EU Statement – UNICEF Executive Board: Opening Statements

Thank you, Mister President

I am speaking on behalf of the EU as a donor.

I warmly congratulate you and the other members of the Bureau on your election.

We would also like to thank UNICEF staff and implementing partners for their efforts in addressing the needs of children during another challenging year – in Gaza, Sudan, DRC and many other crises where children pay a terrible price.

Madam Executive Director, thank you for sharing UNICEF’s priorities for this year; I am happy to see that we share many of them. We particularly support the protection of the rights and well-being of adolescent girls.

With the limited time that we have, allow me to highlight a few points:

First, we welcome the update on the Humanitarian review and progress made in the implementation of its recommendations. Despite the difficult funding context, we encourage UNICEF to find the resources to implement the recommendations in full, as the Review is a key tool to improve the quality and predictability of UNICEF’s humanitarian action. We welcome in particular the progress made on the use of data and evidence to improve humanitarian response and monitoring of results. In this regard, we would be interested to hear more on the new ‘equity mapping and analysis tool’ and about the Maturity Data Model and building data systems sustainably.

Second, we note UNICEF’s improvements in preparedness systems and look forward to the launch of the new Emergency Preparedness Platform, which should be instrumental in helping country offices be better equipped to respond to emergencies. We also welcome UNICEF’s significant progress and strengthened focus on increasing local procurement and production wherever possible.

Third, given the unprecedented challenges for children and the funding gap, we support UNICEF’s continued efforts to mobilise private sector funding, strengthen the capacity of its fundraising network, and focus on attracting new donors. We note that private sector revenue is projected to reach $2 billion in 2024 – an increase of 4 percent from the latest estimates for 2023 –, and we hope this objective will be reached.

To conclude, I would like to reaffirm the European Union’s commitment to promote and protect the rights of the child. The EU has been and will remain a key donor to UNICEF, and we are looking forward to continuing our partnership with you, including in the preparations for the Summit of the Future.

Thank you.