UNICEF Sounds Alarm on Global Humanitarian Needs for Children in 2026
Speaking at the first regular session of UNICEF’s executive board, Chief Catherine Russell highlighted the growing scale and complexity of challenges confronting children amid ongoing conflicts, climate shocks, economic instability, and inequality.
"The humanitarian situation facing children today is among the most severe we have ever seen," Russell said, adding, "more than 200 million children across over 130 countries need humanitarian assistance in 2026."
Russell emphasized that pressures on families and communities are increasing as needs grow while available resources shrink. "To say that we are meeting at a moment of significant transition, for the world, for the multilateral system, and for UNICEF is quite an understatement," she said. "In the last year, we have seen challenges to the future of the multilateral system, to the value and effectiveness of international aid, and ultimately to the world’s collective responsibility to care for those most in need, especially children."
She also warned that decades of progress in child survival are at risk of reversal, noting that "2025 could be the first year this century where child deaths will have increased, reversing generations of progress."
Despite the growing humanitarian demands, Russell reaffirmed that child and maternal health remain core priorities for UNICEF. "Conflict, climate shocks, economic instability and inequality place enormous pressure on children, families and communities," she said.
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