Persistent regional conflict and socioeconomic crises in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have had a devastating toll on children and their communities. Today, conflict threatens to escalate existing crises in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran, and Iraq, while Sudan experiences ongoing conflict, prolonged flooding, and disease outbreaks. Fighting is also further straining public systems and infrastructure, limiting communities’ access to basic services, and directly impacting neighboring countries like Egypt.
The State of Palestine has had over 1.9 million internally displaced peoples since October 7. In Lebanon, where conflict was recently escalated, 340,000 people have become internally displaced and 100,000 more have fled into neighboring Syria. Internal displacement remains a challenge in Yemen (4.5 million people), Sudan (10.7 million people), and Iraq (1 million people) as well.
UNICEF has engaged in a two-pronged approach: response and preparedness. In the State of Palestine and in Lebanon, UNICEF’s response includes providing medical services and supplies, increasing access to a sufficient quantity and quality of water, providing mental health and psychosocial support, and providing wasting treatment for children ages 6-59 months. UNICEF is also implementing preparedness measures across the region, which save an average of 12 days in response time.
In the past year, UNICEF’s emergency response and preparedness across the MENA region has included:
- Providing 2.9 million people with access to safe water in the State of Palestine
- Distributing learning and recreational materials to 40,380 children in collective shelters in Lebanon
- Immunizing 1.5 million children in Türkiye
- Reaching 559,352 children with psychosocial support in Syria
- Screening 3.2 million children for malnutrition across Sudan
With your help, UNICEF can continue to respond to new and ongoing crises and address the critical needs of children across the Middle East and North Africa.
