NEW YORK, 6 March 2020, – “All around the world, people are taking necessary precautions to protect themselves and their families from coronavirus. Sound preparation, based on scientific evidence, is what is needed at this time. “However, while many people are sharing information about the virus and how to protect against it, only some of that information is useful or…

Elke Büdenbender, Patroness of UNICEF Germany and wife of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, visited UNICEF programmes in Nepal from 3 to 7 February 2020. Notwithstanding many structural challenges such as access to healthcare and education, widespread poverty and high vulnerability to natural disasters, the…

KATHMANDU, , 29 January 2020 —, Boosting efforts to fight pneumonia could avert nearly 23,000 child deaths from pneumonia and other major diseases in Nepal, a new analysis has found ahead of the first ever global forum on childhood pneumonia in Barcelona (January 29-31). According to a modelling by Johns Hopkins University, scaling up pneumonia treatment and prevention services…, Kevin Watkins, Chief Executive of Save the Children, said:, “The number of lives that could be saved is potentially far higher as the modelling did not take account of factors like availability of medical oxygen, or action to reduce levels of air pollution, a major risk factor for pneumonia.” “These results show what is possible. It would be morally indefensible to stand and allow millions of children…, Jean Gough, UNICEF South Asia Regional Director said:, “South Asia has made great strides in reducing pneumonia deaths between 2000 and 2018 mainly because parents and caretakers are increasingly vaccinating their infants and taking their children for medical treatment. However, many of the deaths are not registered, particularly in underserved areas. Most deaths due to pneumonia occur among children…, Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF, said:, “ If we are serious about saving the lives of children, we have to get serious about fighting pneumonia. As the current coronavirus outbreak shows, this means improving timely detection and prevention. It means making the right diagnosis and prescribing the right treatment. It also means addressing the major causes of pneumonia deaths like…, Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said:, “ Pneumococcal pneumonia is an easily preventable, often treatable disease – no parent should go through the agony of losing their child to this disease. Over the past decade we have made progress in boosting the number of children receiving lifesaving pneumococcal vaccine and it is vital that we keep up these efforts to protect the next…, Quique Bassat, Research Professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and Chair of the Global Forum on Childhood Pneumonia said: , "The disease that kills most children in the world cannot be neglected any longer in terms of its scarce global research funding. Research and innovation need to drive policy change, and lead the way for further decreases in pneumonia-attributable mortality.", Leith Greenslade, Co-ordinator of the Every Breath Counts Coalition, said:, "This analysis shows that collective action to protect children from pneumonia could really boost national efforts to achieve the SDG for child survival. Governments and international development agencies must act urgently to protect the most vulnerable children from malnutrition and exposure to air pollution, and ensure that they receive…

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, 1 January 2020 –, An estimated 1,567 babies will be born in Nepal on New Year’s Day, UNICEF said today. Nepalese babies will account for 0.4 per cent of the estimated 392,078 babies to be born on New Year’s Day. “The beginning of a new year and a new decade is an opportunity to reflect on our hopes and aspirations not only for our future, but the future of those…, ., For the data, UNICEF worked with  World Data Lab . The estimates for the number of babies born on 1 January 2020 draw on the latest revision of the  UN’s World Population Prospects (2019) . Building on these datasets, World Data Lab’s (WDL) algorithm projects estimates of the number of births for each day by country. Click here to view a related…

KATHMANDU, 6 DECEMBER 2019 – The Government of Finland and UNICEF have expanded their partnership for children in Nepal through programmes in Education and in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). At a ceremony held in Kathmandu, His Excellency Mr. Pertti Anttinen, Ambassador of Finland in Nepal, and Ms. Elke Wisch, UNICEF Representative in Nepal…

NEW YORK, 18 November 2019 –, There have been historic gains overall for the world’s children since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted 30 years ago. However, many of the poorest children are yet to feel the impact, according to The Convention on the Rights of the Child at a Crossroads , a new report released today. Part of commemorations marking the 30 th…, Poverty, discrimination and marginalization continue to leave millions of the most disadvantaged children at risk:, Armed conflicts, rising xenophobia and the global migration and refugee crisis all have a devastating impact on global progress., Children are physically, physiologically and epidemiologically most at risk of the impacts of the climate crisis:, Rapid changes in climate are spreading disease, increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, and creating food and water insecurity. Unless urgent action is taken, the worst for many children is yet to come., Although more children are immunized than ever before, a slowdown in immunisation coverage rates over the past decade is threatening to reverse hard-won gain in children’s health:, Measles vaccination coverage has stagnated since 2010, contributing to a resurgence of the deadly disease in many countries. Almost 350,000 cases of measles were recorded in 2018, more than double the total in 2017., The number of out-of-school children has stagnated and learning outcomes for those in school remain poor:, Globally, the number children who are not in primary level has remained static since 2007. Many of those who are in school are not learning the basics, let alone the skills they need to thrive in today’s economy. To accelerate progress in advancing child rights, and to address stagnation and backsliding in some of these rights, the report calls…

NEW YORK, 6 November 2019 –, “I was just in South Asia where I saw first-hand how children continue to suffer from the dire consequences of air pollution. “The air quality was at a crisis level. You could smell the toxic fog even from behind an air filtration mask. From every neighborhood, you could see the pollution obscuring buildings, trees and people. Schools and offices…

NEW YORK/KATHMANDU, 15 October 2019, – An alarmingly high number of children are suffering the consequences of poor diets and a food system that is failing them, UNICEF warned today in a new report on children, food and nutrition. The State of the World’s Children 2019: Children, food and nutrition finds that at least 1 in 3 children under five – or over 200 million – is either…, 1.1 million, children are stunted, or too short for their age. Nearly, 290,000, children are wasted, or too thin for their height., 1.3 million, children – or, one in two, – suffer from deficiencies in essential vitamins and nutrients such as vitamin A and iron. Approximately, 36,000, children are overweight or obese. The report warns that poor eating and feeding practices start from the earliest days of a child’s life. Though breastfeeding can save lives, for example, only 66 per cent of children under six months of age are exclusively breastfed in Nepal and an increasing number of children are fed infant formula. Sales of…, For photos, broll, the full report, factsheet, graphs and datasets,, click here, ., You can browse the special interactive feature on our website or download the report here . A woman holds flood water soaked rice in Banke District, western Nepal, Tuesday 15 August 2017. UNICEF Nepal/2017/SJThapa

KATHMANDU, 6 September 2019, – Yesterday, the Honorable Minister of Federal Affairs and General Administration Mr Lal Babu Pandit, declared the Kanchanrup Municipality as the first child-friendly municipality in Province 2, and the third child-friendly municipality in Nepal after federalism. A child-friendly municipality embodies the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of…

KATHMANDU/NEW YORK, 18 July 2019 , – Heavy rainfall, flooding and landslides across three countries in South Asia – Nepal, India, and Bangladesh – have killed at least 93 children, and put the lives of millions more at risk. UNICEF estimates that more than 12 million people, including about five million children, have been affected. "Millions of children have seen their lives…