UNICEF’s Massive Polio Immunization Campaign

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow recently visited Chad to attend the launch of a massive polio immunization campaign and to raise awareness of the importance of ending polio transmission once and for all.

During her trip, Ms. Farrow visited Massi Hassan, who was being fitted with a plastic and steel brace. A few months ago, Massi had been a healthy and mobile child, but a recent bout of polio has left her paralyzed. Just seven years old, she'll never again be able to walk without the brace.

Maimounna Mahamat, Massi's mother, stroked her daughter's hair during the fitting. She hadn’t even heard of polio before her daughter became infected.

“It got so bad that she couldn't walk anymore and had to crawl to get anywhere,” Ms. Mahamat said.

UNICEF condemns killing children, women in Syrian city of Homs

UNICEF today denounced the reported killing of children and women whose bodies were found in the Syrian city of Homs on Sunday.

According to Syrian and international media reports, young children were among the victims discovered in the Homs neighbourhood of Karm el-Zeytoun. Some of the bodies had their throats slit. Others bore marks of torture.

“It’s hard to come to terms with savagery on this scale especially when it involves children paying the highest price for events over which they have no control,” said UNICEF Regional Director Maria Calivis. “We urgently call on all sides in this crisis to live up to their responsibility to safeguard children.”

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Target - Safe Drinking Water

The world has met the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water, well ahead of the MDG 2015 deadline.

This is the key message in a report issued today by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), ‘Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation, 2012 Update’. The report reveals that, at the end of 2010, 89 per cent of the world’s population used improved drinking water sources, meeting the target. By 2015, an estimated 92 per cent of the global population will have access to improved drinking water.

“For children this is especially good news,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “Every day, more than 3,000 from diarrhoeal diseases. Achieving this goal will go a long way to saving children’s lives.”

But Mr. Lake cautioned that over 780 million people still lack access to safe drinking water. “The numbers are still staggering,” he said. “But the progress announced today is proof that MDG targets can be met with the will, the effort and the funds.”

Evaluation for Domestic Program of Population Immunization

Domestic program of population immunization to be evaluated by foreign professionals. Relevant agreement was reached during a meeting at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Health , State sanitary-epidemiology service, the World Health Organization and UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The MOH stated that, “Ukrainian doctors await the recommendations of foreign experts to conduct immunization, especially vaccination against measles”. Foreign doctors will visit Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Lviv region. As expected, the evaluation of the national immunization program will end on March 3.

UNICEF insist children to be the heart of urban planning

UN agency extends spotlight on urban inequity, suggesting millions of children are being eliminated from vital services. UNICEF has urged governments to put children at the heart of urban planning – and to improve services for all – since the majority of the world's children will grow up in towns or cities rather than in rural areas.

In its report, The State of the World's Children 2012: Children in an Urban World, the UN agency said hundreds of millions of children who live in urban slums are being eliminated from vital services, from clean water to education.


Anthony Lake, UNICEF executive director said, “When many of us think of the world's poorest children, the image that comes readily to mind is that of a child going hungry in a remote rural community in sub-Saharan Africa.

"But millions of children in cities and towns all over the world are also at risk of being left behind. Excluding these children in slums not only robs them of the chance to reach their full potential; it robs their societies of the economic benefits of having a well-educated, healthy urban population."

By 2050, 70% of all people will live in urban areas. Already, one city dweller in three lives in slum conditions, lacking security of tenure in overcrowded, unhygienic places characterized by unemployment, pollution, traffic, crime, high living costs, poor services and competition over resources. In Africa, the percentage is six in 10.

UNICEF echoes calls to end violence in Syria

Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake on Syria following the information of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic

"UNICEF is shocked by the impact on children of the escalating violence in Syria.

"Calls by the international community for the violence to stop continue to be ignored. More and more children are being killed and injured. The injured are too often unable to get medical care. Many have witnessed violence and have lost loved ones.


"It is deeply disturbing to hear the pleas of Syrian families in need of help and to see the worsening suffering of children. UNICEF echoes calls for an immediate end to all acts of violence and immediate humanitarian access to all those in need of assistance.

"We ask all involved to remember that the children bear no responsibility in the violence among their elders. They are quite simply, the victims of this tragedy."

UK’s UNICEF executive director - David Bull

In September 1999, David Bull joined the United Nations Children's Fund as Executive Director of the UK Committee. Since then UNICEF UK's voluntary income has more than trebled and the charity has positioned itself as an advocate for the world's children through a series of campaigns focusing on maternal health, poverty, conflict, exploitation and HIV/AIDS.

Recent projects include the children's parallel G8 summit, the Rights Respecting School Award programme and advocacy for Child Wellbeing in the UK.

Ever since Mr. Bull joined the UNICEF UK, he has visited UNICEF development and emergency programmes in many countries, including Sudan (Darfur), Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, India, Iran, Sri Lanka (Tsunami emergency), Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Bosnia, Kosovo, Laos, Cambodia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Jordan, Egypt, the Philippines and Somalia.

Mr Bull was previously Director of Amnesty International's UK Section (1990-1999). From 1987-1990 he was General Secretary of the World University Service (UK) and prior to that he was Executive Director of the Environment Liaison Centre in Kenya (1984-87) and Public Affairs Officer at Oxfam (1979-1984).

He was a founder of the Pesticides Action Network (PAN) and he is the author of 'A Growing Problem: Pesticides and Third World Poor' (1982) and 'Kampuchea: the Poverty of Diplomacy'. He has been a Trustee of PAN UK and of the Refugee Council, and is an observer member of the FTSE4Good Policy Committee. He has a degree in Economics from the University of Sussex and an MSc in Development Studies and an Honorary.