$7.660 million (€6.584 million) is urgently needed to provide lifesaving assistance in 2026 to 117 million people, including 73 million children in 133 countries and territories. This is the calculation that Unicef made in its appeal for funds for the coming year, presented this month.
Additionally, the United Nations Children’s Agency estimates that more than 200 million children will need humanitarian assistance by 2026. The petition for the coming year was received here. Report on humanitarian action for children 2026, It presents a reduction of around 22% compared to 2025, which amounted to around $9.9 billion (8.509 million euros) and aims to reach 172 million people, including 109 million children. So far this year, 42% of funding has been secured.
“The current global financial crisis does not reflect a reduction in humanitarian needs, but a growing gap between the scale of sufficiency and available resources,” Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF, said in a statement. “We are experiencing the worst humanitarian period for children in many, many years,” said Chema Vera, executive director of Unicef Spain, in a telephone interview with EL PAÍS.
This critical moment can be explained, according to this UN body, by the combination of three factors. First, the increase and timing of conflicts, climate disasters, poverty, displacement or disease and with them the increasing needs of millions of children living in a massive humanitarian crisis. On the other, a more recurrent and serious vulnerability of international humanitarian law, which affects both the population and workers.
And finally, the sharp reductions in funds allocated to global humanitarian financing by governments and donors. “The combination of these three factors puts the humanitarian system under stress, in a gap, in a tension that has never been produced before. And what pays the consequences is the vulnerable population, it is fundamentally children and children,” said Vera.
The current global financial crisis does not reflect a reduction in humanitarian needs, but a growing gap between the scale of sufficiency and available resources.
Catherine Russell, executive director of Unicef
Russell noted that this lack of funds puts “tremendous pressure” on Unicef’s life-saving programs. “Across our operations, frontline teams are forced to make impossible decisions: focus limited supplies and services on children in some locations at the expense of others, reduce the frequency of services, or reduce interventions that depend on children’s survival,” he added.
Although all areas have been damaged by the reduction in finances, Vera highlights the area of nutrition in particular. For example, the 72% funding gap for nutrition programs this year forced program cuts in 20 priority countries and instead of reaching 42 million women and children with nutritional needs, only 27 million were reached.
“Water, sanitation and hygiene are also covered. We have a coverage of around 9.85%. In turn, this area impacts other areas like health and nutrition,” he added. Additionally, there are challenges in education in emergencies, with an additional 30 million children unable to access education due to critical humanitarian situations.
On education, the report highlights how the $745 million (€640 million) deficit has left millions of children at risk of losing access to education. Unicef cites the case of the Rohinyá refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, where they had to make difficult decisions this summer due to budget cuts. In fact, the organization is responsible for 83% of all learning centers and as of the end of June, it was only able to open 17%.
Three countries account for about a third of the funds requested by Unicef to help children around the world. Sudan tops the list, with $962.8 million (€827.5 million) requested. The country has been at war since 2023 and is experiencing one of the world’s most serious humanitarian crises, with 17.3 million children in need of urgent assistance. Afghanistan continues with $949 million (815.6 million euros) requested for this year, a figure that represents a 20% reduction compared to the previous year. In addition, Unicef is requesting $673.8 million (579 million euros) to meet critical needs on the margins of Gaza and the West Bank.
Reduced financial commitment and restricted humanitarian access
As of October 31, 2025, the funding requirements for the 2025 Children’s Humanitarian Action Fund amount to $9.710 million (€8.347 million), “which represents a slight decrease compared to the 9.870 million (€8.484 million) requested when the appeal was launched in December 2024.” Last year, 42% funding was obtained (4.050 million dollars, or some 3.481 million euros). Unicef highlights “the reduction in annual funding commitments from financial partners” in 2025. They only contributed $2.380 million during this year, to which is added a sum of $1.670 million transferred from the previous year.
We are experiencing the worst humanitarian period for children in many, many years.
Chema Vera, executive director of Unicef Spain
Despite this, according to provisional data available through June 2025, the organization has provided safe drinking water to 21.1 million people and provided life-saving treatment for severe acute malnutrition to a total of 2.8 million children. It also provides access to education for 6.9 million children, mental health support for 4.6 million children and caregivers or measles vaccination for 5.7 million children in order to prevent epidemics in emergency areas.
In this context of funding restrictions, Unicef urges governments, public and private sector donors to recover their funding. “Return to the path of international responsibility with those who suffer the most, namely children and girls in critical humanitarian situations,” says the executive director of Unicef Spain.
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