How UNICEF Is Helping
UNICEF is working in all the countries that refugees and migrants are leaving, providing children with lifesaving services such as water, sanitation and health care, as well as education and child protection.
Two unaccompanied refugee teens trace their journey from Gambia to Italy on a map at a reception center in Pozzallo, Sicily. Asylum seekers here are supposed to be transferred to temporary shelter after 72 hours, but the boys must often wait one to two months. ©UNICEF/UN020011/Gilbertson VII Photo
In Europe, we advocate for child refugees and promote social inclusion.
We also provide child-friendly spaces, psychosocial support, the training of service providers and the delivery of emergency supplies, such as temporary shelters, clothes, food and cribs.
With the Right Support, There’s Hope
“I thought we were going to die at sea on the journey,” says Sajad A., 15. But now, he adds, “every day, things are good compared to that.”
Having fled civil war in Basra with their family, Sajad (who is using a wheelchair) and his sister, Houda Al-Malek (partially visible), wait for their asylum applications to be processed at Kurier Haus, a refugee center in Vienna. ©UNICEF/UN08734/Gilbertson
Sajad and his family fled Iraq, and made it to Austria in November 2015 after a long, difficult trek across the Mediterranean and through the Balkans.
Waiting for their asylum applications to be processed — in temporary shelter with the right kind of support and programming — they can now hope for the same things we want for our children — the opportunity to survive and thrive in a safe and happy home.
Want to know more about refugee children’s dangerous journeys to Europe?