UNICEF in Asia

How to help children in Asia

Supporting and protecting children and youth is core to UNICEF's mission in countries around the world, including across Asia, where many families face poverty, displacement and recurring emergencies driven by climate change, conflict and economic instability.

Cyclones, floods, droughts, earthquakes and other shocks are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity, disrupting essential services, displacing families and endangering children. 

UNICEF works with partners across Asia and the Pacific to ensure that all children are healthy, educated, respected and protected. Programs address urgent humanitarian needs while strengthening systems that safeguard children’s rights and create equitable opportunities for children to reach their full potential.

UNICEF also strengthens preparedness ahead of crises, helping communities and systems act early to reduce the impact of disasters before they fully unfold. This includes improving early warning systems, pre-positioning supplies and supporting locally led responses.

Key priorities include preventing and mitigating harm in times of crisis, strengthening preparedness and anticipatory action, and reinforcing health, nutrition, education, social protection and child protection services so that children can not only survive, but also thrive. 

Explore UNICEF's work in Asia

UNICEF has active programs and partnerships in South Asia — country offices include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — and in East Asia and the Pacific, where programming reaches children in Cambodia, China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam, and in the island nations of Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

With partners, UNICEF focuses on: Many children across Asia lack consistent access to essential health services. UNICEF works with governments and partners to strengthen local health systems, improve access to care and protect children from preventable illnesses.

• strengthening local health systems to improve access to essential care services, including immunizations that protect children from preventable diseases
• improving nutrition to support healthy growth and prevent malnutrition in crisis-affected communities
• supporting safe, inclusive learning opportunities for children affected by displacement, disasters and conflict
• expanding mental health and psychosocial support for children, caregivers and communities
• preventing and responding to gender-based violence and other child protection risks
• strengthening shock-responsive social protection systems and emergency safety nets
• increasing the resilience of children, families, communities and systems to withstand climate-related shocks and other disasters
• mobilizing emergency supplies children and families need to stay healthy and safe and otherwise supporting government-led emergency response efforts when disasters strike

Afghanistan

Children in Afghanistan are growing up in overlapping crises driven by more than four decades of conflict as well as climate-related shocks, economic hardship and limited access to basic services. Recurrent droughts, floods and earthquakes continue to wreak havoc, while restrictions on women and girls have caused a systemic rights crisis, deepening protection risks and reducing access to education, health care and livelihoods.

UNICEF works to deliver lifesaving assistance while helping communities cope with ongoing shocks. This includes supporting access to health and nutrition services, safe water and sanitation, learning opportunities for children — including community-based education — and protection services for children at risk. UNICEF also strengthens preparedness and shock-responsive systems to help families meet basic needs and recover with dignity in an increasingly fragile environment.

Learn more about how UNICEF supports children in Afghanistan

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, children and families face persistent humanitarian needs linked to displacement, climate-related disasters and public health risks. The ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis continues to place pressure on host communities, while seasonal floods, cyclones and landslides regularly disrupt lives, essential services and livelihoods across the country.

UNICEF supports both refugee and host communities by delivering essential services in health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education and child protection. Efforts focus on sustaining critical aid, strengthening disaster preparedness and building resilience so children can continue learning, stay healthy and remain protected — even in the face of recurring emergencies and displacement.

Learn more about how UNICEF helps children in Bangladesh

Myanmar

Children in Myanmar are enduring a complex humanitarian crisis shaped by conflict, displacement, natural hazards and economic instability. Violence and insecurity have forced families from their homes, disrupted essential services and exposed children to heightened protection risks. Climate-related disasters including devastating earthquakes and aftershocks have further compounded vulnerabilities, particularly for displaced and hard-to-reach communities.

UNICEF works with local partners to deliver integrated, equitable lifesaving support across health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education and child protection. This includes reaching children affected by displacement with safe learning opportunities, mental health and psychosocial support and protection to help them recover and thrive, while strengthening community resilience.

Learn more about how UNICEF helps children in Myanmar

How to help Asia's children

UNICEF relies on voluntary contributions from public and private sector donors — individuals, governments, foundations, civil society groups — to keep critical programs going and to ensure positive impact for children in need. 

Help UNICEF reach more children in need. Please Donate

Another way to support UNICEF is with an Inspired Gift. For example:

• emergency family hygiene and dignity kits contain enough essential items to last a family of five for at least one month

• tarpaulins, heavy-duty plastic sheeting can protect a family from the elements by serving as a windshield or ground cover, help create a child-friendly space or shelter a temporary latrine

• Early Childhood Development (ECD) kits contain books, puzzles, stacking blocks, puppets, art supplies and other items caregivers can use to engage, soothe and support children aged 6 and under

• newborn kits for 20 babies include blankets, prenatal supplements for 20 moms and essential vaccines to protect 20 children against measles, polio, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis

• micronutrient powders provide essential vitamins and minerals for boosting children's immune systems and helping to prevent anemia, blindness and brain damage caused by dietary deficiencies