More than half (57%) of the people in Afghanistan who require immediate humanitarian aid are children. Almost 33,000 children have been killed and maimed in Afghanistan over the past 20 years, an average of one child every five hours. The nation's systems for protecting children are woefully inadequate. Afghan children experience severe human rights violations, such as forced marriage, corporal punishment, and dangerous job circumstances, as they grow up amid a constant fear of violence. The Taliban have recently made a comeback in the area, and more children are escaping across the border in search of work and safety in Iran. Afghan children and young people are growing up without having the chance to learn. 3.5 million children in Afghanistan are not currently attending school, with 75% of them being female.
Escalating conflict in northern Ethiopia is leading to widespread displacement. 9.4 million people in Tigray, Afar, and Amhara require food aid, and millions more have been displaced by violence. The World Food Programme has issued a warning that fierce fighting is preventing the delivery of life-saving aid. Yannet fled her village in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia with her mother and siblings when fighting broke out. Yannet, 14, says, "When the explosion happened, I just kept running, hoping my family was behind me, but they weren't. I walked for four days and nights to get here [a journey of 100km]. I had no food and so to survive, I collected water from the river using plastic bottles. When I came to this town, I slept on the streets until I found a displacement camp." Yannet is not the only one in this situation, children across Ethipioa are losing their homes, families, and lives.
A third of Ukrainian children, or 2.2 million of them, have been uprooted from their homes, many of them twice or three times as territory has been lost, according to humanitarian organisations. In September 2022, up to 3.6 million Ukrainian children may not have a place to attend school. Families in eastern Ukraine are in shock, fear for their safety, and require access to basic services including health, education, protection, water and sanitation, as well as life-saving supplies after eight years of conflict and the escalation of violence in February 2022. Children's lives have been completely changed by this war as their families have been separated, their rights have been denied, and they are at the risk of growing up without the care they need.