XUNICEF News and Views

Bad news is just pouring lately. ISW continues to cover the treatment of children captured/taken from Ukraine in the current phase of the war. John Ukrainian Children taken for adoption in Russia Institute for the Study of War, January 15, 2026 Click here for the article A Russian occupation official confirmed that several Ukrainian children, including some with severe disabilities, whom Russian authorities forcibly transferred from occupied Kherson Oblast to Crimea have been adopted by families in Crimea.

Shared by Robert Cohen  America has a momentary fixation on issues like Epstein, while allowing much bigger issues slip by unnoticed.

  "Impunity has dramatic consequences, including limited access to justice and remedies for trafficked persons and growing failures in terms of prevention and protection efforts," said Siobhán Mullally, the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children. In a report presented to the UN General Assembly, Mullally said that children were particularly vulnerable to trafficking in conflict situations due to displacement, school closures, family separation and weak child protection systems. "Conflict, displacement and large movements of refugees increase the risk of trafficking, especially for unaccompanied and separated children," she said. The expert stressed that the risks are exacerbated by limited access to international protection pathways, including resettlement, humanitarian visas and asylum, and the failure to ensure protection services in humanitarian settings. "Denial of humanitarian access greatly increases the risk of t...

Siobhán Mullally, UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, said unaccompanied children and children from poor families have reportedly been targeted by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia in the outskirts of the capital Khartoum and elsewhere. They’ve forcibly recruited women and children especially, she warned. Girls have also reportedly been abducted from Khartoum to Darfur for sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery. To date, an estimated 9,000 people have been killed, over 5.6 million driven from their homes in the civil conflict between military Government forces and the RSF, and 25 million people are reliant on aid. Children ‘easy targets’ “The deteriorating humanitarian situation and lack of access to food and other basic services make children, especially unaccompanied and separated children on the streets, easy targets for recruitment by armed groups,” Ms. Mullally said. The UN Human Rights Council -appointed expert stressed that recruitment of children by arm...

Inclusion, not exclusion, is often the answer. Sadly anti-trafficking efforts are often misused to justify anti-migrant policies. Many of those falling prey to traffickers are migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers who have left their country of origin for various reasons; including conflict, natural disaster, persecution or extreme poverty. “They have left behind their social protection network, and are particularly vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation,” said Maria Grazia Giammarinaro , Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, in a statement marking the Day. Ms. Giammarinaro observed that in the current “poisonous anti-migration political atmosphere,” migrants are often targeted as a threat, while in fact they are a net-gain for host countries where they live and work. Against that backdrop, the UN expert stressed that anti-trafficking discourse is often misused “to justify restrictive migration policies and push-back activities.” “Taking a stand against xenophobic...