 million), Syria (US $ 330.8 million) and Venezuela (US $ 201.8 million).
Today we are faced with 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 requires an equally unprecedented response.
– Henrietta H. Fore (@unicefchief) December 3, 2020
READ | UNICEF: HIV and AIDS treatment interrupted by COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric services concerned
The United Nations Children’s Fund launches an emergency appeal to donors
UNICEF is 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. https://t.co/lBLXTdCZB7
– Henrietta H. Fore (@unicefchief) December 3, 2020
The UNICEF statement also informed that the Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted routine immunization services for children in more than 60 countries. He also said that nearly 250 million students around the world are still affected by COVID-19 school closures. Pointing to the current difficult period, UNICEF said economic instability has disrupted essential services and has also made it more difficult for families to make ends meet. Economic instability due to the pandemic has also increased the risk of domestic and gender-based violence, he added.
READ | The UN and Ethiopia sign an agreement to access aid to Tigray
Pointing to the new humanitarian crisis that has emerged this year, the United Nations said the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region left some 2.8 million people in urgent need of assistance. The UN release also showed that reports of killings, kidnappings, recruitment and use of children as soldiers have increased by the day. The statement also said that COVID-19 has worsened protracted emergencies in countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, South Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
READ | The United Nations warns that Ethiopia’s Tigray region could run out of aid in the event of a conflict
Stating that the number of climate-related disasters has tripled in the past 30 years, UNICEF said this has resulted in a threat to food security, increased water scarcity, forced people to leave their homes, increased the conflict risk and public health emergencies. Providing examples of some climate-related disasters and the destruction they caused, UNICEF said the powerful storms devastated vulnerable communities in Central America significantly. These storms affected over 2.6 million children in Central America. Storms in East Asia affected 13.4 million children in the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia.
READ | Priyanka Chopra celebrates 20 years with UNICEF, says “giving back should be a way of life”
(With ANI inputs)
.
[ad_2]
Source link
