UNICEF in Emergencies

There for children before, during and after an emergency.

Children suffer the most during conflict and disaster, making them vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and violence. The chaos and insecurity of an emergency threatens access to food, shelter, health care, and education.

When emergency strikes, UNICEF can deliver life-saving help to children in just 48 hours to more than 190 countries. Thanks to our donors, our teams are always there for children, acting quickly, whenever and wherever needed. 

Always there for children in emergencies

When food is scarce in Yemen, we provide children with nutrition and health care. When schools are destroyed in Syria, we set up tented classrooms. In the Pacific, we deliver vaccines to stop preventable diseases that can thrive in the aftermath of disasters. These are just some of the ways UNICEF responds to help children and families impacted by emergencies.

Ways we help

In Yemen

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Arwa, 14-months-old, who is suffering from malnutrition, is given theraputic food to help her recover. © UNICEF/UNI337472/

Mohammed lives with his family in a camp for the displaced people in Yemen. After a visit by a mobile health team, he learnt that his two daughters were severely malnourished.

"We're tired, exhausted, of this situation,” he says of the war in Yemen. "I don't know how or when my daughters got developed malnutrition, but this is most likely because of these difficult living conditions.”

Nearly 400,000 children under five suffer from severe acute malnutrition. In Yemen, UNICEF treat children for malnutrition and provide ready-to-use therapeutic food to help children like Bulqis recover.

In Ukraine

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Sofiya and Liza fled the war with their teachers and came to Romania to find a safer place to live. Now they are going to a school in Bucharest, where more Ukrainian teachers have organised classes for refugee children. © UNICEF/UN0622408/Holerga

Sofiya and Liza fled the war together with their teacher Anastassia, leaving their families behind in Odessa, Ukraine.  Until few weeks ago, Anastasiia was teaching English in Ukraine. Now she is doing the same, but at a school in Romania for Ukrainian refugee children.

While they wait to return home, Sofiya and Liza can continue their learning. Our teams sent several school-in-a-box kits, as well as sport kits and backpacks to support them.

The girls received bags with school supplies, which contain notebooks, coloured pencils, and a painting pallet. Sofiya and Liza like their new school and said their favourite subjects are Math and English.

In Syria

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13-year old Yamen, left, and his 12-year-old brother Yousef, right, explore the content of a winter clothing kit from UNICEF. © UNICEF/UN0581831

Yamen, 13, and Yousef, 12, live at a makeshift camp in rural Syria. Their family haven’t been able to afford new clothes for the past two years.

Eleven years into the conflict in Syria, the freezing winter is a difficult for families who are barely able to make ends meet.

We gave the winter supplies to more than 98,000 displaced children like Yamen and Yousef in Syria last winter, turning the harsh winter from a horror story to a challenge they’re determined to overcome.

“I can’t wait to wear my new clothes and go to school in them,” says Yamen, who hasn’t been going to school lately because it’s too cold.

UNICEF responds to hundreds of emergencies every year. When disaster strikes, our teams act quickly to:

Deliver essential medical supplies to prevent malnutrition and illness.
Help new mothers give birth safely and protect their newborns.
Protect children from deadly disease outbreaks.
Supply life-saving clean, safe water to children in crisis.
Keep children in school and safe from violence.
Provide psychosocial support for children and families.

You can make sure no child is left behind by crisis or poverty by donating today.

Hanna and her son, Matvee talk with Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia in Romania after fleeing Ukraine. © UNICEF/UN0599976/Nicodim

About UNICEF Australia

Since 1946, UNICEF has worked to protect and be a champion for every child. In 1966, UNICEF Australia was born and is 100 per cent donor funded.

From sending emergency supplies to children during conflict, natural disasters or humanitarian crises, to long-term survival and development programs, UNICEF Australia works to protect children, no matter what.