Protracted civil wars have put civilians at risk in a slew of countries including Syria, the Central African Republic and South Sudan. Last year, 16.4 million babies were born into conflict zones, rising this year to 16.6 million, UNICEF said.

One of those babies was a boy named Dilgesh, born to Syrian asylum seeker Nahide, age 19, UNICEF field worker Christopher Tidey told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview. Separated by the war from her parents, the young mother and her 7-month-old son travelled by themselves through Turkey, he said. "I was really kind of in awe of this person, the inner strength that she has," he said.

Children born in war are apt to suffer unhealthy emotional and cognitive development and are more likely to die before age five than are children born elsewhere, UNICEF said. Read more: UNICEF, 17/12/2015