BANGUI, Central African Republic, 5 May 2015 – Leaders of armed groups in the Central African Republic agreed today to release all children associated with their forces and to immediately end any new child recruitment. An estimated 6,000 to 10,000 children are currently associated with the country?s armed factions according to UNICEF. The figure includes those serving as combatants and used for sexual purposes, as well as those working as cooks, messengers and in other roles.

KATHMANDU, 2 May 2015 ? One week on from the earthquake in Nepal, UNICEF says the health and wellbeing of children affected by the disaster are hanging in the balance ? as many have been left homeless, in deep shock and with no access to basic care. With the monsoon season only a few weeks away, children will be at heightened risk of diseases like cholera and diarrhoeal infections, as well as being more vulnerable to the threat of landslides and floods.

Around 500,000 people, up to half of them children, have been forced to flee their homes since violence erupted on 5 June in the Iraqi city of Mosul and the violence is spreading.

Iraq has launched a polio immunization campaign aiming to protect over four million children under the age of 5 throughout the country against the crippling disease.

Number of children suffering more than doubles in third year of Syria conflict Among hardest hit are 1 million children under siege and in Hard-to-reach areas

Together with Ministries of Health and other partners across seven countries in West Africa, UNICEF is using text messages, radio shows, TV programmes and door-to-door campaigns to disseminate life-saving information in an effort to contain the often-fatal Ebola virus that has already claimed over one hundred lives in Guinea and Liberia.

UNICEF’s #WAKEUPCALL for Syria, morning selfie campaign has taken off with Irish celebs such as Liam Neeson, Donncha O’Callaghan, Joe Canning, Dermot Earley, Anna Daly, Sean O’Brien and our very own Dustin the Turkey!

An emergency vaccination campaign by UNICEF to reach over 210,000 children displaced by violence in the Central African Republic has begun at major displacement sites in the capital Bangui

Over 400,000 children affected by Typhoon Hagupit

This weekend, UNICEF marks the first anniversary of Super Typhoon Haiyan which affected 5.4 million children in the Philippines. The strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in recorded history, Typhoon Haiyan destroyed up to 90% of the hospitals, schools and homes in its path, leaving 1.7 million children homeless and at risk from disease and hunger

UNICEF and partners today launched a new campaign No Lost Generation to bring the world?s attention to the 5.5 million children in Syria who need urgent education and psychological support to break the cycle of violence caused by almost three years of conflict.

?The abduction of eight more girls in Nigeria is an outrage and a worsening nightmare for the girls themselves and for the families of the more than 200 girls who have been stolen from their communities in the last several weeks.