KATHMANDU, Nepal, 16 May 2012 – Participants from five countries and various ministries and international NGOs gathered in Nepal last week to learn about the ‘Schools as Zones of Peace’ (SZOP) programme.

AL SEEFER, Hebron, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 16 May 2012 – Every morning at dawn, Khalil* wakes up and hurries to class. While his school is a mere 15-minute walk from his house, the 14-year-old boy has no idea how long it will take him to get there. The Israeli-manned Beit Yatir checkpoint, which stands between his house and Imneizil School, can turn the 15-minute walk into an hour-long wait.

SOFIA, Bulgaria, 16 May 2012 – Marie-Pierre Poirier, the Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS), met with President of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev, as well as top cabinet ministers, civil society officials and key partners, urging them to strengthen support for families in order to realize the rights of the most vulnerable children in Bulgaria.

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, 15 May 2012 – It’s the morning rounds of the village mothers’ support group. Today, they’re visiting one of the poorest families in this remote village in eastern Sri Lanka.

TAMALE, Ghana, 14 May 2012 – Midwife Doris Azuma Bugri was sitting on the veranda of the Moglaa clinic, in northern Ghana, when she saw a pregnant woman walk into a compound across the street.

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar, 14 May 2012 - Fanomezanjanahary Lantoniaina sits in the training room of the Antananarivo-based French Institute of Madagascar. Born and raised at the outskirts of Madagascar’s capital city, she eagerly awaits the start of UNICEF’s OneMinutesJr. video workshop.

KATHMANDU, Nepal, 11 May 2012 – Fifty journalists in Nepal have been awarded for highlighting the harsh realities facing the country’s children and women.

BARCELONA, Spain, 11 May 2012 – In an event held yesterday at Camp Nou, the stadium of legendary football team FC Barcelona (FCB), the FC Barcelona Foundation and UNICEF reaffirmed their promise to work together to improve the lives of millions of children through sports and education.

NIAMEY, Niger, 11 May 2012 – Chronic food insecurity and malnutrition are mainstays of everyday life for thousands of families in Niger. Following the failed rains and poor harvests of 2011, the country is now in the midst of its third nutrition crisis since 2005.

HATAY, Turkey, 10 May 2012 – In a quiet house outside Antakya in southern Turkey, parents fleeing 14 months of violence in Syria have set up a makeshift school for their children. The sounds of lessons in maths, English, Turkish and the Koran ring through the living rooms and bedrooms, and the garden has become a lively playground.

TAMALE, Ghana, 10 May 2012 – Azara Abukari once prayed she would never again have to serve her family the brew of hot water, salt and pepper that had become their standby meal.

HARAMAYA, Ethiopia, 9 May 2012 – At one month old, Hannan Mohammed Ibrahim lost her twin sister. Soon after, their mother, Sephora Adem, fell seriously ill.

NAWAY KALAY, Swat Valley, Pakistan, 9 May 2012 – Students of the Naway Kalay Government Boys’ School wore crisp uniforms and carried shiny blue school bags. Their faces glowed with excitement at meeting the special guests who were coming to their school.

TAMALE, Ghana, 9 May 2012 – One morning about 10 years ago, Afakiba Azure’s daughter, Ndepoka, started vomiting. She did not stop for three days. On the fourth day, Ms. Azure strapped the 10-year-old girl to her back and walked 10 hours to the nearest hospital. But in spite of the nurses’ efforts, Ndepoka died.

N’DJAMENA, Chad, 8 May 2012 – “It was a night in April,” explained Annour. “Our child began to vomit and have diarrhoea repeatedly. We gave him water, thinking that it would pass, but it went on. No one in the village health centre knew what it was, so we decided the next morning to take him to the hospital in N'Djamena – but he died on the way.”

KAMPALA, Uganda, 8 May 2012 – It all began at the age of 15, after winning the title of ‘best debater’ in an inter-school debating competition. After winning the award, I received a call from UNICEF informing me that I had been selected to represent Ugandan children at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children in New York in 2002. This marked the beginning of my journey as an advocate for the rights of children, youth and women.

LUBANGO, Angola, 8 May 2012 – Anton*, 15, helps take care of Fernando Sozinho, an elderly disabled man at a retirement home in Lubango, in the province of Huíla, in southern Angola.

SOFIA, Bulgaria, 8 May 2012 – UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Martin Mogwanja visited children in institutional and residential care in Bulgaria, learning more about the needs of the most vulnerable children, challenges to providing them with suitable care, and efforts to improve the systems that support them.

NEW YORK, USA, 7 May 2012 – This week, UNICEF commemorates the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of ‘A World Fit for Children’, a United Nations document committing the world’s nations to advancing the rights, welfare and dignity of children everywhere.

AL FAQIHA, Lebanon, 7 May 2012 – The little hilltop town of Al Faqiha is located in one of the more remote corners of the Bekaa Valley, a fertile swath of land along Lebanon’s eastern frontier. It’s also the region closest to Syria, Lebanon’s troubled neighbour, making it a natural refuge for Syrian families seeking sanctuary from the unrest in their homeland.