• Friday, 22 November 2024

Ukraine war caused hundreds of child deaths, says UNICEF

Ukraine war caused hundreds of child deaths, says UNICEF

Hundreds of children have died as a result of the war in Ukraine and millions more are at risk, the United Nation's International Children's Emergency fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.

Between February 2022 and January 2023, at least 438 children were killed and 842 injured by acts of war, the German branch of the organization said in Cologne. Scattered unexploded ordnance and landmines put children in additional danger.

Many families are also in need because of the destruction of infrastructure since the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. Around 3.3 million children and young people in Ukraine require acute humanitarian assistance, while some 16 million people have no safe access to water and sanitation, the organization reported.

"We must not allow the children and young people of Ukraine to become a lost generation," said Georg Graf Waldersee, chairman of UNICEF Germany, which has expanded its aid operations in Ukraine since the war began.

In addition to providing access to clean water and health services for several million people, children and young people have been given educational opportunities and psychosocial support. Germany has so far donated €103 million ($110 million) in assistance.