• Children in Bangladesh work to support themselves, their families

    Munir Uz Zaman / AFP / Getty Images

    A young boy working at an aluminum pot making factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh on April 19.

    Munur Uz Zaman / AFP / Getty Ima

    A young boy working at an aluminum pot making factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh on April 19.

    A recent UNICEF (United Nation Children’s Fund) report, “The State of the World’s Children 2012: Children in an Urban World,” focuses attention on children in urban areas. One billion children live in urban areas, a number that is growing rapidly. Yet disparities within cities reveal that many lack access to schools, health care and sanitation, despite living alongside these services. Many children are forced to work to support their families. A 2003 report found than more than 6.3 million children under the age of 14 are working in Bangladesh.

    Munir Uz Zaman / AFP / Getty Images

    11-year-old Amirul, left, earns 100 taka ($1.22 USD) a day, selling books from a pushcart, as a potential customer browses in Dhaka, Bangladesh on April 19, 2012.

    Munir Uz Zaman / AFP / Getty Images

    Amirul, 11-years-old, pushes his cart full of books to sell on April 19 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

     

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  • Severe acute malnutrition continues to rise in Sahel region of Africa

    Ben Curtis / AP

    Kouboura Adoum holds her son Nezile Moussa, two-years-old, as he receives treatment through a nasal feeding tube at the therapeutic nutrition ward of the hospital in Mao, capital of the Kanem region of Chad, on April 17.

    Ben Curtis / AP

    A child has his weight checked in a hanging scale as other mothers and children wait their turn, at a walk-in feeding center in Mao, capital of the Kanem region of Chad on April 17.

    Ben Curtis / AP

    Hereta Moussa, 20, rests her hand on the leg of her son Mahamat Choukou, seven-months, as he receives treatment for a malnutrition-related lung infection

     

    UNICEF estimates this year that 127,000 children under the age of five living in Chad's Sahel belt region will require lifesaving treatment for severe acute malnutrition, with a larger number estimated at 1 million expected throughout the wider Sahel region of West and Central Africa, in the countries of Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Mauritania. The organization says the current food and nutrition crisis stems from scarce rainfalls in 2011, which caused poor harvests and livestock production, though the situation in Chad has also been exacerbated by an influx of Chadians returning from Libya as a result of the conflict there.

    Ben Curtis / AP

    A child has the circumference of her arm measured to check her growth, at a walk-in feeding center in Mao, capital of the Kanem region of Chad on April 17.

    Ben Curtis / AP

    Halime Moussa, three-years-old, receives treatment via a nasal feeding tube and has bandaged hands to prevent him from removing it, at the therapeutic nutrition ward of the Mao hospital in the Kanem region of Chad. His mother, Kaltouma Abakar, left, traveled 70km (43.5 miles) to bring him to the center.

    Ben Curtis / AP

    A woman casts millet grain for sale into a basket next to a walk-in feeding center in Mao, capital of the Kanem region of Chad on April 17.

    Related story: Angelina Jolie in new role with U.N. refugee agency

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  • Mario Tama / Getty Images

    Martina Raymond (R), 5, stands in front of her family tent with neighbor Revdania Henry, 4, in a makeshift camp at the Petionville golf club on Jan. 11, 2011 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. According to UNICEF, over half of the four million children in Haiti still do not attend school. In addition to educational difficulties, Haiti's children also suffer from unequal access to basic water, health care and sanitation. January 12, 2011 marks the one-year anniversary of the Haitian earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.

    More than two million Haitian children aren't in school one year after deadly quake

    By Carissa Ray

    This lovely portrait by Mario Tama echoes the quiet loveliness in the portrait from Slab City that Mish posted earlier today.

    For more info, check out this story on Haiti a year after the quake.

  • Ed Kashi / VII

    Nguyen Thi Ly, 9, who suffers from Agent Orange disabilities, in her home in Ngu Hanh Son district of Da Nang, Vietnam.

    UNICEF's 2010 Photo of the Year: Vietnam war causes endless suffering

    By Robert Hood

    We’ve worked with Ed Kashi several times. His photographs are often beautiful even when he covers difficult topics. This recognition is well deserved. Click here to read more about Kashi and his work.

    From the UNICEF announcement:

    The Vietnam War ended in 1975. The USA withdrew their troops and North and South Vietnam were reunited. After 35 years, the world no longer pays attention to the drama. But for the Vietnamese people the legacy of American warfare continues. It was a cruel and brutal war that was also extremely damaging to the environment. US forces used the herbicide Agent Orange to destroy foliage that the North Vietnamese were using as cover. Agent Orange contains dioxins that are known to cause cancer and damage genes. The effects of the toxic substance can be seen among Vietnamese people to this day: cancer, immune disorders and severe deformities. According to official estimates, there are 1.2 million disabled children in Vietnam. In rural areas, the percentage of disabled children is significantly higher than in urban areas. The face of 9-year-old Nguyen Thi Ly is a sad example of this toxic legacy.