UNICEF reports significant increase in number of children killed in attacks across Ukraine

This is said in a press release published on the UNICEF website, according to Ukrinform.

According to UN-verified data, attacks between 1 January and 31 March 2024 resulted in the deaths of 25 children. The youngest was just two months old. Nine children were reportedly killed in attacks during the first three weeks of April.

Since the escalation of the war in 2022, at least 600 children have been killed in attacks, according to official UN data. More than 1,350 children have been injured. The true number of children killed and injured is likely considerably higher.   

In addition, the infrastructure that children rely on also continues to come under attack. Thousands of homes, 36 health facilities and 140 educational facilities were damaged or destroyed in the first three months of the year. Attacks affecting power supplies and water sources have further disrupted critical services, putting children’s lives and well-being at further risk, UNICEF said.

“Two years of war preceded by two years of COVID-19 has meant children’s access to schooling has been disrupted for more than four years – years equivalent to a primary education. Nearly half of children enrolled in school in Ukraine are missing out on in-person schooling, with almost one million children across the country not able to access any in-person learning at all due to insecurity,” the document reads.

According to the press release, UNICEF is working across Ukraine to preserve learning opportunities for children through rehabilitating schools and shelters, providing at-home learning kits and online learning support. UNICEF is also delivering mental health and psychosocial support

Together with partners, UNICEF is rebuilding critical water and health infrastructure destroyed or damaged by attacks.

It is stressed that currently, UNICEF requires an additional $250 million to ensure critical support for children and families inside Ukraine including in frontline areas, for humanitarian and recovery programmes in 2024.  

As reported by Ukrinform, the United Nations Children's Fund handed over about 39,000 laptops to middle and high school students in eight regions of Ukraine in April 2024.