A child in Gaza with winter clothes donated by UNICEF. UNICEF: More than 213 million children will need humanitarian assistance in 2025 Humanitarian assistance
The world in 2025 is one of significant political change and volatility, economic uncertainty and rising inequality, discrimination and hate speech, and deepening humanitarian crises. This was stated by the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Catherine Russell, speaking at the first session of the UNICEF Executive Board this year.
Funding Cuts
She said the Fund had been preparing for the possibility that it might face new challenges in resource mobilization in 2025. UNICEF experts are assessing the impact of the 90-day US suspension of funding to the Fund and its partners to understand the long-term implications. Russell also noted warnings of cuts in aid budgets in Europe.
She recalled that in 2024, almost half of UNICEF’s humanitarian funding went to just five emergencies, as the funds were earmarked. The head of the Fund called for an urgent change in this situation by increasing the share of regular resources and flexible humanitarian funding.
“No matter where they are, all children have the same rights under international law, and every child should have access to humanitarian assistance,” Russell said.
Growing needs
At the same time, according to UNICEF estimates, more than 213 million children in 146 countries and territories will need humanitarian assistance this year. In addition, the percentage of the world’s children living in conflict zones has almost doubled, from 10 percent in the 1990s to almost 19 percent today.
“These include Gaza and Lebanon, where ceasefires are facilitating vital aid and reconstruction efforts and the release of hostages; or Haiti and Sudan, where horrific violence, including against children, has led to widespread hunger, including mass starvation in some areas, and the collapse of vital services,” Russell reminded. “We must also not forget regions that are less in the news, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, the Sahel and Syria.”
UNICEF is a bastion of the fight for children’s rights and their well-being, especially in these difficult and unpredictable times, the head of the Fund emphasized. “To succeed, UNICEF must be at its best,” she added.