The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
STORYLINE
UNICEF issues alert over growing needs and shrinking resources for 2024
At a time where humanitarian and protection needs “have never been greater”, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is concerned that their ability to meet these needs will be under increasing strain in 2024 amid a funding crunch.
“Earlier this week, UNICEF launched the $9.3 billion emergency funding appeal to reach at least 94 million children in 155 countries,” said Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, briefing journalists on Friday at the UN in Geneva. “Yet at a time where humanitarian needs and protection needs have never been greater, we are approaching 2024 facing an increasingly bleak funding forecast. Flexible funding, which allows us to respond that speed, scale and nimbleness, is shrinking, restricting our ability to respond quickly.”
Around 300 million people desperately need humanitarian assistance as devastating earthquakes, climate-related disasters, disease outbreaks and new and surging conflicts have left tens of millions of children and their families reeling. Through its 2024 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal, UNICEF aims to continue assisting children with life-saving interventions.
“Among the most critically underfunded emergencies right now, we have Sudan, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Haiti, Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Bangladesh,” said Mr. Chaiban.
The UNICEF official recalled that for humanitarian organizations, the “work has rarely been as important, and may never have been more complex. The horrendous situation in Gaza, which shakes us to the core of our humanity, exemplifies this.”
“What we're seeing is increased need in a fiscally tight space […] increasing the instability because of conflict and climate, the overhang of COVID and the economic consequences of COVID,” he said. “It's a triple threat that children around the world are facing.”
Using funds requested for 2024, UNICEF plans to vaccinate more than 17 million children against measles, enable more than 19 million children to access formal and informal education, support 26.7 million children and their caregivers in receiving mental health care and psychosocial support and provide 52 million people with access to safe water, among other programmes.
Mr. Chaiban said it was crucial that immunization “continues to be available, that primary health care continues to function, that children have access to treatment against severe acute malnutrition, and that some of the basics around child protection, psycho-social support, mental health, addressing grave violations against children, recruitment of children by armed groups, as well as education, which is a life-saving intervention in emergencies, that all those continue to exist.”
The UNICEF official stressed that “beyond the headline-grabbing areas affected by conflict and other crises, there are other children suffering as well”, combined with a rise in climate-related disasters, disease outbreaks and displacement, meaning that children continue to endure the unimaginable impact of protracted crises and emerging threats.
-ends-
STORY: Emergency Funding Appeal 2024 - UNICEF
TRT: 2:25”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 15 December 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot: UN building with UN flag, UN Geneva.
- Medium shot, press briefing room with moderator UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director: “Earlier this week, UNICEF launched the 9.3 billion emergency funding appeal to reach at least 94 million children in 155 countries. Yet at a time where humanitarian needs and protection needs have never been greater, we are approaching 2024, facing an increasingly bleak funding forecast. Flexible funding, which allows us to respond that speed, scale and nimbleness is shrinking, restricting our ability to respond quickly.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director: “At a time when humanitarian protection needs have never been greater, we are concerned that our ability to meet these needs is going to come under increasing strain. Among the most critically underfunded emergencies right now, we have Sudan, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Haiti, Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Bangladesh.”
- Cutaway: Medium shot, press briefing room with spokesperson and speaker on podium and journalists, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director: “What we're seeing is increased need in a fiscally tight space affected by, you know, increasing the instability because of conflict i climate, the overhang of COVID and the economic consequences of COVID, if you will. It's a triple threat that children around the world are facing.”
- Cutaway: Medium shot, journalists listening, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director: “Immunization continues to be available, that primary health care continues to function, that children have access to treatment against severe acute malnutrition, and that some of the basics around child protection, psycho-social support, mental health, addressing grave violations against children, recruitment of children by armed groups, as well as education, which is a life saving intervention in emergencies, that all those continue to exist.
- Cutaway: Medium shot, camerawomen looking at their cell phones, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and camera women, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: Medium shot, journalists listening, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: close up, journalists listening, UN Geneva
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP , UNICEF , OCHA , ICRC
Around $70 billion will be needed to reconstruct Gaza and make it safe after two years of war, UN development experts said on Tuesday, while aid agencies reported that far too little aid continues to reach desperate Palestinians.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision to name Maria Machado as this year’s laureate, in recognition of her work promoting the Venezuelan people’s democratic hopes.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNICEF , WHO
As Gazans jammed the main route leading north on Friday after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced, UN aid teams repeated their call to open all crossings into the devastated enclave to prevent famine spreading.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WHO
Two years of Gaza-Israel war bring ‘indescribable’ pain: UN humanitarians
Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians’ suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.
1
1
1
Edited News
Syria prison survivor seeks justice for the missing with UN backing.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned that three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for Ukrainian civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , ICRC
Quadcopter victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital
UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday delivered his oral update to the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session on the human rights situation in Haiti.
The High Commissioner welcomed Wednesday’s decision of the UN Security Council to strengthen the Multinational Security Support mission by transitioning to the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti, stating it is a strong signal of international support for the Haitian people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: As world waits for US peace plan news, UN aid teams stress need for ceasefire
UN agencies reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to help alleviate Palestinian suffering, as a new US 20-point plan raised hopes of a halt to the fighting.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm the war-torn enclave’s medical professionals, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone, the UN World Health Organization said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
A UN Human Rights report released today details the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained since Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine in 2022.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Sudan war: Life-saving cholera vaccination campaign begins in Darfur
Amid the devastating war in Sudan, UN aid teams are overcoming major obstacles to curb a cholera outbreak claiming lives across the country, with young children particularly at risk.