NEW YORK – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced that at least two children have died every day since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, at least 200 children have lost their lives and hundreds of them have been injured in the war, which is approaching its centennial day.
UNICEF reported that, according to data from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the majority of children who lost their lives in the war in Ukraine were killed or injured in armed conflicts and explosions in residential areas.
UNICEF President Catherine Russell described the traditionally celebrated International Children’s Day on 1 June this year as “International Child Protection Day in Ukraine and the Region”.
“Instead of celebrating this special day this year, we would like to remind you that June 3, the centennial of a war that has shattered the lives of millions of children, is approaching. Children will continue to suffer in the war, which has reached its centennial day, before an urgent ceasefire and peace table is established for negotiation,” said Russell, UNICEF President. “The repercussions of this senseless war will affect vulnerable children around the world even more,” he said.
Attack on health and education facilities
UNICEF estimates that an estimated 5 million 200 thousand children in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian assistance, that the scale and speed of the emergency in Ukraine has not been seen since the Second World War, three million domestically and more than 2 million 200 hundred thousand in refugee-hosting countries. He noted that the Ukrainian boy needed help.
Noting that almost two out of every three children in Ukraine are displaced by the conflict, UNICEF said, “Civil infrastructure that provides children’s basic needs continues to be damaged or destroyed. At least 256 health facilities have been destroyed or damaged so far. 4 of them are UNICEF “Hundreds of schools and educational institutions to which it is attached were also damaged. Conditions for children in eastern and southern Ukraine, where conflict is intensifying, are becoming more and more desperate,” he said.
“As the centennial of the war approaches, the risk of abuse against children has increased”
UNICEF noted that the risk of abuse of children in Ukraine has increased as the centennial of the war approaches, and that the majority of children have experienced many different traumas due to the displaced and war conditions. It was stated that Ukrainian children are at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation and human trafficking, and that the war has created significant mental health problems for many children and youth.
Noting that Ukrainian children urgently need security, stability, child protection services and psychological support, UNICEF said, “But above all, they urgently need peace.”
UNICEF noted that it distributed health and medical supplies to approximately 2.1 million people in the war-affected areas in Ukraine, provided psychological support to 610,000 children, and delivered educational materials to 290,000 children.