Mr President, Madam Executive Director,

I have the honour to address you on behalf of the European Union as a donor.

I take this occasion to thank you for your work and, indeed, to echo some of your remarks.

Yes, we are witnessing a time of unprecedented needs, but also of tremendous opportunity for advancing the rights of the child globally.

UNICEF and its partners are operating in extraordinarily challenging security settings, from Gaza to Sudan, from Haiti to Ukraine – and the list goes on. With 2024 on track to be a deadly year for aid workers, the EU both greatly values and is inspired by the indispensable work of UNICEF staff and partners to maintain basic services for children across the world, including those on the move and in armed conflict.

The European Union is always proud to be one of UNICEF's largest donors. We are consistently stepping up to do our part, providing financial and technical support to programs and initiatives in over 190 countries. The longstanding EU-UNICEF partnership achieves crucial progress on improving the rights and wellbeing of children globally, including on education, health, violence, and protection.  

Mr President,

Let me touch here on three key issues for further reflection:

1. We acknowledge UNICEF’s work on the implementation of the 70 recommendations contained in the Humanitarian Review. Likewise, in the context of a humanitarian space that is increasingly under threat, we welcome the recommendations of the mid-term review, including to put further emphasis on humanitarian principles and to enhance monitoring.    

2. With regard to funding, despite a constrained environment, UNICEF income decreased by only 4 per cent in 2023, which is, frankly, an achievement. However, we regret to see humanitarian contributions themselves declining by 18 percent, with half of the funding concentrated on only seven major crises. We consider it important to address the needs of the most vulnerable and we fully agree with the Executive Director on the need to focus global attention on “forgotten” emergencies.

It is also notable that public sector contributions continued to grow in 2023, accounting for 73 per cent of the total income. Moreover, including the European Commission, the top 6 partners provided 54 per cent of the funding. We would like to hear what strategy you are putting in place to attract more private funding, and to continue diversifying the list of public partners, notably within non-OECD-DAC countries.

3. We welcome UNICEF’s strategy on enhancing its contribution to Africa’s development agendas and on contributing to accelerated progress for children. The increased focus on community-based health systems and the fight against malnutrition, including the future roll-out of the First Foods Initiative in Africa, are also particularly welcome. We encourage UNICEF to fulfil its commitment to pay special attention to the most vulnerable, including the 70 million children with disabilities.

To conclude, the European Union as a major donor will continue its successful partnership with UNICEF. With the Summit of the Future fast approaching, we reaffirm our commitment to promote and protect the rights of the child.

I thank you.