""Right now, in the refugee camps of Cox's Bazar, in Bangladesh, the funding crisis is threatening to erase years of progress for Rohingya children. I was there last week, and it was disheartening to watch classrooms close, services shrink, and the futures of hundreds of thousands of children hanging by a thread.
"I saw how deeply the global funding gap is hurting children. UNICEF and our partners are doing everything possible to stretch every dollar, but we are running out of options. Education, water, sanitation and hygiene assistance are among the hardest hit.
"Protection services for women and children in this very large refugee camp are being interrupted just as risks are increasing. Recent data shows a staggering reality for children, with 685 cases of child recruitment by armed groups reported this year, more than five times the total recorded for all of 2024. And the year is not yet over.
"Indications are that the situation will be even more dire next year. The overall Rohingya response faces what we call a funding cliff in early 2026. We're progressing towards this funding cliff at high speed, with worst-case projections suggesting that already insufficient contributions could fall by half. Even with efficiencies, integration of programmes and localization saving tens of millions of dollars, no amount of cost-cutting can offset such a steep decline.
"Across the camps, kindergarten and grade one learning facilities remain closed, so children are not in school, denying education to young children . Youth vocational centres are shuttering, leaving adolescents vulnerable to recruitment, exploitation and abuse and rising insecurity.
"These are not abstract numbers. They are warnings. A leaner, more efficient response cannot replace the resources needed to sustain life-saving services.
"In the camps, I met 14-year-old Salma, one of only three girls in a class of eighteen. She told me how proud she was to finally study the Myanmar curriculum, something her parents and friends once thought impossible. That progress came only through years of engagement and trust-building within the community, but it is now at risk.
"Faced with impossible choices - not only UNICEF but all the partners there - we've prioritized reopening classes for adolescents like Salma, both for their education and for their protection. When adolescents have no safe place to go, they face heightened risks. I heard this from children directly - risks of child labor, early marriage and exploitation.
"Last week, we were able to reopen classes for younger children, a moment of hope. Yet kindergarten and Grade one classrooms remain closed, and whether we can sustain existing programmes next year is uncertain. For children who have already lost their homes, friends and sense of normalcy, this uncertainty is devastating.
"Fifteen-year-old Mohammad told me that when his school closed, he thought it would never reopen. He stayed home to help his ageing parents and care for his siblings. "Each morning, I watch other children walk to school and it feels like my childhood has ended."
"Across the camps, families feel the same despair. Mothers at UNICEF-supported nutrition centres spoke of reduced food assistance and shortages of soap and clean water. Childhood diseases and malnutrition are on the rise. Severe acute malnutrition among children is now at its highest level since the height of the crisis in 2017.
"This is not solely an education emergency. It is a child protection and survival crisis. It is a test of our collective will. We're repeating this everywhere across the public and private sectors. Without predictable and flexible funding, we will see more children out of school and malnourished, more girls forced into early marriage, and more young people losing hope in the future.
"So we'll stay in the camp, we'll stay and deliver, but our ability to do so depends entirely on voluntary funding. I left Bangladesh more convinced, that, even if it's not in the headlines, we owe it to the children to bring their situation to your attention.
"Thank you."
