Cyclone-affected children in Myanmar return to the classroom
©UNICEF Video

LAPUTTA TOWNSHIP, Myanmar, 22 July 2008 – The school year here in the southern Irrawaddy Delta region was supposed to resume last month. The destruction and damage affecting nearly 60 per cent of the area’s public schools in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, however, prevented classes from starting on time.

UNICEF’s child-friendly spaces use movement and dance to help children heal
©UNICEF Video

By Quinn Lundberg

NEW YORK, USA, 21 July 2008 – The tragedies of war and natural disasters leave children struggling to cope with deep psychological wounds. One of the ways that UNICEF and other organizations have helped to alleviate children’s emotional scars is through dance and movement.

Young students at the Al Aqsa School for Palestinian refugee children in Damascus, Syria.
© UNICEF video

By Monica Awad

DAMASCUS, Syria, 2008 – Palestinian children residing in Husseiniyeh camp here are suffering from overcrowded classrooms and double-shift schools. Faced with staggering challenges outside the classroom, children are now in danger of losing their right to a quality education.

© UNICEF/HQ08-0467/HoltzUNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow greets students at Betoko Primary School in the conflict-affected northern town of Paoua, near the CAR-Chad border.

KAGA BANDORO-KABO, Central African Republic, 27 June 2008 – On a recent visit to the northern regions of CAR, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador witnessed first-hand how schools have begun to reopen, improving the lives of children affected by conflict here.

This storage room turned playground at Yangon Kayin Baptist Women’s Association is one of the many child-friendly spaces now operating in Myanmar with UNICEF support.
© UNICEF Video

By Nattha Keenapan

YANGON, Myanmar, 5 June 2008 – At the offices of the Yangon Kayin Baptist Women’s Association, a room once used for storing office equipment and documents is now filled with laughing and playing children, all of whom were displaced by the devastation of Cyclone Nargis.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-0562/NaingBoys at State Primary School No.11 in Hlaing Thar Township, Yapon, read an illustrated book on life skills

By Angela B. Thaung

YANGON, Myanmar, 3 June 2008 – A new school year has begun as children head back to classes, just one month after Cyclone Nargis damaged or destroyed more than 4,000 schools in Myanmar.