UNICEF is still there to protect children
Every child deserves to be safe and protected. After the horrors of World War II, UNICEF was established with one clear mission: to help children and young people whose lives and futures were at risk.
What mattered to UNICEF then was reaching every child in need and protecting children’s rights to survive, thrive, and reach their full potential in the aftermath of years of war. Today, more than seven decades later, our mission remains the same.
Sadly, the needs are greatest than ever and there are more children in need of humanitarian assistance than at any other time, even since World War II. The record number of children impacted is a result of cascading crises across the globe, all the way from Afghanistan to Ukraine.
More than 400 million children live in areas under conflict; an estimated 1 billion children – nearly half the world’s children – live in countries at extreme vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and 8 million children under the age of five across 15 crisis-hit countries are at risk of death from severe wasting.
By the end of 2022, 43.3 million children had been displaced from their homes, a record high number that has doubled in the last decade. Over half of the world's refugees are children, and as a result of cascading emergencies today, we have more displaced children and families than at any other time in history.
1949, Greece
Refugee children peer out the window of a makeshift hut whose walls are made from cardboard boxes.
2022, Ukraine
A little girl peers out from a window as she waits inside an evacuation train to Poland, at Lviv train station.
The need to support and protect the world’s children has only grown, and the photos captured by our teams worldwide echo images from when UNICEF was first established to help children, no matter where they are.
Travelling to safety
By the end of World War II, the world had seen millions of families and children leaving their homes in search of safety, peace and protection.
Since the war in Ukraine began in 2022, more than 2 million Ukrainian children have fled the country and more than 1 million children have been displaced inside Ukraine.
Families have flocked to train stations or taken to foot on long, dangerous and freezing journeys to reach safety. Once they cross the border, they can finally receive essential support and protection from harm.
"The war (in Ukraine) has caused one of the fastest large-scale displacements of children since World War II."
1946, Germany
A small displaced girl is wrapped in blankets and sits on a mound of other refugee belongings.
2022, Romania
Young Valeria arrives in Romania with limited belongings seeking shelter
During this journey, keeping warm in harsh winter conditions is essential for children’s survival.
In 1946, refugee children wore clothes donated by the citizens of host countries to stay warm and protected in harsh conditions. In 2023, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, UNICEF is similarly assisting children by delivering warm clothes, blankets and other emergency supplies in Ukraine.
In response to ongoing and urgent needs, our teams on the ground are delivering life-saving supplies to children and families.
Receiving essential supplies
Conflict has devastating consequences for children's access to essential services in places like Syria, just like it did 77 years ago.
In Syria, children living through twelve years of war, cholera outbreak and harsh winter conditions, face yet another tragedy following the earthquakes in February 2023.
Nearly 7 million Syrian children are facing one of the most complex humanitarian crises in the world. The scars of conflict, mass displacement, and economic turmoil run deep for the children and families in the region, with 90 per cent of families already living in poverty.
Across the country, many local volunteers are coming together in solidarity, responding to conflict by creating safe spaces for children and distributing essential supplies.
1946, Poland
A nun serves bowls of soup to a group of children who get their only meal for the day at this UNRRA-supplied kitchen.
2023, Syria
Five-year-old Huda holds up a box of nutrition supplements supplied by a UNICEF-supported mobile clinic.
UNICEF continues to work with local partners to provide, water, sanitation and education supplies for children impacted by conflict and disasters.
We know that keeping children safe, healthy and experiencing moments of normalcy in such extreme circumstances is essential in their recovery from trauma.
1946, Yugoslavia
Three boys affected by World War II receive aid and support to continue learning in a school.
2022, Bangladesh
Five-year-old Asma draws on the floor at the UNICEF kindergarten in the Rohingya refugee camps.
Finding relief in Blue Dot centres
When conflict and displacement occur, women and children are at increased risk of gender-based violence, abuse, psychological distress, and family separation.
Many of the displaced children that UNICEF support are often in shock, confused, and exhausted when they finally reach shelter.
1946, Poland
A refugee family returning from Rudki, rests on a pile of their belongings.
2023, Sudan
Hawa cuddles her newborn. She delivered her baby at the temporary shelter after her family was displaced by conflict.
To support the hundreds of thousands of families and children fleeing emergencies today, UNICEF has a unique and effective solution.
In collaboration with local authorities in refuge countries, UNICEF and its partners have set up safe places at border crossings for children and families.
‘Blue Dot’ centres provide respite, allowing families to reunite or rest in a safe space before continuing their journey.
1946, Egypt
Refugee children, including two boys in a toy wagon made from salvaged wood.
2022, Romania
Anastasia poses for a photograph with her new toy while in the UNICEF-supported Blue Dot centre
At Blue Dots, services include safe spaces for mothers, babies and children to learn, play and receive medical and psychosocial first aid.
Families also receive legal services, protection of unaccompanied children, reunification services, access to accommodation and transport support.
UNICEF is helping children and families in crisis
1946, Czechoslovakia
Workers unload a shipment of 60,000 hatching eggs from a Veterans' Air Lines aeroplane in Prague.
2022, Iran
Two Afghan refugee children receive nappy kits for younger members of their families.
Wherever children are caught in emergencies, UNICEF works to uphold their fundamental rights to protection, health care and education. We can get supplies to children within 48 hours.
UNICEF has been working for more than 77 years and we continue to stay and protect children, no matter what. Our teams are working day and night to supply safe water and prepositioning health, hygiene, education and emergency supplies to children and families worldwide.
Children in Emergencies
UNICEF is providing urgent assistance to children. But we can’t do it alone. We need your help today.
*The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was created in 1943 to assist with relief operations and global recovery from the devastation of World War II. Focusing primarily on Europe and China, it finally closed in 1949 as its mandate was subsumed in the long-term development work of other United Nations agencies. UNRRA's work for children was taken over by UNICEF, created on 11 December 1946.
Related articles
Stay up-to-date on UNICEF's work in Australia and around the world
