UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF advocates for the protection of children's rights, helps to 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 which has been adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989 and has been ratified to date by 195 countries, including Switzerland (1997). UNICEF has a double mandate and works in development as well as humanitarian contexts. With its universal mandate, large presence in 190 countries and record income of over USD 10 billion in 2022, UNICEF is one of the biggest agencies of the UN Development System.

UNICEF is a key partner for Switzerland’s international cooperation both at multilateral and bilateral levels. Switzerland takes active part in UNICEF’s Executive Board to provide oversight and guidance to the organisation. Switzerland focuses its policy dialogue at global level on a few priority issues, namely Education and Child Protection as two of UNICEF’s main results areas, Evaluation, Financial Sustainability, Gender programming and Engagement with the Private Sector as aspects of organizational effectiveness and UNICEF’s contribution to the implementation of the reform of the UN Development System as a system-wide effort. Finally, Switzerland also engages with UNICEF with an aim to increase presence of Swiss staff within UNICEF.

In 2022, Switzerland contributed USD 23 million in core resources to UNICEF, making it the 6^th largest public sector core resource contributor.

For more information on the collaboration between SDC and UNICEF, please consult the Factsheet: