Children queue for food at a school feeding scheme during a nationwide lockdown aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19 in Blue Downs township near Cape Town, South Africa, May 4, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Mike Hutchings)

NEW YORK: United Nations children's agency UNICEF appealed on Monday (May 11)) for US$1.6 billion, more than doubling its initial request for money two months ago to help children already suffering through humanitarian crises and now hit with the COVID-19 pandemic.