Over 37,000 young migrants and refugees were supported in 2023 by the United Nations' Fund for childhood (UNICEF) in Italy.

As part of UNICEF's annual report for 2023, the UN organization underlined that 29,406 of those they helped had been granted protection measures in Italy, some as either prevention of or in response to gender-based violence.

Among the group of beneficiaries, 295 were adolescents placed in families in Italy, or supported by state-appointed mentors. 7, 857 were minors who had access to language-learning programs, as well as digital and related competencies.

Central Mediterranean route still among the most dangerous

During 2023, approximately 157,000 refugees and migrants arrived on Italy's shores via the central Mediterranean route, of these over 26,800 were minors, 17,319 of which were unaccompanied.

The migrant route across the Central Mediterranean is still among the most dangerous. In 2023 approximately 2,476 migrants died or went missing while crossing it.

Despite the decreased number of arrivals during the initial four months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 - with 16,090 people, of which 2,351 are registered as unaccompanied foreign minors-- the percentage of unaccompanied foreign minors compared to the total number of arrivals, has increased by up to 14,6 percent, compared to 10 percent in the previous year during the same period.

UNICEF aims to reach 48,000 people in 2024

UNICEF celebrated its work through digital platforms. The organization said these platforms enabled them to spread their preventative messages and information about how to access their services to around 829,000 people.

The organization's emergency intervention at the border was supported through the project "Protect", which is financed by the European Commission through the Fund for Asylum Migration and Integration (FAMI).

"Even in a year when the number of arrivals in Italy increased considerably, UNICEF with its partners, reached unprecedented results, an increasingly greater number of migrant and refugee minors", commented Nicola Dell'Arciprete, coordinator for the program in Italy and the UNICEF officer for Europe and Central Asia.

"It's possible to ensure that each boy and girl has access to healthcare and adequate care. It's possible to create channels that insure full social inclusion. Our job shows that this can be done, and now it is more important than ever to create a system from the solutions we are operating," he added.

UNICEF has pledged to continue its operations throughout 2024 in Italy and is aiming to reach over 48,000 people by the end of the year.