Data on the situation of children in the Middle East and North Africa
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#ForEveryChild, Warmth

UNICEF Winter Appeal 2018-2019

a child in winter clothes

Freezing weather is sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, once again this winter. Temperatures drop to zero and below in several areas. Children in the region get sick, stop going to school and are at risk of dying. 

Millions of vulnerable children in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and the State of Palestine will have little protection against the cold this coming winter. Most have fled violence with almost nothing. In those countries alone there are nearly 4 million internally displaced children and 3.5 million children living as refugees. Last winter, two Syrian children died from the cold as they fled the war in Syria in attempt to reach safety in neighbouring Lebanon.

Prolonged conflicts and subsequent displacement have made humanitarian needs more acute than ever, with families living in shelters without heating or protection from the cold. Families struggle to afford the most basic supplies - including clothes, scarves, gloves and shoes – to keep their children warm. 

Funding gaps threaten to leave nearly 1 million children out in the cold in the Middle East and North Africa

UNICEF facing $33 million funding shortfall for lifesaving winter supplies and cash assistance for children, placing them at risk of illness, school absences or death
A child walks through a flooded camp
UNICEF/Lebanon/January 2018 A young Syrian refugee walks through a flooded informal settlement following an overnight winter storm in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Friday 19 January 2018.

“Years of conflict, displacement and unemployment have reduced families’ financial resources to almost nothing. Staying warm has simply become unaffordable,” 

Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa

Click here to read the full press release 

#ForEveryChild, Warmth

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UNICEF/MENA/2018
Boy walking in mud