Leaving the departures terminal in Baghdad airport is like walking into an oven. It is over 50 degrees. I haven’t been to Baghdad for three years. When I last left, I thought the country was on the right track. Things have, however, taken a sharp turn since June last year – and not in the right direction. More than three million… Read more
When I arrived on Saturday to the town of Gevgelija near the border with Greece, I witnessed people and children with utter desperation and fear in their eyes. Thousands of children and families on the move from conflict zones in the Middle East, Asia and parts of Africa had pushed through a police cordon where they had been waiting to… Read more
This week is World Water Week. Each year, leaders and experts meet in Stockholm to discuss global challenges relating to water. This year the conference celebrates its 25th year, with a specific focus is on water for development. There will also be lots of discussion about the broad spectrum of water issues ranging from water resources… Read more
More than 200 Syrian women risk their lives every day to save the lives of children by teaching fellow mothers about the importance of polio vaccinations in the most hard-to-reach areas, including in Dar’a in the far south of Syria, and Aleppo in the northern part of the war-torn country. UNICEF works with local partners to train these… Read more
After recently spending 24 hours in Gonaives, Artibonite department, the link between water and health is once again engraved in my mind. The day – spent on the ground with UNICEF partner Action Against Hunger (ACF) in and around the commune of St Michel d’Attalye – illustrated the direct connection between safe water and cholera,… Read more
The 24th of July was a very sad day for Achta. The seventeen-year-old was sitting in her house, fretting over her dream of getting an education. She was supposed to take an entrance test for secondary school that day, but the exam was taking place on the other side of town, controlled by one of the armed groups active in CAR, the… Read more
Grandma Gbla only allowed her 15-year-old granddaughter Adamseh to be taken from Ebola quarantine to hospital to give birth when she received promises that Adamseh would be well taken care of and that the two could keep in touch. The family, and indeed the entire 500-strong village of Massesebe in Sierra Leone’s Tonkolili district, had… Read more
My job is to ensure that more people have access to water and sanitation in Yemen, one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. After less than a month there, I had to leave Sana’a, along with other international United Nations colleagues, because of the escalation in conflict. It is now the holy month of Ramadan and I’m back… Read more
Mounting evidence from systematic reviews, such as these on early childbearing and HIV risk, suggest that cash transfers have positive impacts on youth transitions into adulthood. Yet, data illustrating how these programs affect outcomes is generally scarce. Now new research from the UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti and the University… Read more
Today marks one year since we have had a case of the wild poliovirus anywhere in Africa, the last having been reported from Somalia with a date of onset of 11th August 2014. What an extraordinary achievement and what a powerful symbol of the progress that has been made on the African continent over the past generation. What got us to… Read more
See all blogs
Read more
