A new UNICEF report reveals that despite progress, 150 million children worldwide lack birth certificates, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and statelessness. The report highlights the critical need for improved birth registration systems and increased awareness to protect children’s rights.
UNICEF, in collaboration with Gavi, Africa CDC, and WHO, has launched an emergency tender to secure up to 12 million doses of mpox vaccines for crisis-hit countries. This initiative aims to address the ongoing mpox outbreak, particularly in Africa, and ensure timely access to vaccines for those most in need.
Amidst the rampant violence and gang dominance in Haiti, three million children face severe malnutrition due to disrupted humanitarian aid supplies. UNICEF reports that 58,000 children in the capital are suffering from severe wasting, a life-threatening form of malnutrition, as the gangs have barricaded off the main port and gained control of the international airport. The security forces are overwhelmed, and UNICEF estimates that half of the armed groups include children forced into their ranks. With dwindling medical supplies, healthcare has deteriorated, leaving cancer and AIDS patients without essential medications and asthma sufferers without inhalers. Humanitarian organizations are establishing logistics in Cap-Haitien, where a secondary airport and port remain operational, but a safe route for aid delivery is yet to be established.
The United Nations (UN) has issued a dire report on the worsening humanitarian crisis in Haiti, expressing grave concern over the escalating violence and displacement caused by gang control. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell described the situation as “catastrophic” and said that conditions are deteriorating rapidly. Over three million children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, with many suffering from injuries, recruitment into armed groups, and food insecurity.
