Children

The Swat Valley in Pakistan is reeling from a double disaster--the affects of last year's conflict followed by recent historic flooding. The impact on the health and nutritional status of children and women has been severe. UNICEF is conducting "Mother and Child Days" and other health and vaccination campaigns that deliver low-cost, high-impact interventions for the most vulnerable children in the region.

A scheduled vaccination drive to immunize 3 million children in Madagascar is in jeopardy after the government withdrew financing because of budgetary constraints.The U.S. Fund for UNICEF is appealing to donors to help fill a funding gap to ensure that recent outbreaks of measles in Eastern Africa do not spread.

Despite robust economic growth, South Asia is a region of widening gaps between rich and poor. In Nepal, this disparity has been brought into even sharper relief by a rise in the number of millionaires, while the majority of the population still lives on under $1.25 a day. It is gaps like these that UNICEF is addressing as it works to provide health, education and basic rights for every child.

UNICEF supported Rwanda in introducing a vaccine to protect children against one of the most common causes of pneumonia. One year later, the results are encouraging. Hospitalization rates are down, and more parents are becoming educated in the importance of child immunizations and other health services.

Significant progress has been made in several low and middle-income countries in increasing access to HIV/AIDS services, according to a new report released today. The report Towards Universal Access, is the fourth annual report for tracking progress made in achieving the 2010 target of providing universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care.