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	2019 will be another year of crises by NRC, IRC, ACAPS, agencies   2019 will be another year of crises, writes Richard Skretteberg from the Norwegian Refugee Council   At the start of 2018, 68.5 million people were displaced by war and violent conflict. There is little evidence to suggest that we will see this number decreasing in 2019.   A hope for 2019 is that old, relentless conflicts will be resolved. But political solutions require political will, like we witnessed this summer when longstanding enemies Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a peace agreement. This is good news for all countries in the Horn of Africa.   However, we are still facing numerous challenges: What will happen in Syria? Will the peace agreement in South Sudan hold? Can we get a peace agreement in Yemen? Will the Rohingya refugees be able to return to Myanmar?   Lack of money   One major problem is rich countries' lack of will to stand up for the world's vulnerable, displaced people. The great gap between humanitarian needs and funds made available by the international community continues to increase.   By the start of December 2018, only 57 per cent of the UN and its 2018 humanitarian partners emergency appeal was covered. According to the emergency appeal for 2019, 132 million people will need humanitarian aid in the coming year.   On 17 December, the UN General Assembly adopted a new global compact for refugees. The hope is that the countries will now act on the promises of better international responsibility sharing in practice. Rich countries that receive relatively few refugees must increase their support to countries that welcome high numbers of refugees. It is also important that more countries open up their doors to resettlement refugees. These are people who cannot be protected in their current location, and are resettled through the UN to other countries.   In the first ten months of 2018, only 45,874 refugees were resettled to a third country. The UN estimates that 1.4 million people will need protection through the resettlement programme in 2019.   Today, 85 per cent of the world's refugees are living in low- and middle-income countries. As humanitarian crises last longer and needs increase, aid is not sufficient. The innocent victims of conflicts, the civilians, always pay the highest price. They will also do so in 2019 unless we step up our efforts. For that to happen, we need courageous politicians with a will to act.   An ocean of humanitarian crises   From a global perspective, developments in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East are causes for concern, which they also will be in 2019. However, the situation of the Rohingya who fled from Myanmar, violence driving people through Central America to the United States, and the situation in Venezuela have again forced people in Southeast Asia and Latin America to become refugees.   Africa - The neglected continent   The number of displaced people in Africa has been on the rise since 2011 - from 13.3 million in 2011 to 22.4 million in 2017. Many countries have also repeatedly appeared on NRC's annual list of the world's ten most neglected crises, where the majority of countries are African.   Millions of people fleeing some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable states not only fuels enormous humanitarian crises, but also prevents development in regions such as the Great Lakes, the Horn of Africa and the Sahel.   The Sahel   The migration flow to Europe in 2015 drew attention to the situation in the Sahel region. The political focus on migration and terrorism promptly attracted money for anti-terrorist operations, as well as coast and border guards. But the vulnerable civilian population in the region's conflict areas is yet to see stability. They are still suffering from violence and displacement.   In Mali, only 52 per cent of the funds needed to help people affected by conflict and violence has been received as we approach the end of 2018. Meanwhile, the security situation in the country has deteriorated sharply.   Dramatic ripple effects   The conflicts in Mali and in north-east Nigeria have major consequences for many countries in the Sahel region and around the Lake Chad Basin. The security situation in Mali deteriorated further in 2018 and violence has spread from the north to more central parts of the country. Many refugees are too scared to return home. Meanwhile, many fear that the conflict will become protracted and that it will grow worse in 2019.   The armed conflict in north-east Nigeria, which continues to affect every country in the Lake Chad region, has created a humanitarian crisis for a population that is also facing a number of challenges such as extreme poverty, climate change, chronic food shortages, the uprising of several armed insurgents, and organised crime.   There are no short-term solutions for the challenges in this part of the Sahel belt and the areas around the Lake Chad Basin, and people will continue to bear the brunt of violence in 2019. Humanitarian assistance must be prioritised to a much greater extent, and long-term assistance must have a clear focus.   Without international support, many countries in the Sahel will not be able to meet the UN sustainability goals, and thousands more will be forced to flee.   Critical in Cameroon   Cameroon plays an important role in this vulnerable region, both politically and in terms of humanitarian assistance, with its strategic location in the Sahel border region. The country houses more than 350,000 refugees from neighbouring Nigeria and CAR, while violence caused by the Islamist rebel group Boko Haram has forced 228,000 Cameroonians to the border areas to Nigeria. Cameroon's stability is now increasingly threatened by its internal conflicts.   Meanwhile, the unrest in the English-speaking areas of south-west and north-west Cameroon has been on the rise after talks between government and opposition groups broke down in 2017. In the autumn of 2018, 437,000 Cameroonians were displaced in these areas, while 30,000 fled across the border to Nigeria and became refugees. There is a great risk that violence will surge in 2019.   The Central African Republic (CAR) is the world's third worst humanitarian crisis, after Yemen and Syria, based on the proportion of people dependent on humanitarian aid. One in four Cameroonians have been forced to flee. Still, in November 2018, humanitarian organisations lacked over half of the funds needed to provide people with lifesaving assistance, while the peacekeeping force MINUSCA was underfinanced.   Without fresh funding, one of the world's worst humanitarian crises will continue to wreak havoc in 2019.   Optimism in the Horn of Africa   When Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace agreement in July 2018, hope spread across the Horn of Africa, one of Africa's most conflict-affected regions. Now, sanctions against Eritrea will be lifted, and the ripple effects may grow to be significant - thousands of families divided by the conflict have already been reunited.   However, lifting travel restrictions between the two countries has also seen a rise in asylum seekers to Ethiopia in the autumn of 2018. But increased stability and hope of reform in Eritrea give us reason to hope the number of Eritreans embarking on the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean will decline in the future.   The accelerating democracy process in Ethiopia may also, in the long term, provide hope for solutions to the country's own conflicts. It's urgent. No other country in the world has seen higher internal displacement this year than Ethiopia, according to NRC's Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre's mid-year report.   In the autumn of 2018, violence and conflict led to hundreds of thousands of new displaced people. It is now very important that the international community step up their efforts to provide sufficient assistance. If the positive side effects of the peace agreement are not maintained, the political and humanitarian costs can be extremely high.   An uncertain peace in South Sudan   More than four million South Sudanese, one third of the population, have been forced to flee over the last five years. The peace agreement signed by President Salva Kiir, rebel leader Riek Machar and other armed opposition forces in September 2018 spurred hope, but many displaced people still fear that violence could explode again. South Sudan enters 2019 with hope, but first and foremost with uncertainty.   Less to those who welcome many   In East Africa, support to humanitarian assistance in key host countries such as Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, has been severely cut in 2018. Wealthy countries, who have an increasingly restrictive refugee policy, provide some support to those countries that still receive a large number of displaced people. The East African countries house two million refugees, while the total number arriving Europe is decreasing.   Continued crisis in Somalia and DR Congo   Also in Somalia, one of Africa's protracted humanitarian crises, reduced support for humanitarian assistance has led to cuts in basic help such as food, water, health and education. The support has been cut in spite of increased conflict levels and new tens of thousands displaced people in the autumn of 2018.   The Democratic Republic of Congo topped NRC's list of the world's ten most neglected crises in 2018. The country has never before seen more displaced people. The number of people without enough food to eat has also doubled from 7.9 million in 2017 to over 15 million in 2018.   The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize 2018 to Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege will hopefully lead to an increased focus on the conflict's invisible victims of sexual violence.   Europe - Fewer migrants and refugees   There have been far fewer refugees and migrants arriving Europe in 2018 compared to last year. The main reason for this is that it has become more difficult to get to Italy via the Mediterranean Sea route from Libya.   Italy is funding the Libyan coastguard, which now picks up most people trying to reach Italy and returns them to detention camps in Libya, where they are left in inhumane conditions. Italy has also refused boats with refugees and migrants to dock. In the first ten months of 2018, only 22,000 took the sea route to Italy, compared to 111,000 in 2017.   The western Mediterranean Sea route through Morocco to Spain is now the main route to Europe with 50,000 arrivals by October 2018, over twice as many as last year.   Ukraine   The conflict between government forces and separatists in eastern Ukraine has been ongoing since 2014. Here, 3.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.   Displaced people lack shelter and other necessities of life, and prolonged displacement makes it particularly necessary to find lasting solutions. There have been no signs of an immediate solution, and in November, the situation deteriorated sharply when Russia took control of Ukrainian naval vessels in a strategic area by the Black Sea.   As winter is approaching, many are worried what will happen next?   The Middle East - Continuing political unrest, war and mass displacement   Uncertain return to Syria   The conflict in Syria has led to the biggest refugee crisis of our time. Although the government took control of a number of areas in 2018, the lack of security and major destructions mean that the humanitarian crisis is far from over. More than six million people are still displaced inside the country. Despite a political agreement that prevented an escalation of violence in Idlib, people continue to live in uncertainty.   Some refugees have spontaneously returned to Syria, but there is a growing concern that worsening conditions for refugees residing in neighbouring countries will force more people to return home early to unsafe areas.   The support to neighbouring countries, which host millions of Syrian refugees, must continue in 2019, to prevent Syrians from having to return home before it is safe to do so.   Iraq in ruins after IS group   On 9 December 2017, the Iraqi Prime Minister declared that the war against the Islamic State group was over and won. A year later, however, 1.8 million people are still internally displaced in Iraq, while 8 million are in need of humanitarian assistance.   Although more than four million Iraqis have returned home, many of them live in the ruins left by IS. In cities like Mosul and Ramadi, there is an immediate need to rebuild houses, schools and hospitals to allow displaced people to return home safely. In some places like Sinjar, the reconstruction process has barely started. The city is in ruins, with no functioning schools or hospitals. More than 200,000 Yazidis are still displaced with no home to return to.   Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018 to the Yazidi woman, Nadia Murad, has helped to give the Yazidis a voice. It is also a contribution to the fight against the use of sexual violence as a weapon in war and conflict. It sheds lights on the need for victims to access justice across Iraq, and for perpetrators of violence to be held accountable for their actions.   National and local reconciliation efforts, supported by the international community, are also needed to help address community, ethno-religious, and tribal tensions that have been exacerbated by the conflict with IS. These are essential steps that must be undertaken to ensure Iraq's path to stability and a recovery process in 2019.   2018: A disastrous year for Yemen   This year has been devastating for the people of Yemen. Over 22 million are in need of assistance, and thousands of civilians have been injured or killed. At the end of 2018, the population is continuing to suffer through one of the worst famines we have ever seen.   Violence, blockades of ports, the collapse of the labour market and an economy in freefall mean that millions of Yemenis are on the brink of hunger as the year comes to an end. The survival and security of millions of Yemenis now depend on the negotiations between the parties of the conflict, which took place in Sweden in December. A minimum outcome must be that all parties promise to abide by international law and refrain from war tactics that increase civilian suffering.   Asia - Afghanistan and Myanmar stand out   Civil war, drought and hunger in Afghanistan   The security situation has deteriorated in large parts of Afghanistan, and the parliamentary elections in October 2018 became one of the country's bloodiest. In July, large areas were affected by drought, and in the period up to November 2018 the combination of conflict, drought and hunger forced 266,000 people to flee.   Hundreds of thousands of refugees are forced to return to the war-torn country from neighbouring countries. Seven in 10 of those returning become displaced again, according to an NRC report.   The Rohingya are too scared to return home   In June 2018, Myanmar and the UN signed a letter of intent on the return of around 700,000 Rohingya refugees in neighbouring Bangladesh. Its goal was to ensure a voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return for the refugees.   According to the UN, the Rohingya are one of the world's most persecuted minorities. Destroyed villages and a rhetoric of hate mean that many people of the Muslim minority are too scared to return home. Nevertheless, this was not the first time a return agreement was signed.   In November 2017, Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement to start returning the Rohingya refugees. However, in October 2018, Bangladeshi authorities stated that the refugees refused to accept voluntary return because their villages were destroyed, and they were worried about what would happen to them if they went back.   Central America - Extreme violence forces thousands to flee   In Latin America, three crises are emerging, taking place in parts of Central America, Venezuela and Colombia. In Central America, organised crime, violence and poverty have for several years forced people to leave their home country. This is especially serious in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, also known as the Northern Triangle.   Although more people are seeking asylum in Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica and Panama, there are still many who continue north to the United States, a country that has sharply tightened its asylum policy. At the end of November 2018, US police clashed with migrants who attempted to cross the border.   President Trump is trying to change the law so that migrants and asylum seekers cannot enter the country before they have received their asylum applications, while Mexico has asked the UN for help to prevent a humanitarian crisis. By December 2018, over 67,000 Hondurans who escaped from violence and poverty had returned from the United States and Mexico.   The problems in Central America are complex and will take time to solve. Of the world's 50 most violent cities, 42 are in Latin America. The combination of weak state institutions, corruption, organised crime, extreme social inequality and violence is an explosive cocktail. There's no quick fix here, and in 2019, the United States and Mexico will play key roles in dealing with these challenges.   Humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and a fragile peace in Colombia   Venezuela's humanitarian crisis deteriorated in 2018. Thousands of people fled the country daily in 2018, often to neighbouring countries Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. In November 2018, the government finally accepted humanitarian assistance from the UN.   Most of the people who leave Venezuela cross the border to neighbouring Colombia, a country that is going through a demanding peace process.. It's important that the peace agreement in Colombia and its intentions be respected in 2019. The situation in the country requires reconciliation, not polarisation.   As we enter 2019, displacement crises are still lining up. Emergency aid and political will to resolve conflicts are essential in order to relieve the suffering of people forced to flee all over the world.   http://www.nrc.no/shorthand/fr/2019-will-be-another-year-of-crises/index.html http://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2018/glimmers-of-hope/   Dec. 2018   Ravaged by Ebola and war, Congo named most neglected crisis of 2018. (Reuters)   With an Ebola epidemic raging and millions caught in a forgotten "catastrophe" of conflict and hunger, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was the most neglected crisis of 2018, according to an annual Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of aid agencies.   This year's survey was unusual for the high number of "most forgotten crises", with experts also listing the Central African Republic, Lake Chad Basin, Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Burundi, Nigeria and, for the first time, Venezuela.   But Congo's "mega-crisis" barely made headlines, they said, even as the country gears up for landmark elections which some fear could stoke further unrest.   "The brutality of the conflict is shocking, the national and international neglect outrageous," said Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council. "I visited Congo this year and have seldom witnessed such a gap between needs and assistance."   Congo, where 13 million people in a population of 82 million need help, also topped the annual Thomson Reuters Foundation poll in 2017, but agencies said the situation had deteriorated.   Six of 21 agencies polled named Congo as the most neglected crisis, including WFP, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, ActionAid, International Rescue Committee, and Christian Aid.   ActionAid's humanitarian advisor Rachid Boumnijel urged the international community to redouble efforts to end years of conflict characterised by sexual brutality.   "It's been a catastrophe for the country, and for women and girls particularly," Boumnijel said.   Christian Aid's head of humanitarian programmes Maurice Onyango said the violence had caused "large-scale trauma", with children witnessing parents and siblings being murdered.   An upsurge of fighting in the east of the mineral-rich country has also exacerbated the spread of the world's second largest Ebola outbreak, agencies said.   The Central African Republic, where armed groups control much of the country and 60 percent of the population needs assistance, came a close second in the poll.   Listed as the most neglected by OCHA, UNICEF, Mercy Corps, Plan International, and Caritas, the country has been racked by violence since mainly Muslim rebels ousted the president in 2013, provoking a backlash from Christian militias.   Armed groups are increasingly targeting schools, hospitals, mosques and churches, while attacks on aid workers have impacted a "chronically underfunded" humanitarian response, they said.   U.N. children's agency UNICEF said thousands of children had been trapped in armed groups or subjected to sexual violence.   "The crisis is growing increasingly desperate and resources are at breaking point," added UNICEF emergencies director Manuel Fontaine.   U.N. appeals for both DRC and CAR are less than 50 percent funded.   "Central African Republic is in a death spiral," said Caritas Secretary General Michel Roy. "While governments and the world's media have turned their backs, we must not. It's the only hope CAR has left."   Plan International said the media neglected complex crises like CAR and DRC because they lacked the shock factor of a sudden disaster like Indonesia's huge earthquake in September.   Yemen, at risk of the world's worst famine in 100 years, was highlighted by Muslim Hands and World Vision.   "With three quarters of the population needing assistance, I can't see how Yemen isn't at the top of everyone's list," said World Vision emergencies chief Mark Smith.   International Medical Corps warned the disaster in Lake Chad basin, where climate change and a prolonged insurgency by Boko Haram and Islamic State have left 11 million needing help, was also set to worsen next year.   Action Against Hunger said millions caught up in the "almost invisible" crisis - affecting Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon - faced poverty, hunger, sexual violence and child kidnapping.   The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the world's biggest relief network, said hunger and disease following major flooding across Nigeria threatened to create a second protracted crisis in the country.   "I'm shocked by how little attention this has received. The figures are staggering," said IFRC Secretary General Elhadj As Sy, adding that nearly 2 million people were impacted, more than 200,000 uprooted and swathes of cropland destroyed. "This massive disaster has gone largely unnoticed by many donors and journalists," he added.   This year was the first time Venezuela featured in the poll. About 3.3 million people have fled political turmoil and economic meltdown in the Latin American country - many driven by hunger and another 2 million could follow next year, according to U.N. estimates.   The United Nations has launched a $738 million appeal to help nearby countries cope with what one U.N. official called a "humanitarian earthquake".   CARE said evidence on the ground suggested the real number fleeing was far higher than the U.N. figure. "Given its scale, it's incredible how neglected the situation in Venezuela is," said CARE humanitarian expert Tom Newby. "The world needs to wake up to this crisis."   Afghanistan was ranked the most neglected crisis by Islamic Relief Worldwide, and South Sudan by Save the Children. The UNHCR named Burundi while migration was highlighted by the Danish Refugee Council.   * Aid agencies name their 3 priorities for 2019: http://tmsnrt.rs/2LCWDMU * ACAP 2019 Global risk analysis: http://bit.ly/2EGQs9Q   * OCHA Global Humanitarian Overview 2019 (80pp): http://bit.ly/2QuohRd   http://theirworld.org/news/education-under-attack-in-2018-conflicts-natural-disasters http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/world-has-failed-protect-children-conflict-2018-unicef http://www.passblue.com/2018/12/24/where-is-the-worst-place-for-a-child-to-be-born/ http://data.unicef.org/resources/levels-and-trends-in-child-mortality/   http://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/document/3391/ircemergencywatchlist2019.pdf http://reliefweb.int/report/central-african-republic/breaking-vicious-cycle-between-hunger-conflict-central-african http://www.globalr2p.org/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2018/12/20/ten-good-news-stories-kids-2018 http://www.irinnews.org/feature/2019/01/02/ten-humanitarian-crises-and-trends-watch-2019 http://www.irinnews.org/feature/2019/01/03/six-aid-policy-priorities-watch-2019 http://www.msf.org/year-pictures-2018 Visit the related web page
	UNICEF Humanitarian Action for Children Appeal by Manuel Fontaine, Director of Emergency Programmes   Dec. 2019   UNICEF launches its 2020 emergency appeal to reach 59 million children with life-saving support in 64 countries across the globe.   'Around the world today, we're seeing the largest number of children in need of emergency assistance since we began record-keeping. One in four children lives in a country affected by conflict or disaster', says UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.   'Historic numbers of children forcibly uprooted from their homes urgently require protection and support. Conflict remains the major driver, while hunger, infectious disease, and extreme weather events related to climate change force millions of others to seek lifesaving aid'.   'In conflict and disaster, children suffer first and suffer most. Today, one in four of the world's children lives in a conflict or disaster zone - a fact that should shake each of us to our core. All of these children face an uncertain future. Sadly, the number of countries experiencing conflict is at its highest point since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.   Nearly nine years of war in the Syrian Arab Republic have left nearly 5 million children in need and more than 2.5 million children living as refugees outside of the country. More than four years of conflict in Yemen have created the world's worst humanitarian crisis. About 1.2 million children in the Central African Republic desperately need help after six years of war.   In other ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan and many more, children pay the heaviest price.   Around the world, more than 30 million children have been displaced by conflict. Many of them are being enslaved, trafficked, abused and exploited. Many more are living in limbo, without official immigration status or access to education and health care.   From the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh to the outflow of families from Central America seeking a safer and more dignified life, children have been uprooted by conflict and violence in historic numbers.   Diseases such as Ebola and measles are also re-emerging, often in conflict zones. They further complicate the humanitarian response in places where access is more and more restricted - such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the current Ebola outbreak is the world's second largest and deadliest on record.   At the same time, extreme weather events are creating more frequent and destructive natural disasters worldwide. More than half a billion children now live in areas with extremely high flood occurrence, and almost 160 million are in areas with high drought severity.   Regions like the Sahel, where livelihoods rely on agriculture, grazing and fishing, are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change.   All too often, armed groups exploit the social grievances that arise under such pressurized conditions. Across West and Central Africa, violence and insecurity are already robbing nearly 2 million children - an entire generation - of their right to education.   Faced with these challenges, UNICEF and partners have responded to emergencies in 61 countries in 2019. In the first eight months of the year, we provided humanitarian assistance to nearly 29 million children - substantially on track to reach the target of 53 million by 31 December.   In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, we worked with local partners, community and religious leaders, the media and businesses to bring life-saving information about the Ebola virus to more than 25 million people at risk.   In Yemen, we provided mental health and psychosocial support to nearly 400,000 children and caregivers facing the horrors of war and displacement.   In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, we vaccinated more than 280,000 children to protect them from measles and avert the spread of this dangerous but preventable disease. In Mozambique, after two devastating cyclones, we have improved access to safe water for more than 1.5 million people.   But the challenges persist. UNICEF's appeal, Humanitarian Action for Children 2020, aims to assist 59 million children in humanitarian emergencies in the coming year.   Our presence in many countries before, during and after emergencies delivers a continuum of support. The rehabilitation and upgrade of water and sanitation systems serve vulnerable households in both the immediate crisis and the longer term, for instance. We also build the long-term capacity of health ministries and civil society partners to identify, treat and prevent chronic conditions such as malnutrition.   Sustainable interventions are important because crises are not one-time shocks; their impact can last for years.   Children and young people affected by crises call for concrete action to protect and promote their rights - today and into the future. They want to be part of shaping the solutions.   We cannot answer their call without you, our partners. But with our collective action, we can make a life-changing difference for children and young people at risk'.   UNICEF's Humanitarian Action for Children sets out the agency's 2020 appeal and its work to provide conflict and disaster-affected children with access to water, sanitation, nutrition, education, health and protection services. Overall, including adults, the appeal covers emergency support to 95 million people.   In 2020, working alongside its partners, UNICEF targets include:   5.1 million children to be treated for severe acute malnutrition; 8.5 million children to be immunized against measles; 28.4 million people to have access to safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene; 4.5 million children and caregivers to have access to mental health and psychosocial support; 1.4 million children and women to have access to gender-based violence risk mitigation, prevention or response interventions.   10.2 million children to have access to formal or non-formal education, including early learning. 1.7 million people to be reached with cash assistance. 49 million at-risk/affected children and adults to be engaged through communication for development/community engagement.   http://www.unicef.org/appeals/ http://www.unicef.org/children-under-attack   UNICEF Humanitarian Action for Children 2019   Millions of children living in countries affected by conflict and disaster lack access to vital child protection services, putting their safety, well-being and futures at risk, UNICEF warned as it appealed for funding to support its work for children in humanitarian crises.   UNICEF's Humanitarian Action for Children sets out the agency's 2019 appeal and its efforts to provide 41 million children with access to safe water, nutrition, education, health and protection in 59 countries across the globe.   'Today millions of children living through conflict or disaster are suffering horrific levels of violence, distress and trauma', said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.   'The impact of our child protection work cannot be overstated. When children do not have safe places to play, when they cannot be reunited with their families, when they do not receive psychosocial support, they will not heal from the unseen scars of war'.   UNICEF estimates that more than 34 million children living through conflict and disaster lack access to protection or child protection services, including 6.6 million children in Yemen, 5.5 million children in Syria and 4 million children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).   Child protection services include all efforts to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, exploitation, trauma and violence. UNICEF also works to ensure that the protection of children is central to all other areas of the organisation's humanitarian programmes, including water, sanitation and hygiene, education and other areas of work by identifying, mitigating and responding to potential dangers to children's safety and wellbeing.   However, funding constraints, as well as other challenges including warring parties growing disregard for international humanitarian law and the denial of humanitarian access, mean that aid agencies capacity to protect children is severely limited.   In the DRC, for example, UNICEF received just a third of the funding required for child protection programmes in 2018, while around one-fifth of child protection funding for Syrian children remained unmet.   'Providing these children with the support they need is critical, but without significant and sustained international action, many will continue to fall through the cracks', said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes. 'The international community should commit to supporting the protection of children in emergencies'.   'There's never been as much conflict in the world in the past 30 years as this year, so it is obviously a particular threat', he said.   Amid countless reports of deadly attacks on civilians and places of shelter - both of which are prohibited under international law - Mr. Fontaine insisted that the long-held notion that children should be protected above all others is also being undermined.   He said it was 'being accepted as a new normal of attacks on schools and hospitals and detention of children', adding that increasingly, 'children are being seen not only as victims, when they've been actually recruited by an armed group or used by a particular armed group, but also as a perpetrator and detained once they've been released by an armed group'.   A total of 59 countries are to benefit from UNICEF's Humanitarian Action for Children 2019 appeal, as the agency pursues its goal of providing 41 million children with safe water, food, education, health and protection.   'Nearly eight years after the conflict broke out, we still have 2.5 million Syrian children living as refugees in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey where demand for basic services such as health and education outstrip the capacity of institutions and infrastructure to actually respond', Mr. Fontaine explained, noting that aid was needed for Syrian refugees and host communities.   Asked if he expected a significant number of Syrian families to return to the country, the UNICEF official replied that such a development was likely premature.   'There might be cases of some families, some children who decide they want to go back and we accompany them', he said. 'I think it's a bit early right now to see how that's going to happen in practice'.   Needs in Yemen represent UNICEF's second largest individual appeal, as a fragile and as-yet unimplemented ceasefire deal between Houthi militants and the internationally recognised government over the Red Sea port of Hudaydah continues to cause serious concern among humanitarians.   Nearly four years since conflict escalated, more than 22 million people need humanitarian assistance, including two million Yemeni children who will require food assistance this year. 'Projections from 2019 are that nearly 400,000 children will suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition in Yemen during the course of the year', Mr. Fontaine warned.   Other emergency situations include the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a vast country facing a significant escalation of violence and armed conflict linked to terrible rights abuses. An ongoing outbreak of deadly Ebola virus in the east of the country has made matters worse.   'Violations against children include forced recruitment by armed groups and rampant sexual abuse', the UNICEF official explained. 'The insecurity has also seriously hindered the response to the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri and aggravated disastrous malnutrition conditions across the country'.   According to the UNICEF appeal, an estimated 1.4 million children are projected to require lifesaving treatment for severe acute malnutrition in 2019.   Faced with such unprecedented needs, UNICEF is appealing for funding that can be allocated where it is needed most urgently, not least to under-reported emergencies including the Lake Chad region, where nearly 21 million people in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Niger and Nigeria have been affected by ongoing conflicts.   Despite the challenges, Mr. Fontaine insisted that the agency has been successful in helping vulnerable children, not least those whose mental scars caused by the 'toxic stress' of conflict often take longer than physical wounds to heal.   'At the same time, I would say we've also made great progress', he insisted. 'It is the behaviour of parties to conflict that actually creates this kind of situation. Should they give us more access, should they give us more ways to protect children and should they themselves respect the sanctity of the protection of children, things would actually go a lot better'.   2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the landmark Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, yet today, more countries are embroiled in internal or international conflict than at any other time in the past three decades, threatening the safety and wellbeing of millions of children.   UNICEF's appeal comes one month after the children's agency said that the world is failing to protect children living in conflict around the world, with catastrophic consequences. Children who are continuously exposed to violence or conflict, especially at a young age, are at risk of living in a state of toxic stress - a condition that, without the right support can lead to negative life-long consequences for their cognitive, social and emotional development.   Some children impacted by war, displacement and other traumatic events - such as sexual and gender-based violence - require specialized care to help them cope and recover.   The five largest individual appeals are for Syrian refugees and host communities in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey; Yemen; The Democratic Republic of the Congo; Syria and South Sudan.   # In total, working alongside its partners, UNICEF aims to:   Provide almost 43 million people with access to safe water; Reach 10.1 million children with formal or non-formal basic education; Immunize 10.3 million children against measles; Treat 4.2 million children with severe acute malnutrition; Provide 4 million children and caregivers with access to psychosocial support.   In the first 10 months of 2018, as a result of UNICEF's support:   35.3 million people had access to safe water; 5.9 million children accessed some form of education; 4.7 million children were vaccinated against measles; 2.6 million children were treated for severe acute malnutrition; 3.1 million children and caregivers received psychosocial support.   http://www.unicef.org/appeals/ http://www.unicef.org/reports/convention-rights-child-crossroads-2019 http://www.unicef.org/children-under-attack Visit the related web page
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