Looking back on the humanitarian landscape of 2017, it can be easy to focus on the negative: conflicts that show no sign of relenting and with children under attack left with no safe place to go, natural hazards that destroyed millions of homes and lives. But amid the devastation, there are glimpses of hope — girls saved from early marriage, children back in school, and newborns vaccinated against deadly diseases. These moments serve as reminders that with communities, families and children we can make positive change even in the most dire of circumstances.

Late summer and early fall of 2017 saw back-to-back hurricanes — Harvey, Irma, Maria — leaving a trail of destruction on the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, Haiti and Cuba. On Barbuda, over 90 per cent of buildings were damaged or destroyed. After losing their homes and schools, the majority of its residents evacuated to Antigua, where they were welcomed with open arms by their compatriots. Bella Rian Jackson, 6, was one of many who volunteered at shelters hosting displaced Barbudan families. UNICEF pre-positioned emergency supplies on the island, and provided educational activities and psychosocial support for children displaced by the storm.

Eastern Ukraine is now one of the most mine-contaminated places on earth, endangering 220,000 children who live, play and go to school in areas littered with landmines, unexploded ordnance and other deadly explosive remnants of war. Fourteen year-old Karyna’s family still lives close to the contact line, and every day on her walk to school she is confronted with the risk of injury or death. She learned how to safely avoid threats through a UNICEF-supported mine risk education campaign.

Read the full article on the ways UNICEF helped changed lives in 2017 at UNICEF.