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STORY: UNICEF / BORN INTO CONFLICT
TRT: 1:39
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: NATS
DATELINE: FILE
OCTOBER 2015, LESBOS, GREECE
1. Med shot, refugees arriving on dingy to an island
03 OCTOBER 2015, GREECE-MACEDONIA BORDER
2. Med shot, refugees walking north
23 OCTOBER 2015, SERBIA-CROATIA BORDER
3. Med shot, mother dressing baby in field
4. Close-up, mother dressing baby in field
16 MARCH 2015, ALEPPO, SYRIA
5. Close-up, extremely malnourished baby being screened with MUAC (Mid-Upper Arm Circumference)
6. Med shot, extremely malnourished baby being held
7. Close-up, extremely malnourished baby being fed RUTF (Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods)
16 MAY 2015, SANA’A, YEMEN
8. Wide shot, smoke rising over city
29 JULY 2015, SANA’A YEMEN
9. Close-up, extremely malnourished baby
24 JUNE 2015, GAZA, STATE OF PALESTINE
10. Wide shot, children playing outside bombed out building
11. Med shot, children playing in badly damaged building
12. Close-up, children playing in badly damaged building
27 FEBRUARY 2015, OUALLAM, NIGER
13. Wide shot, family with small children outside tent at Mangaize Refugee Camp
14. Med shot, health worker screens baby for stunting
15. Med shot, health worker weighs baby
29 JUNE 2015, MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA
16. Wide shot, health clinic at Dalori Displacement Camp
17. Close-up, health worker inspect pregnant woman
18. Med shot, health worker inspect pregnant woman
19. Close-up, new born baby
More than 16 million babies were born in conflict areas in 2015, 1 in 8 of all births worldwide, according to UNICEF.
“Every two seconds, a newborn takes its first breath in the midst of conflict, often in terrifying circumstances and without access to medical care,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “Too many children are now starting their lives in extreme circumstances – from conflict to natural disasters, poverty, disease or malnutrition. Can there be a worse start in life?”
In conflict-affected countries such as Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen, or on perilous journeys to escape fighting, newborn children and their mothers face enormous risks. Pregnant mothers are in danger of giving birth without medical help and in unsanitary conditions. Their children are more likely to die before they reach their fifth birthdays and to experience extreme – or “toxic” – stress, which can inhibit their long-term emotional and cognitive development.
In addition to conflict, poverty, the effects of climate change and lack of opportunity are making children increasingly vulnerable and have pushed millions on dangerous journeys away from their homes.
More than 200,000 children applied for asylum in European Union countries in the first nine months of 2015, adding to the 30 million children across the globe forced from their homes by 2014 due to war, violence and persecution. More people are displaced now than at any moment since World War II.
More than a quarter of a billion children – or 1 in 9 – live in countries and areas in conflict and face enormous obstacles to their health, education and well-being.
More than half a billion children live in areas where floods are extremely common and nearly 160 million live in high or extremely high drought severity zones.
Children represent almost half of all people living in extreme poverty although they make up roughly a third of the world’s population.
“The final months of 2015 have seen the world come together around tackling climate change and a new global development agenda. These ambitious agreements present a huge opportunity if we can translate our promises into action for the most vulnerable children,” said Lake. “If we address the reasons so many families feel the need to uproot themselves and their children from their homes – by resolving conflict, by addressing climate change, by expanding opportunity, we can make 2016 a year of hope for millions – not a year of despair.”
