Conflicts across the Middle East and North Africa have killed, injured or forced from their homes an estimated 12.2 million children in less than two years, according to a warning issued by the United Nations Children’s Fund. The toll equates to a child displaced every five seconds and one killed or maimed every 15 minutes, reflecting what UNICEF called a rapidly deteriorating protection crisis. Roughly half of the region’s 220 million children now live in countries affected by war, undermining access to schooling, health care and safe water. UNICEF projects that 45 million children will require humanitarian assistance in 2025, up 41% from 2020, as violence in places such as Israel-Palestine, Syria and Yemen continues to widen humanitarian needs. UNICEF Regional Director Edouard Beigbeder appealed for an immediate end to hostilities and for all parties to respect international humanitarian law. He also urged donors to close fast-widening funding gaps that threaten life-saving programmes. Current appeals for Syria and the occupied Palestinian territories are only 22% and 32% funded, leaving shortfalls of 78% and 68% respectively, while overall UNICEF resources for the region are forecast to fall by as much as a quarter by 2026, jeopardising responses to severe malnutrition, water shortages and vaccination campaigns.