During Ramadan, Make a Difference for Children in Need
The holy month of Ramadan will be particularly difficult this year for children whose lives have been turned upside-down by conflict in the Gaza Strip, Sudan and Yemen.
Children do not start wars, but they pay the highest price
Ramadan is a time of joy, celebration and prayer with loved ones and family, but for children in Gaza, Sudan and Yemen, the 2024 season will be marked by the devastating impacts of war. UNICEF was founded in the wake of World War II to help children and young people whose lives and futures were at risk. Today, UNICEF remains committed to reaching children in need and protecting every child's right to survive, thrive and reach their full potential.
“During Ramadan, we would set the table, clean the house and prepare the food. We don't have much now. I will miss my friends during Ramadan. I hope the war stops and I can return to my friends.” — Maryam, 10, displaced by war in Sudan
Less than a year after fighting intensified between rival armed groups in Khartoum, around 14 million children in Sudan are in urgent need of lifesaving support. Over 7.6 million people have been forced to flee widespread violence; most are still in Sudan. Killings, sexual violence and recruitment are up 500 percent since April 2023. More than 700,000 Sudanese children are likely to suffer from the deadliest form of malnutrition in 2024.
At a UNICEF-supported safe learning space at Al Salam gathering point for the internally displaced in Kassala State, eastern Sudan, children use modeling clay to create pretend versions of the favorite foods they remember from Ramadans past. Ten-year-old Maryam (top photo, second from left), and her family fled their home in Khartoum to escape the violence. “During Ramadan we would set the table, clean the house and prepare the food,” she recalled. “We don't have much now. I will miss my friends during Ramadan. I hope the war stops and I can return to my friends.”
Sudan's brutal civil war has created the world's largest child displacement crisis
As the fighting continues, UNICEF remains on the ground in Sudan and in neighboring countries hosting Sudanese refugees, working to provide urgently needed supplies and services to children and their families.
"Those in power need to negotiate a ceasefire, and ensure aid is no longer blocked," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said on Feb. 9, 2024. "Those in the region need to show leadership. Those in donor countries need to show compassion and humanity."
More than 1 million children are struggling to survive a deepening catastrophe in the Gaza Strip
Following the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, a months-long military assault has pushed Palestinian children and their families farther and farther south in search of safety. The number of people sheltering in Rafah, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, has ballooned from less than 300,000 to more than 1.4 million. Eighty percent of Gazans have been displaced, many of them multiple times. An estimated 70 percent of the more than 29,000 reported killed over the past four months are children and women.
Homes, schools, hospitals and water and sanitation infrastructure have been destroyed. Access to food, safe water, electricity and medical care is scarce; the risk of famine is growing.
UNICEF continues to call for an immediate and long-lasting ceasefire, the safe return of all hostages and unimpeded access to deliver emergency aid to children trapped in a war zone in Gaza
A recent report found that 90 percent of children under age 2 and 95 percent of pregnant and nursing women in the Gaza Strip face severe food poverty; 95 percent of households said they had restricted the amount of food adults received in order to ensure that small children had enough to eat. UNICEF supplies are being delivered but severe bottlenecks are restricting aid; much more help is needed.
Children in Gaza are coping with the trauma of life in a war zone, along with the sadness of losing family, friends and any sense of normalcy. "I miss my brother Salman," said 13-year-old Nada. "He was killed in the war. I miss my friends Noor, Layan and Retal. We used to do everything together. I hope we will return to our home very soon."
After almost a decade of conflict, Yemen's socioeconomic systems are on the verge of collapse
More than 21.6 million people, including 11.1 million children, require humanitarian assistance and protection and 4.5 million people are internally displaced in Yemen, where almost a decade of war has destroyed infrastructure, devastated the economy and heightened the vulnerability of poor families and communities.
UNICEF’s humanitarian strategy in Yemen is to provide direct lifesaving assistance to people affected by conflict, floods, climate change and disease outbreaks, including those who are currently or may be displaced and immigrant communities. UNICEF developed and maintains a network of partnerships to provide critical nutrition; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); education; health; social protection and child protection services while engaging in strategic high-level advocacy and influence campaigns to protect children's rights and futures.
UNICEF-funded humanitarian cash transfers give families in Yemen dignity and flexibility to meet their most urgent needs
For the 17.3 million people in Yemen who experience high levels of acute food insecurity, affording food to break fast this Ramadan will be an ongoing struggle. UNICEF's unconditional cash transfer program offers a cost-effective way to quickly deliver support to those who need it most. Families can prioritize their own spending decisions, using the money to buy food, medicine, clothing or other necessities. In 2024, UNICEF aims to reach 1.5 million households in Yemen with multiple cash payments.
In Seerah District, Aden Governorate, 72-year-old newsdealer Fuad Abduhameed sometimes skips meals to ensure his daughters have enough to eat. “They ask me to eat with them, and I keep telling them I have already eaten my share outside the home so that my children will eat,” he said. His 10-year-old daughter, Aisha, added, “I feel sad because I cannot buy jelly, iftar, labania, cake and juice like before. I am not happy with the high prices and the war.”
Wherever and whenever children are in need, UNICEF is there to help
During the holy month of Ramadan, UNICEF joins Muslim communities across the globe in calling for solidarity and generosity towards families and children who are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
