01 December 2023

UNICEF commits to COP28 Relief, Recovery and Peace Declaration

UNICEF’s Sustainability and Climate Change Action Plan 2023-2030 guides communities, governments and global leaders to work together to prioritize children’s needs. By 2030, UNICEF with partners, aspires to reach 500 million children in 100 countries with integrated climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction solutions, including 30…, Our commitments, UNICEF endorses the COP28 Relief, Recovery and Peace Declaration and has pledged the following commitments, Climate and disaster financing for children, To address the ever-widening finance gap for climate resilience and disaster risk reduction, UNICEF launched the Today & Tomorrow Initiative, the world’s first integrated climate and disaster risk finance solution for children. Today & Tomorrow combines climate resilience and risk prevention programmes “today” with an innovative use of…, Early warning systems and child-responsive preparedness, Child-responsive early warning systems are essential for protecting the most vulnerable members of society when disasters strike. Yet, half of countries globally are not protected by early warning systems, with the lowest coverage in Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries.   The Secretary General’s Early Warnings for All…, Child-focused climate and disaster risk analysis, Risk information is required to develop strategies and programmes that help build climate-resilient services for children, including preparedness, response and national and subnational recovery efforts. In many countries, there is a lack of disaggregated, timely, geo-referenced, subnational data at high resolution vital for targeted action (…, Conflict-sensitive and peacebuilding programming, Many of the most climate vulnerable countries are also affected by conflict, which undermines state capacity to prevent, mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. It is essential that we ensure support to countries to address conflict and climate risks. UNICEF’s Strategic Plan (2022-2025) elevates peacebuilding as a priority and aims to…, About the Declaration, The Climate Relief, Recovery, and Peace Declaration is a voluntary commitment to increase climate adaptation efforts and access to finance for communities and countries threatened or affected by fragility or conflict, or facing high humanitarian needs and insecurity; to strengthen knowledge and programmatic solutions for climate action in such…
19 May 2022

Disaster risk reduction and recovery

Children are the most vulnerable during and after any disaster. Approximately one billion children worldwide are at extremely high risk due to climate impacts, including climate-related disasters. When disaster strikes, children get cut off from schooling, nutrition and health care. They can lose critical social services and protection, while…, Every child resilient, Children and young people are more than victims of disasters. They have an active role to play in reducing risk, in collaboration with governments and humanitarians. They bring critical skills, individual experiences and ideas for solutions.  Integrating child-specific interventions into disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change policies –…, UNICEF’s response, The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030 ) outlines clear targets and priorities to prevent and reduce disaster risks. Building the resilience of children and young people is vital to meet these targets and those of other global agreements. UNICEF's DRR approach is part of the https://www.unicef.org/documents/liveable-planet-…, Ensuring child-critical services are more inclusive, and resilient to and prepared for disasters, UNICEF integrates disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation activities into essential services for children. We do so by bringing resources, advocacy and technical expertise into our collaborations with governments and other partners – and most importantly, with children and young people themselves.   We are a leading agency in…, Engaging children through education, preparedness and resilience programmes, Children are already playing an active role in reducing disaster and climate risk by developing risk assessments, early warning systems, community-based actions, school evacuation protocols and recovery plans. They also stand as advocates, raising awareness through social media and in-person campaigns. UNICEF supports children and young people to…, Committing funds and resources to prepare and protect all children from disasters and climate impacts, UNICEF builds government and partner capacities, provides technical expertise for safe schools and health-care facilities, and secures investments for the rapid recovery of child-critical services after a disaster. We invest in specific, localized data collection and share our technical expertise to shape and influence policies for children.…, Resources, Publisher Title UNICEF Every child prepared, engaged, safe and resilient UNICEF UNICEF DRR in Action: Every country protected; every child resilient UNICEF UNICEF environment and climate change efforts UNICEF Strengthening shock responsive social protection systems UNICEF Guidance for risk-informed programming (GRIP) UNICEF Risk-informed education…
09 July 2020

Global annual results report 2019: Communication for Development

Communication for Development (C4D) is one of the core change strategies that contribute directly to the achievement of results within each of the goal areas of the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2018–2021. By identifying and addressing social norms, behaviours and practices, C4D strengthens programming and improves outcomes for children and adolescents.…, Communication for Development (C4D) is an evidence-based and participatory process that facilitates the engagement of children, families, communities, the public and decision makers in both development and humanitarian contexts through a mix of available communication platforms and tools. UNICEF promotes and applies C4D to drive positive…, Results, The most typical and also the most powerful way to work towards fulfilling children’s rights is in partnership – with governments, other United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), communities and families. Just as UNICEF does not stand alone, neither does Communication for Development.   Results stem from the collaboration of…, Two of the many important tools in the C4D toolbox, Screenshot of UNICEF's U-Report website UNICEF/2020 U-Report U-Report is a platform accessible by phone and computer which engages users via alerts, surveys and one-on-one chats. It is designed to address multiple issues affecting children, young people and communities by directly providing life-saving or changing information to them in a timely…, Generating demand for, and use of, services, Demand generation is the process of creating a need, or belief in the need, for a product or service among a particular target audience. C4D strategies stimulate or accelerate demand for services in a number of ways, including reducing stigma, developing gender-sensitive communication, and mass mobilization. Three girls in a refugee camp holding…, Adoption of key parenting and family practices, While children and their caregivers must demand, have access to and use services for their well-being, essential healthy and protective caregiving and family practices are equally important. These practices are not dependent on services, but have an almost exclusive behavioural component. Evidence has shown that these are critical to child…, Promoting positive parenting, Fostering fathers’ participation, particularly from the antenatal phase through early childhood, is an important area of work for UNICEF. More than half of children aged between 3 and 4 years old in 74 countries have fathers who do not play or engage in early learning activities with them (55 per cent, approximately 40 million). Social norms,…, Abandonment of harmful social norms or adoption of positive ones, By reinforcing positive norms that protect children, or encouraging the abandonment of social norms that condone or facilitate negative behaviours, C4D activities encourage parents, families and societies to change both behaviours and perceptions of what is socially acceptable, as well as encouraging agency in identifying and demanding related…, Promoting Positive Gender Socialization, In Egypt, girls face gender disparities and a high prevalence of harmful practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). In 2019, UNICEF supported the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood to design and implement the first national girls’ empowerment initiative, “Dawwie” (meaning “loud voice with an impact”).  A group of girls standing…, Engaging and empowering communities, adolescents and children, C4D strategies seek to engage and empower communities and young people, particularly the most marginalized, to enable them as agents of change in both development and humanitarian contexts. This includes efforts to systematize mechanisms for engagement to improve their health and well-being, to hold service providers and policymakers to account…, Strategic partnerships with faith leaders to facilitate community engagement, UNICEF has led a scaling up of the Faith and Positive Change for Children (FPCC) Global Initiative on Social and Behaviour Change. In the Niger, one of the five early adopters of FPCC, the commitment of communities, religious and traditional leaders have been essential to reducing and eliminating traditional practices that constitute violence…, System strengthening and regional efforts to effect change at scale, Under the guidance of regional offices, initiatives are carried out to generate multi-country behavioural evidence and to provide technical support for the development of conceptual frameworks, strategies and guidance. The following provide examples of results from three regions; examples from the other regions and at the global level can be found…, Looking forward, The outbreak of COVID-19 was first reported at the end of 2019, and had become a pandemic by early March 2020. At the time of writing, it has become clear that the global crisis will have a significant and severe impact on children. Basic services from health to education have been disrupted, and the wider socioeconomic impacts are yet to be…, Communication for Development (C4D)Advancing positive social and behaviour change Global Annual Results Reports 2019 SUPPLEMENT TO THE Cover image: UNICEF/UN0212225/Noorani A mother and father hold their newborn in a recovery room at UNICEF supported Al Quseya Central Hospital, Assuit governorate, Egypt. C4D initiatives in Egypt encourage…