Through investments and programs, UNICEF has played a key role in helping the world become a better place for children, from improving health and education to changing social and traditional stigmas.
More children are surviving today than at any other point in history. There has been a 69% decline in annual under-five child mortality since 1990, with close to 8 million more children worldwide seeing their fifth birthday.
UNICEF has procured and distributed enough vaccines annually to immunize 45% of the world’s children. The number of vaccine doses supplied went from 2 billion in 2020 (to 102 countries) to 2.8 billion in 2023 (to 105 countries). Safe water – for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene – is available to more than 2.1 billion more people than 20 years ago, leading to a better chance of survival for children, healthier lives, stronger economies, and more sustainable societies. In 2023, UNICEF reached 210.2 million children with ready-to-use therapeutic food, including 9.3 million children with lifesaving treatment for severe wasting. Over 68 million child marriages have been averted in the last 25 years, fewer kids are out of school, the birth registration rate is higher, the complete elimination of open defecation should be a reality by 2030, close to 2 million deaths and 4 million HIV infections have been averted among pregnant women and children in the past 25 years, and in 2023, UNICEF was actively present in 412 new or ongoing crises in 107 countries. The socioeconomic benefits are tenfold for every dollar invested in solutions for children.
