Unicef seeks $3.1bn aid

NEW YORK: The UN children’s agency on Thursday launched its biggest ever appeal for $3.1 billion to help 62 million children at risk from a “new generation of humanitarian crises”.
The threats ranged from the brutal conflict in Syria that shows no sign of ending after nearly four years to the Ebola outbreak in west Africa and the Ukraine crisis.
“From deadly natural disasters to brutal conflicts and fast-spreading epidemics, children across the world are facing a new generation of humanitarian crises,” said Afshan Khan, Unicef’s director of emergency programmes.
Khan said although child fighters were recruited in earlier wars in poorer countries, it was now increasingly becoming common in middle-income nations such as Syria.
The aid appeal is $1 billion higher than last year and targets 98 million people — two-thirds of them children — in 71 countries.
Khan said 20 percent of the total aid appeal was aimed at investment in education, “the bridge to the future”.
According to Unicef, more than one in 10 of the world’s children — or 230 million — currently live in countries and areas hit by armed conflicts.
The largest chunk of the appeal — $903 million — is aimed at helping children in Syria and the sub-region.
“I have just returned from Syria and Lebanon where millions of children have had their lives torn apart,” said Khan.
“Half of the children in Syria are out of schools and one-third of the schools have been destroyed,” she said. According to Unicef at least 160 children died in attacks on schools last year in the country.
More than eight million Syrian children have been affected by the civil war, with 1.7 million now living as refugees, according to the latest UN figures.
The agency is also targeting raising $500 million to help Ebola victims in west Africa and prevent fresh outbreaks.