UNICEF has called for $92.4 million in new funds to help combat the effects of the novel coronavirus on poverty-stricken areas in West Asia and North Africa.
"The region has the biggest number of children in need in the world due to ongoing conflicts and wars," Ted Chaiban, UNICEF director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement on Monday.
The combination of a lack of "or inadequate basic services, years of conflict, poverty, deprivation and now COVID-19 are hitting vulnerable children the most, making their hard lives simply unbearable," he added.
Chaiban underlined in the statement that nearly 25 million children across the region were in need of relief aid, including many who are refugees and internally displaced as a result of war.
“The majority were uprooted due to armed conflicts in Iraq, Libya, the Palestinian territories, Sudan, Syria and Yemen,” the statement said.
The UNICEF official said the effects of population lockdowns on employment and businesses in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak would drag around eight million more people into poverty regionally, adding that an estimated half of them were children.
Pointing out that around 110 million children are now stuck at home rather than in school due to the pandemic, the UN children's agency said it was working with education ministries across the region on "distant learning programs and... making material available on radio, TV and online platforms" for continuity of learning.
The statement also said the agency was focusing on distributing printed copies of learning materials for "vulnerable communities.”
More than 218,000 coronavirus infections have been reported in the Middle East region, including close to 8,000 deaths.
Germany not ‘out of woods’ as country opens up
Also on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for vigilance in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, warning that Germany was not "out of the woods" even as the country embarked on relaxing some curbs imposed to rein in the flu-like pathogen.
For the first time in a month, the government in Berlin authorized shops smaller than 800 square meters to open across the country on Monday.
"We must not lose sight of the fact that we stand at the beginning of the pandemic and are still a long way from being out of the woods," Merkel told journalists after chairing a cabinet session on the coronavirus battle.
It would be a "crying shame if we were to stumble into a relapse with our eyes wide open," she added.
Merkel said easing lockdown restrictions too hastily could be counterproductive as the effects of today’s measure would only be seen in two weeks.
"We must remain vigilant and disciplined," she stressed.
Germany has recorded 141,672 coronavirus cases, with 4,404 fatalities — well below hard-hit Italy, Spain and France.
The rate of infection has been steadily slowing in recent days and the country’s health system has been able to cope with the strain.
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