NEW YORK/GENEVA (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Friday appealed for $1.28 billion from governments to provide humanitarian assistance to children around the world in 2012.

UNICEF's acting Deputy Executive Director Rima Salah pointed out that the agency achieved many positive results in emergency settings in 2011 but emphasized the urgent and long-term needs of millions of children and their families will continue this year.

UNICEF's 2012 Humanitarian Action for Children report, launched Friday in Geneva, highlights the massive humanitarian operation in over 25 countries this year, with nearly one-third of the total amount earmarked for the crisis in the Horn of Africa.

The agency activated its highest level of emergency response in the Horn of Africa to run an operation to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and women on the brink of survival.

"This report presents some of the most extreme difficulties faced by children, but it also highlights the promise of a timely and effective response to their needs - malnourished children restored to health, children in conflict still able to learn, and all children, whatever their circumstances, better able to realize their rights to survive and thrive," UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said.

The report also describes the nutrition crisis currently facing the Sahel region, as well as the emergencies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), among others, that require funding if their most vulnerable people are to survive.

In addition, it covers the needs of children and their families displaced by violence stemming from the November 2010 elections in Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and the independence of South Sudan from its northern neighbor, Sudan.

Other information provided in the report focuses on the five million people affected by a second year of flooding in Pakistan; the operation to rebuild Haiti - the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere - two years after its devastating earthquake; and the humanitarian needs amidst political turmoil and change in the Middle East and North Africa.

"In 2012, this is a promise we must keep," Lake underlined. "With your support, we will."

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