The U.N. children’s fund warned Tuesday that a funding gap and the start of winter could leave nearly 1 million children “out in the cold” in the Middle East and North Africa. “Years of conflict, displacement and unemployment have reduced families’ financial resources to almost nothing. Staying warm has simply become unaffordable,” said Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. The U.N. agency said it was facing a $33-million funding gap two thirds of its total allocation for assistance to children across the region this winter.
