Latest United Nations Children's Fund News

Haiti's gang violence has displaced 300,000 children, the UN says

Jul. 02, 2024 00:05 AM EDT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Gang violence in Haiti has displaced more than 300,000 children since March, the U.N. children's agency said Tuesday as the Caribbean country struggles to curb killings and kidnappings. Children are more than half of the nearly 580,000 people who have...

Newly chosen Haitian prime minister discharged from a hospital after spending a night in treatment

Jun. 09, 2024 23:05 PM EDT

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti's newly selected Prime Minister Garry Conille was discharged from a hospital Sunday after spending a night in treatment for an undisclosed condition. In a video published on YouTube, Conille said he felt well and was “ready” to continue to...

Haiti's new prime minister hospitalized days after being selected to lead country

Jun. 08, 2024 23:07 PM EDT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s newly selected prime minister, Garry Conille, was hospitalized late Saturday in the capital of Port-au-Prince just days after arriving in the country, the government said. It wasn’t immediately known why Conille was hospitalized. ...

The UN says a quarter of the world's children under 5 have severe food poverty. Many are in Africa

Jun. 06, 2024 05:37 AM EDT

KALTUNGO, Nigeria (AP) — The 9-month-old twins cried nonstop and tugged at their mother, seeking attention but also food. They had received little in the past 24 hours, and there were signs of deeper hunger in the heads too big for their tiny bodies. “Not much milk comes out,”...

Tens of thousands of children in Afghanistan are affected by ongoing flash floods, UNICEF says

Jun. 03, 2024 10:04 AM EDT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Tens of thousands of children in Afghanistan remain affected by ongoing flash floods, especially in the north and west, the U.N. children's agency said Monday. Unusually heavy seasonal rains have been wreaking havoc on multiple parts of the country, killing...

Improving energy resilience in Pakistan could avert 175,000 deaths by 2030, UNICEF says

May. 31, 2024 13:26 PM EDT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Developing resilient energy systems to power health facilities in Pakistan could avert over 175,000 deaths in the country by 2030, a new new study by the United Nations children’s agency said Friday. It would also contribute $296 million to the country’s...

Haiti's new prime minister vows to seek unity after he is selected by transitional council

May. 29, 2024 16:16 PM EDT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Haiti's newly chosen Prime Minister Garry Conille vowed to seek unity Wednesday in his first statement since a transitional council selected him to head the government in the troubled Caribbean country under siege by criminal gangs. Conille thanked the...

Hundreds of people suffer heatstroke in Pakistan, and dangerous heat is forecast to stay a while

May. 23, 2024 20:55 PM EDT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Doctors treated hundreds of victims of heatstroke at hospitals across Pakistan on Thursday after an intense heat wave sent temperatures above normal levels due to climate change, officials said. Temperatures soared as high as 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees...

Child migration through Panama's dangerous Darien Gap is up 40%, UN report says

May. 15, 2024 13:17 PM EDT

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Child migration through Panama’s dangerous Darien Gap is up 40% so far this year, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.N. children's agency. UNICEF said an estimated 30,000 children under age 18 have crossed the jungle-clad trail between Colombia...

Militants bomb a girls school in northwestern Pakistan, once a Taliban stronghold. No one was harmed

May. 09, 2024 15:24 PM EDT

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Militants detonated a bomb at a girls school in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the country's volatile northwest, badly damaging the structure, police said Thursday. No one was harmed in the overnight attack. There was no immediate...