SDC FACTSHEET MULTILATERAL ORGANISATIONS · harmful traditional practices such as female geni-tal...

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27% 32% 26%

73%68% 74%

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19% 38%48%

HIV / Aids

Social inclusion

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Switerland and the United Nations Children´s Fund (UNICEF) September 2015 1

SDC FACTSHEETMULTILATERAL ORGANISATIONSSeptember 2015

SWITZERLAND AND THE UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND(UNICEF)

FACTS AND FIGURES

Mandate UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Type of organisationFund financed through voluntary contributions.

Institution• Head of organisation: Executive Director

Anthony Lake (USA)• Headquarters: New York• Number of country offices: 155 (plus 7 regional

offices and 36 National Committees)• Number of staff (December 2014): 11,600

(13% of whom work at headquarters)• Established in: 1946• Board: Three sessions a year. Switzerland is an ac-

tive Board member owing to its substantial finan-cial contribution.

Switzerland (2014)• Annual financial contribution:

• Government: Core contribution: CHF 22 million (11th largest government resource partner in 2014) Additional funding: CHF 20 million

• Swiss National Committee: Approximately CHF 20.6 million (11th largest do-nor in 2014)The National Committees are an integral part of UNICEF’s global organisation and a unique fea-ture of the Fund. Each is established as an inde-pendent local non-governmental organisation. They receive no public funding. They are charged with raising funds for UNICEF and advocating for the rights of the child.

• Number of Swiss staff: 26

Website: www.unicef.org

Additional funding

Core contributions

UNICEF total revenues (in USD million)

Switzerland’s contributions (in CHF million)

Additional funding

Core contributions

UNICEF expenditure by focus area in 2014


children who are not in school. A total of 4.5 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 have ben-efited from this support. UNICEF actively advocates for the right of all children to free basic education of a high quality, which it why it is piloting innovative approaches and promoting the use of new technolo-gies.

HIV and AIDSConsiderable progress has been made in recent years, with improved access to antiretroviral treatment for pregnant women living with HIV, and a decline in the number of new HIV infections in children under age 15. Inequities persist, however. AIDS is now the leading cause of death among adolescents in Africa. With the support of UNICEF and the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS, 26 out of 38 priority countries have developed innovative forms of evi-dence-based interventions focused on adolescents.

Protecting children from violence, exploitation and abuseEvery year, between 500 million and 1.5 billion chil-dren worldwide are victims of sexual violence or forced labour in hazardous conditions, or subject to marriage and the risk of female genital mutilation/cutting. During 2014, UNICEF assisted more than 85,000 women and children who had experienced sexual violence. Furthermore, the joint UNICEF-UNF-PA programme has accelerated the abandonment of female genital mutilation among 12,000 African and Asian communities, representing 10 million people. Last but not least, UNICEF continues to make birth registration – a powerful means of protecting against child trafficking and sexual exploitation – free and universal in more than 100 countries.

Water, sanitation and hygienePoor sanitation, unsafe water and unhygienic prac-tices cause millions of children to contract infectious diseases. In 2014, with UNICEF support, nearly 32 million people in development and humanitarian contexts gained access to improved drinking wa-ter. Nearly 16 million were provided with sanitation. More than 19,000 communities were certified as open defecation free. More than 1.7 million women and girls affected by humanitarian crises were pro-vided with feminine hygiene products.

Humanitarian aidIn 2014, UNICEF was active in 98 countries. Three major emergencies – Typhoon Haiyan in the Philip-pines, and ongoing conflicts in the Central African Republic and the Syrian Arab Republic – required the Fund to mobilise all of its resources. UNICEF took ac-tion to prevent and to combat all forms of violence by training 8,500 service providers and informing 425,000 women, girls, men and boys on how to seek support. The organisation also vaccinated two thirds of children against measles, provided 18 mil-lion people with access to safe drinking water, and 4.4 million with access to proper sanitation facilities.

UNICEF

MandateUNICEF’s core mission is to promote children’s rights, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Its vision is that all children should have an op-portunity to survive, thrive and fulfil their potential, without discrimination, bias or favouritism. UNICEF is one of the UN’s largest development and humanitarian organisations. It works to ensure fa-vourable conditions for children’s development, and plays a special role in protecting children in conflicts and emergencies. In its capacity as a global advocate for children, UNICEF also mobilises political will and resources for the promotion of children’s rights.

ObjectivesFor the 2014–2017 period, UNICEF’s strategy is to promote children’s rights by supporting the most dis-advantaged and excluded. This emphasis on equity is applied to the seven priority areas:• Maternal and child health, and promotion of

healthy behaviours• HIV/AIDS: prevention and treatment of children,

pregnant women and adolescents• Safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and im-

proved hygiene practices• Access to nutritional support, and improved nutri-

tion and care practices• Equitable access to quality education• Prevention of and response to violence against and

the abuse and exploitation of children• Social inclusion of disadvantaged children

Results Child health and nutritionThe lives of 6.3 million children under five were lost in 2013, mostly due to preventable causes. In 2014, UNICEF distributed 2.71 billion doses of vaccine to immunise 40 percent of the world’s children. It also continued to support the eradication of polio by delivering 1.7 billion doses of oral polio vaccine. Africa as a whole has celebrated a year without a single new reported case of the disease. In addition, UNICEF’s work to improve child health is increasingly focused on the first month of life, based on the find-ing that around 44 percent of deaths under the age of five occur during the neonatal period. In 2014, 161 million children suffered from chronic malnutrition and vitamin and mineral deficiencies. About half of the world’s stunted children live in South Asia, and a third in Africa. Together with the WHO, UNICEF launched the Every Newborn Action Plan, endorsed by all 193 UN member states. Child educationDespite major improvements between 2000 and 2010, global progress has stalled in terms of both en-rolment and standards of learning. In 2014, UNICEF’s efforts were designed to lessen inequities in educa-tion access and learning, especially with regard to


Case studyUnprecedented Ebola outbreak in West AfricaDuring 2014, six countries in West Africa suffered an Ebola Virus Disease outbreak of unprecedent-ed dimensions in terms of speed and geographic spread. Some 18.7 million people were affected, 9.8 million of whom were children and young people. There were a total of 7,890 deaths from Ebola in 2014 alone.UNICEF provided assistance in the form of: • The establishment of and support for more than

50 community care centres and rapid isolation facilities, offering 500 beds

• Psychosocial support for 30,000 children affect-ed by the Ebola outbreak

• 4,100 metric tonnes of Ebola‐related commodi-ties, making this the largest supply response in UNICEF’s history

• The mobilisation of more than 50,000 commu-nity volunteers, health workers, religious leaders and youth workers

SWITZERLAND

UNICEF is Switzerland’s most important partner in the promotion of children’s rights in developing countries and humanitarian contexts. In both areas of work, its activities and priorities are aligned with Switzerland’s goals. Switzerland particularly values UNICEF’s ability to link humanitarian response with development cooperation, and to respond to evolv-ing challenges in post-conflict situations. As an important donor and as a member state, Swit-zerland assumes a strong role in monitoring and as-sessing UNICEF’s strategic, financial and operational

accountability. Through active and fruitful coopera-tion, Switzerland has become a trusted and respect-ed partner to UNICEF.

Switzerland’s medium-term objectivesSwitzerland is focusing its efforts on the following issues for the 2014–2017 period:

• EffectivenessSwitzerland’s goal is to strengthen UN system-wide coherence and the effectiveness of UNICEF at all lev-els of the organisation.

• Gender equalitySwitzerland’s goal is to promote the equal rights of women and girls and to support their full participa-tion in the political, social and economic develop-ment of their communities.

• Child protection Switzerland aims to achieve better protection against child abuse and exploitation, including commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labour, and harmful traditional practices such as female geni-tal mutilation and child marriage, as well as various forms of violence against children in the contexts of conflict.

• Humanitarian aidSwitzerland supports UNICEF Emergency Pro-grammes in ensuring effective humanitarian aid. This includes preventing and combating violence against children, child abuse and exploitation, along with im-proving access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, and ensuring better hygiene practices.

• ResilienceIncreasing capacity to anticipate, withstand and bounce back from external pressures and shocks is crucial to protect children effectively. Switzer-land therefore supports the implementation of the UNICEF resilience agenda.

Results of Swiss cooperation with UNICEF Through intensive collaboration between the Swiss mission to the UN in New York, the SDC in Bern and the Swiss UNICEF National Committee in Zurich, Switzerland has contributed significantly to discus-sions and decisions on the following issues:

EffectivenessA partnership between Switzerland and UNICEF has strengthened UNICEF’s capacity in results-based management. By providing guidance, Switzerland helped to develop a core team of trainers. They support countries in applying the core principles of results-based management. This raises the quality of evaluation and builds UNICEF’s capacity systemati-cally to document good practices and lessons learned from evaluation. These efforts foster the implemen-tation of a system-wide review tool, the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR).

UNICEF is providing safe drinking water to flood victims in Charsadda District, Pakistan (©UN Photo/UNICEF/ZAK)


Gender equalitySwitzerland contributed significantly to the drafting of the Gender Action Plan. Regular Board focus on the implementation of the Gender Action Plan and UNICEF’s compliance with the UN System-Wide Ac-tion Plan also help to promote gender equality.

ProtectionSystematic dialogue between Switzerland and UNICEF has been stepped up to protect children from violence, abuse and exploitation. In order to foster UNICEF’s efforts in the field of protection, Switzerland supports a research centre at the Uni-versity of Zurich. Evidence-based research on child wellbeing and development helps UNICEF to identify and adapt the most useful approaches.

Humanitarian aidSwitzerland supports UNICEF’s Emergency Opera-tions Division in Geneva, as well as specific emer-gency programmes. Switzerland has also contrib-uted to UNICEF humanitarian aid by deploying Swiss professionals during humanitarian crises. In addition, Switzerland maintains regular dialogue on protec-tion issues.

ResilienceSwitzerland contributed to the implementation of the UNICEF resilience agenda with financial and HR support for the peacebuilding and resilience unit. These measures enhanced its capacity to promote and implement peacebuilding and disaster risk re-duction projects.

UNICEF CHALLENGES

UNICEF achieves tangible results in its work in both the development and humanitarian fields. The Fund has built up considerable capacity to mobilise a large range of stakeholders through global campaigns, and successfully advocated for the inclusion of chil-dren’s needs in the Sustainable Development Goals.

One of the main challenges for UNICEF is to respond effectively to the growing number of humanitarian crises, without overstretching its resources and sup-port services at the cost of its development objec-tives and activities. Achieving this requires humani-tarian and development programming to be more closely integrated, and emergency preparedness with partners from civil society, NGOs and other UN organisations to be improved. The security of staff in conflict areas is a major ongoing concern.

Finally, owing to the economic crisis and donors’ de-sire to earmark their contributions, the proportion of regular resources in the total budget continues to decline. This poses a further challenge to UNICEF in fulfilling its mandate.

Switzerland is dedicated to supporting UNICEF as it faces these challenges. This fact is reflected in the consistently high level of core contributions made by Switzerland, and its activities to strengthen UNICEF’s effectiveness.

[email protected]

Child at an outdoor classroom provided by the local community for the

children of squatters in Vere, Jamaica (©UN Photo/Milton Grant)

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