Multiple emergencies and a new focus on reaching the most vulnerable children

UNICEF in 2010: The year in review

NEW YORK, USA, 30 December 2010 – For UNICEF and the world’s children, the past 12 months have been marked by unprecedented difficulties and extraordinary opportunities. As 2010 draws to a close, it’s worth highlighting some of the moments that made this a year like no other.

The year began, tragically and ominously, with the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12 January. The quake claimed more than 220,000 lives and displaced 1.6 million people. It was also was the single deadliest disaster ever for the United Nations, which lost over 100 staff members.

As Haitians dug out from the rubble, humanitarian aid agencies responded with life-saving aid. Six months later, UNICEF was providing safe water to hundreds of thousands of people in the quake zone. More than 275,000 children had been immunized against major vaccine-preventable diseases, and nutrition programmes were providing food to some 550,000 young children and lactating women.