(UN News Centre) – Although countries across the Middle East and North Africa have made major strides in protecting children’s rights and wellbeing since the inception of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 70 years ago, conflict risks reversing these gains for 157 million children in the region. “Looking back on 70 years of UNICEF’s work for children is a source of great pride. Every country in the region has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, less children die before the age of five, and school enrolment rates have improved,” said Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, in a news release issued today.
