Watch: The Needs of Refugees Have Never Been Greater — Caryl M. Stern
Caryl M. Stern is President and CEO of U.S. Fund for UNICEF.
The U.S. Fund for UNICEF recognizes that the needs of refugees have never been greater. Worldwide 28 million children have been uprooted by conflict, driven from their homes by violence and terror. We should not simply see them as refugees or migrants, but as CHILDREN FIRST. In the words of Nelson Mandela, “There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.”.
The United States has a long and proud tradition of protecting children fleeing war and persecution. Children bear no responsibility for the growing political differences in our world. We trust that the United States’ historical support of children will continue and that recent measures will prove to be temporary. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF will continue to work with our partners across the country on behalf of migrant and refugee children already settled here in the United States.
UNICEF is committed to its mission and will work relentlessly until all children – especially those affected by the current crises - are afforded the childhood we would want for our own children.
Banner photo: A girl carrying her baby sister at the Nizip 1 refugee camp, Gaziantep, southern Turkey. The camp is home to over 10,000 Syrian refugees, including more than 5,000 children. Since the beginning of the Syria conflict, nearly 5 million people have become refugees, including 2.2 million children.
