By Kielce Gussie
75 years ago the world observed Human Rights Day for the first time on Dec 10. It commemorates the anniversary of the global pledge – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted two years prior – which “enshrines the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being”. Yet, three quarters of a century later, the world is still marred by injustice and exploitation.
In Ukraine, United Nations human rights investigators issued a report describing how civilians in the country face almost daily attacks as the war approaches the four-year mark.
In July, the UN released documents revealing cases of individuals involuntarily returned to Afghanistan who faced grave human rights violations “on the basis of their specific profiles”, including torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and threats to personal security.
Now UNICEF has reported that over 200 million children will need humanitarian assistance by 2026. Consequently, the United Nations agency for children launched a new appeal, Humanitarian Action for Children 2026 (HAC), for humanitarian action to provide aid to 73 million children across 133 countries next year.
Severe violations at its highest levels
In 2025, a 72% funding gap in nutritional programs led to cuts in some 20 priority countries and triggered reductions from over 42 million to just over 27 million women and children.
As a result, UNICEF has called for critical investments for lifesaving services for children as humanitarian needs around the world reach new extreme levels. With the launch of this appeal, the UN agency is appealing for $7.66 billion to help these 73 million children – including 37 million girls and over 9 million children with disabilities.
All around the world, children are living in emergency situations and experiencing “overlapping crises” that are growing in scale and complexity, according to the UNICEF appeal statement.
With conflicts and violence, children are forced to move from their homes, which exposes them to “severe violations at the highest levels ever recorded.” They face attacks at schools and hospitals as documented cases of rape and other forms of sexual violations continue to rise drastically.
In a number of crises, humanitarian workers trying to reach those in need and children are targeted deliberately. Places which used to be associated with safety are forever changed.
Basic human rights being denied or violated
UNICEF estimated that by next year, the numbers will only worsen. About 20 million children will be in need of emergency nutritional aid as food insecurity, risk of famine, persistent violence, climate-related disruptions, economic downturns, and funding cuts rise.
About 8.3 million children across Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, and Palestine live under the threat of famine and another 12 million face the same threat in Somalia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Ethiopia, Mali, and Myanmar.
The tragic data continues as reports showed grave violations against children reaching unprecedented levels. In 2024 alone, there were 41,470 verified cases of violations—more than double the average of the past 20 years.
If investments are not made, about 360,000 children who have survived sexual abuse and those caring for them will not be able to receive the care and support they need.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell explained how children living through conflicts, displacements, and economic or natural disasters continue to face challenges around the world. “Their lives are shaped by forces beyond their control: violence, the threat of famine, intensifying climate shocks, and the widespread collapse of essential services”, she said.
Restricting aid
These factors, added to the deteriorating global humanitarian funding situation reduce or completely eliminate children’s basic human rights to education. In 2025, donor governments announced cuts which restricted UNICEF’s ability to assist millions of children in urgent need. Consequently, the UN agency had to make tough decisions, including a $745 million cut which left millions of children at risk of losing access to education, protection, and stability.
Regarding child protection, UNICEF reported that the “increase in violations is coinciding with dwindling resources, threatening programs for survivors of sexual violence, children recruited or used by armed groups, and those in need of urgent psychological and psychosocial support.”
Russell stressed that the drastic cuts in funding have put UNICEF’s life-saving programs in a tough place. The agency’s “frontline teams are forced to make impossible decisions: prioritizing limited supplies and services for children in some areas over others, reducing the frequency of services children receive, or scaling back interventions on which children’s survival depends.”
The Executive Director warned that as UNICEF works to adapt to the current global funding crisis, “children are already paying the price of reduced humanitarian budgets.”
If the basic rights of people continue to be threatened and in some places completely violated, the future—found in children all around the world—could be jeopardized. – Vatican News
