UNITED NATION, UNITED States (AFP) — Almost 1.4 million children suffering from severe malnutrition could die this year from famine in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, the UN children’s agency said Monday. In Yemen, where war has been raging for nearly two years, 462,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition while 450,000 children are severely malnourished in northeast Nigeria. Fews Net, the famine early warning system, said some remote areas of Nigeria’s Borno state […]
Tag: UNICEF
Ugandans invent ‘smart jacket’ to diagnose pneumonia
by Grace Matsiko Agence France-Presse KAMPALA, Uganda (AFP) — A team of Ugandan engineers has invented a “smart jacket” that diagnoses pneumonia faster than a doctor, offering hope against a disease which kills more children worldwide than any other. The idea came to Olivia Koburongo, 26, after her grandmother fell ill, and was moved from hospital to hospital before being properly diagnosed with pneumonia. “It was now too late to save her,” said Koburongo. “It was […]
‘All children’ in Syria’s Aleppo suffering trauma: UNICEF
ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — All children in Syria’s battered Aleppo are suffering from trauma after enduring some of the worst violence in their country’s war, the UN children’s agency said on Sunday. “All children in Aleppo are suffering. All are traumatised,” Radoslaw Rzehak, UNICEF’s field office head in Aleppo, told AFP inside the devastated city. “I have never seen in my life such a dramatic situation (as) what is happening to children in Aleppo,” said […]
Hillary Clinton surprises gala for UNICEF, Katy Perry
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Hillary Clinton surprised a New York gala with an unscheduled appearance to promote UNICEF and honor singer Katy Perry, one of the top celebrity supporters of her ill-fated presidential campaign. The United Nations Children’s Fund presented Perry an award Tuesday night at its Snowflake Ball, a glitzy annual evening to benefit the international organization. Clinton unexpectedly entered to introduce Perry, taking the stage to the sound of the pop […]
22 children killed in air raid on Syria school: UNICEF
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Air strikes that hit a school in rebel-held Idlib province in northwest Syria killed 22 children and six teachers, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said Wednesday. “This is a tragedy. It is an outrage. And if deliberate, it is a war crime,” said UNICEF director Anthony Lake. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “warplanes — either Russia or Syrian — carried out six strikes” in the village of Hass, including on a […]
World must focus on poorest children: UNICEF
UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — The world must focus more on helping the poorest children to build on progress achieved in health and education over the past 25 years, UNICEF said Tuesday. In its annual “State of the World’s Children” report, the UN children’s agency took stock of important gains such as a 53 percent drop in infant mortality since 1990 and a dramatic reduction in extreme poverty. But without a sharper focus on […]
Katy Perry visits Vietnam as UNICEF Ambassador
POP singer Katy Perry visited the rural Ninh Thuan province in Vietnam as part of her role as Unicef goodwill ambassador. The singer visited various Unicef-backed institutions and rural villages to highlight the plight of children affected by exclusion or poverty in the region. According to the Unicef press release, in some regions of Ninh Thuan, 20 percent of children don’t go to school and around half of children live in poverty. 15 per cent […]
World must tighten laws on breast-milk substitutes: UN report
GENEVA Switzerland (AFP) by Nina Larson Legislation against the promotion of breast milk substitutes must be significantly tightened if global efforts to encourage breast feeding are to succeed, a UN report warned Monday. It is widely recognised that breastfeeding carries huge health benefits, but countries’ failure to crack down on the marketing of substitutes means far too many children are still being reared on formula, said the World Health Organization, the UN children’s agency […]
Ecuador’s President decrees emergency tax measures following quake
ECUADORIAN President Rafael Correa announced several one-year tax increases to help pay for reconstruction — after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake left over 500 people dead and caused billions of damage. In a nationally televised address on Wednesday (April 20) night, Correa announced several short-term tax changes to help Ecuador recover. It includes a one-off tax on millionaires. For example, the sales tax is to be increased from 12% to 14% for one year only. Plus […]
Anger erupts as 1,700 still missing in Ecuador quake
by Florence PANOUSSIAN PEDERNALES,Ecuador (AFP) –The death toll from Ecuador’s earthquake was feared to rise sharply as authorities warned Tuesday that 1,700 people were still missing and anger gripped families of victims trapped in the rubble. Three days after the powerful 7.8-magnitude quake struck Ecuador’s Pacific coast in a zone popular with tourists, 480 people are known to have died, the government said. Sniffer dogs and mechanical diggers were busy at work in the wreckage […]
Battered Fiji braces for cyclone
SUVA, Fiji (AFP) — Fiji was battening down for another tropical cyclone Wednesday, just weeks after the most powerful storm in the Pacific nation’s history left 44 people dead and crippled infrastructure. The Fiji Meteorological Service said Tropical Cyclone Zena formed overnight Tuesday when a depression west of the main island Vita Levu intensified. It said the category two cyclone, with wind gusts of up to 130 kilometres (80 miles) an hour, was gathering strength, […]
DepEd, DSWD partner to promote rights of adopted children
PASIG CITY, Metro Manila (PIA) — As part of the government’s advocacy for protecting and upholding the rights of every child, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) teamed up to raise awareness on legal adoption of children. Legal na Ampon Ako: Anak na Totoo brought together DepEd school officials, teachers, child-caring partners, and adoption agencies in a forum to bring focus on the processes required of […]





