According to UNICEF, 2017 was one of the worst years for children caught in conflicts and besieged areas. From being deployed as human shields to acting as suicide bombers, children have become targets on a huge scale.

read more

“One sometimes needs perspective to realize how good you actually have it. I see Zahra, and all I see is innocence.”

read more

At least 15 million girls have been victims of sexual violence, yet only 1 in 100 sought help, according to the UN’s children’s agency. Most children knew their abusers, says the report’s author Claudia Cappa.

read more

Seema Azis is one of the most prominent business leaders in South Asia. However, she is mostly known for her work in improving the education sector of Pakistan. Aziz runs more than 700 English medium schools in Pakistan for the underprivileged.

read more

A UN-backed survey in India has shown that simple interventions such as distributing iron folic acid tablets to children and engaging community workers to promote breast feeding has led to considerable improvement in the health of children and women in India. Saba Mebrahtu, chief of child development and nutrition at UNICEF India tells DW how these simple models could be easily replicated by other developing countries facing the problem of child malnutrition, the underlying cause of death for 3 million children annually around the world. She also talks about the challenges that remain as far as child and women nutrition status in India is concerned. The survey is the first national survey of child and maternal health in India in the last decade.

read more

Female genital mutilation is still practised in many African countries, despite being officially banned. Girl members of the semi nomadic Pokot ethnic group in Kenya have to undergo the painful ritual.

read more

Since the December 16 gang rape incident in Delhi, the attention that sexual violence has received from the Indian public and authorities has been a welcome change. However, such recognition should not come at the cost of ignoring other forms of violence that may seem to be less scandalous and, in fact, “normal.” The recent UNICEF report on violence against children does precisely this. It blows the lid off a camouflaged and under-discussed aspect of the issue: “hidden” violence.

read more