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| © UNICEF Ethiopia/2003/Harboe |
| The parents of Fatima, 9, and her baby brother used to be pastoralists, but were forced to move due to recurrent droughts in their home area. |
Humanitarian emergencies — whether caused by extreme poverty, armed conflict, or natural disasters — are especially devastating for children. UNICEF's mission is to provide special protection for the world's most disadvantaged children.
Nearly half of the world's children live in poverty. Invisible to most of us, they are excluded from essential services, protection and participation and are already vulnerable when disaster strikes.
More than 2 million children have died as a result of armed conflict in the last decade alone. Most of those who die in wartime do not die as a direct result of violence but from the loss of basic health services, food, safe water or adequate sanitation.
Disease, including HIV/AIDS, is often rampant in war-torn countries. Children are the missing face of AIDS. Every day, 1,400 children under 15 die of AIDS-related illnesses. Less than 10 percent of the children who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by AIDS receive public support or services.
Reaching the most desperate children and women in the early stages of an emergency is UNICEF's greatest challenge. But UNICEF's mission does not end when the immediate crisis subsides. Long after the world's television cameras have moved on, the UN Children's Fund remains, working tirelessly to rebuild children's lives, and help restore their fundamental human rights and dignity.
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