Press release
UNICEF names Khaby Lame as a Goodwill Ambassador
DAKAR/NEW YORK, 31 January 2025 – Global content creator Khaby Lame has been announced as UNICEF’s newest Goodwill Ambassador. The appointment – made at an event in Lame’s birth country Senegal – follows a four-day visit to meet children and young people who are driving positive change in their communities. “It’s ...
Press release
Nearly a quarter of a billion children’s schooling was disrupted by climate crises in 2024 – UNICEF
NEW YORK, 24 January 2025 – At least 242 million students in 85 countries had their schooling disrupted by extreme climate events in 2024, including heatwaves, tropical cyclones, storms, floods, and droughts, exacerbating an existing learning crisis, according to a new UNICEF analysis released today. For the first...
Press release
Challenging future projected for children in 2050 in world transformed by extreme climate crises, population shifts, and tech disparities
NEW YORK, 20 November 2024 – The future of childhood hangs in the balance if urgent action is not taken to safeguard children’s rights in a changing world, UNICEF warned in its flagship report released on World Children’s Day today. The State of the World’s Children 2024: The Future of Childhood in a Changing Worl...
Media advisory
Media Advisory: UNICEF at COP29
NEW YORK, 7 November 2024 – The 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 29) will convene in November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The COP29 Summit sees Parties to the Paris Agreement convene as climate crises continue to wreak havoc on children’s lives and wellbeing worldwide. Across the globe, climate shocks are affe...
Photo essay
International Youth Eco-Camp: 8 nations, 1 mission!
International Youth Eco Camp is a youth camp whose main aim is to recognize the role of youth in climate action, provide a platform for young eco-activists to propose initiatives and eco-projects, and support the youth environmental movement. To this end, the camp offers a great platform for young people to raise ...
Press release
1 in 5 infant deaths in Europe and Central Asia linked to air pollution - UNICEF
GENEVA, 6 September 2024 – More than 5,480 infants in 23 countries and territories across Europe and Central Asia died from causes linked to air pollution in 2021, according to a new policy brief published today by UNICEF. Deaths linked to air pollution across the region accounted for 1 in 5 of all deaths of child...
Press release
Almost half a billion children live in areas experiencing at least twice as many extremely hot days as their grandparents - UNICEF
NEW YORK, 14 August 2024 – One in 5 children – or 466 million – live in areas that experience at least double the number of extremely hot days every year compared to just six decades ago, according to a new UNICEF analysis. Using a comparison between a 1960s and a 2020-2024 average, the analysis issues a stark war...
Press release
Rising heat across Europe and Central Asia kills nearly 400 children a year - UNICEF
GENEVA, 24 July 2024 – Rising temperatures across Europe and Central Asia killed an estimated 377 children in 2021 – according to a new analysis of data from 23 countries published today by UNICEF. Beat the heat: child health amid heatwaves in Europe and Central Asia finds that half of these children died from hea...
Article
Water and the global climate crisis: 10 things you should know
Climate change is disrupting weather patterns, leading to more frequent and more intense extreme weather events, unpredictable water availability, exacerbating water scarcity and contaminating water supplies. Such impacts can drastically affect the quantity and quality of water that children need to survive. Today...
Media advisory
MEDIA ADVISORY: UNICEF at COP28
Quote from UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Kitty van der Heijden: “Our success or failure in tackling the climate crisis will be judged by two numbers. Keeping 1.5 degrees alive and protecting the 1 billion child lives that are in jeopardy from this crisis. “The climate crisis is not just changing the planet. It ...
Press release
Climate change is an urgent threat to pregnant women and children
GENEVA/NEW YORK, 21 November 2023 - Pregnant women, babies and children face extreme health risks from climate catastrophes that warrant urgent attention, according to a Call for Action released today by United Nations (UN) agencies ahead of the global Conference of the Parties (COP28) negotiations on climate chan...
Press release
1 in 3 children exposed to severe water scarcity – UNICEF
NEW YORK, 13 November 2023 – 1 in 3 children – or 739 million worldwide – already live in areas exposed to high or very high water scarcity, with climate change threatening to make this worse, according to a new UNICEF report. Further, the double burden of dwindling water availability and inadequate drinking water...