The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has raised concern that the future of children is now at risk following global foreign aid reduction.
Unicef Executive Director Catherine Russell in a statement on Thursday said funding cuts will hinder the organisation's ability to help millions of needy children globally.
According to Russell, funding cuts by numerous donor countries follow two years of aid reductions at a time of unprecedented need.
She noted that many children are faced with different challenges and are prone to life-threatening diseases.
"Millions of children are affected by conflict, need to be vaccinated against deadly diseases such as measles and polio, and must be educated and kept healthy," Russell said.
She acknowledged that Unicef is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from governments, private sector partners, and individuals.
Russell noted that this support has helped save millions of children’s lives, helped ensure infectious diseases do not spread across borders, and helped mitigate the risks of instability and violence.
She said that with partners, Unicef has made historic progress, adding that since 2000, global under-5 mortality has dropped by 50 per cent.
"Millions of children are alive today thanks to this work. Millions more have been protected with improved health and brighter futures. We cannot fail them now.”
Russell raised concern that as needs continue to outpace resources, UNICEF has consistently brought efficiencies and innovations to their work, and has stretched every contribution to reach vulnerable children.
"But there is no way around it, these new cuts are creating a global funding crisis that will put the lives of millions of additional children at risk," she said.
UNICEF is now calling on donors to continue to fund critical aid programmes for the world’s children.
This comes amid funding cuts especially by the US government under Donald Trump, with the most affected being HIV/AIDs programmes.
According to a report by UNAIDS, Kenya is the tenth most reliant country on the US for its HIV medicines.
