© 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.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-0200/Susan Markisz

KHARTOUM/JUBA, Sudan, 22 May 2008 – UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hilde Johnson has been in Sudan this week, reviewing the progress which has been made for children’s rights since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 that ended decades of civil war in most parts of the country.

Girls attend class at a UNICEF-assisted school in Mogadishu, the capital.

By Denise Shepherd-Johnson

NAIROBI, Kenya, 8 May 2008 – More than 7.5 million people from over 100 countries – including Somalia – joined together to simultaneously express their feelings about the importance of education last month, as part of a unique event called the ‘World’s Biggest Lesson’.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1016/Christine NesbittChildren in a classroom are visible through a hole in the wall at Kinkole Primary school near Kinshasa

GOMA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 11 March 2008 – Moka, 13, was hiding at home with his family when the mortar landed. “It killed my grandfather and my younger brother,” he says. “We saw them dead, blown up, burnt.”

© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-0680/Susan MarkiszUNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman addresses UN Security Council members on the third anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1612.

By Yvette Bivigou

MONROVIA, Liberia, 27 February 2008 – UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman has just completed a visit here to gain firsthand insights into the situation of children in post-conflict Liberia.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-0171/George McBeanShoes are piled near a group of children attending a UNICEF-supported temporary school in a camp for the displaced in the western town of Nakuru

By James Elder

NAKURU, Kenya, 19 February 2008 – When Yvonne’s family fled the violence that ravaged their village, the eight-year-old lost her home, her precious plastic necklace, her school uniform and her classroom.