Transforming lives with flexible funding
Timely and flexible funding can save children’s lives today, while helping UNICEF and partners prepare for tomorrow’s threats.
The unpredictability, volatility, and protracted nature of emergencies today is taking a heavy toll on children and families. From violence in Haiti, to massive flooding in Nigeria, to displacement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, emergencies can strike or escalate with little or no warning. An overstretched humanitarian system – which also faces shrinking funding – is struggling to respond to the sheer scale of these crises. Too often, action is coming after lives and livelihoods have been destroyed.
Global Humanitarian Thematic Funding (GHTF) allows UNICEF to decide when and where it’s best to allocate funding. This flexibility is critical during responses to sudden-onset emergencies, when children’s lives are in immediate danger, and also for protracted emergencies where needs are chronic yet urgent, but when the world’s focus may be elsewhere.
Here are seven places where flexible funding has already saved and changed lives:
Democratic Republic of Congo
A child draws water from a standpipe installed by UNICEF at the Bulengo site for displaced people, near Goma, in North Kivu Province.
The eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to grapple with insecurity stemming from armed conflicts, militia activities, and inter-communal violence, which have combined to worsen already dire conditions for children and their families. Meanwhile, instability resulting from the unrest has led to widespread displacement and has severely restricted access to essential services.
GHTF and other funding has allowed UNICEF and partners to reach more than 285,000 internally displaced children in North and South Kivu with essential household items as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) kits. In addition, flexible funds have been used to establish safe spaces for women and girls, mobile clinics, and other services to support survivors of, or those at risk from, gender-based violence.
“Flexible funding has enabled UNICEF to respond swiftly to emergencies in different provinces by allowing us to allocate funds when and where they are they are most needed and to tailor support to the unique needs of communities affected by crises.” Grant Leaity, UNICEF Representative, the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Yemen
A child uses a towel from the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) kit and hygiene supplies her mother just received from UNICEF in Abyan Governorate.
After more than nine years of conflict, Yemen remains one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. More than 2 million of the country’s children are currently displaced and enduring the effects of severe weather conditions and climate change-related shocks.
GHTF has been pivotal in allowing UNICEF to strategically preposition critical supplies such as hygiene kits, ceramic water filters, and other supplies. Recent support from GHTF has facilitated the procurement of thousands of Rapid Response Mechanism kits, which include food, family basic hygiene kits, and female dignity kits that will benefit tens of thousands of people affected by floods and cholera at sites for internally displaced persons.
“Flexible funds allow us to proactively prepare and preposition essential supplies, ensuring timely delivery of life-saving assistance. This was critical with the early onset of flash rains and floods this year as well as the cholera outbreak.” Jinan Ramadan, Emergency Specialist, UNICEF Yemen
Myanmar
Children read story books at a UNICEF-supported learning hub in Mong Yawng township, eastern Shan State.
Three years since the military takeover, the conflict in Myanmar is rapidly escalating. An unprecedented more than 3 million people are now internally displaced, as ongoing clashes and attacks marked by the widespread use of airstrikes, landmines, and other deadly weapons continue to threaten and disrupt the lives of families.
In the face of the deteriorating situation, GHTF is providing a critical lifeline, especially for children, who are bearing the heaviest burden of surging displacement and massive disruption to vital services. GHTF enabled UNICEF and partners to reach almost 300,000 children with critical child protection services, including mental health and psychosocial support, case management, and awareness on gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse. In addition, 136,000 children and their families were provided with vital awareness and education on landmines and explosive ordnances.
“GHTF is crucial because it allows UNICEF to prioritize assistance for the most affected and vulnerable children and families in this complex and dynamic emergency context. GHTF enables UNICEF to promptly mobilize lifesaving assistance, implement preparedness and risk prevention measures, and provide capacity building for frontline partners.” Faika Farzana, Emergency Manager, UNICEF Myanmar
Haiti
Families lug their belongings along the street after fleeing their homes following attacks by armed groups in Solino in Port-au-Prince.
Children and families in Haiti are enduring relentless waves of brutal violence perpetrated by armed groups. Each day brings new horrors, the loss of loved ones, homes destroyed, and an ever-present shadow of fear. This violence has had a devastating impact on the education system, which has been crippled by shootings, ransacking and looting as unrest has spread. Children who are scared to go to school are at greater risk of social exclusion, being recruited by armed groups, and gender-based violence, particularly sexual and physical abuse.
GHTF has allowed UNICEF and partners to support education, including rehabilitation work and construction of new classrooms at a school in the capital, Port-au-Prince, that has had to absorb students displaced by violence. GHTF has also played a key role in the child protection response, helping UNICEF and partners provide psychosocial activities to thousands of children.
“Escalating violence has meant the situation has been constantly changing. That, in turn, means our response has to constantly adapt. Flexible funding is allowing us to respond quickly where new needs arise, especially for families displaced by the violence.” Bruno Maes, UNICEF Representative in Haiti
Nigeria
A boy points at his school, which has been partially submerged in floodwaters, in Adamawa state.
Tens of thousands of people in Nigeria’s Adamawa State were left in need of humanitarian assistance in late 2023 following severe flooding. Many families took refuge in makeshift camps with limited access to basic amenities. The unsanitary conditions in the cramped camps left families at an increased risk of disease and with limited access to lifesaving routine immunizations and other healthcare services.
Flexible funding allowed UNICEF Nigeria to procure WASH and health supplies in advance of the floods, allowing it to respond quickly in support of children and families. Working with the state government, UNICEF distributed first aid kits, purification kits to ensure access to safe water, and provided women with hygiene and dignity supplies, including menstrual pads and soap.
“These flexible funds allow the office to prepare for emergencies before they occur, so following the floods we were able to provide humanitarian assistance in a timely fashion.” Christina Valderrama Maya-Alfirev, Emergency Manager
Serbia
Diar Ahmad, 18, sits outside the office of Info Park NGO, a UNICEF-supported partner, in Belgrade, Serbia.
Refugees and migrants continue to take dangerous routes to Europe as they flee conflict, persecution, and poverty. In 2023, more than 100,000 refugees and migrants officially transited through Serbia, which is on the Balkan route to Western Europe, although the total number is likely significantly higher. Many of the children and their families entering Serbia are physically exhausted, have had extremely stressful and risky journeys, and are often in need of urgent protection and medical assistance, especially boys and girls traveling unaccompanied or who have been separated from their parents.
GHTF has allowed UNICEF to work with partners, including the Government of Serbia, to support unaccompanied and separated children, who are at increased risk of violence and sexual exploitation. This support has included providing educational and recreational services, sharing information on available services and opportunities for local integration, identifying the most cases of the most vulnerable children and women who have survived violence and exploitation, and connecting them with specialized care and psychosocial support.
“GHTF gave UNICEF and partners the flexibility to respond quickly to support boys on the move who were traveling alone and therefore faced considerable risks. We were able to help them learn, engage with local peers, share and reflect on experiences from their home countries and journeys, and make informed decisions for the future.” Milena Timotijevic, Emergency Officer, UNICEF Serbia
Nicaragua
Migrants enter Honduras on foot from Nicaragua as they travel north.
Millions of children and their families across Latin America and the Caribbean have left their schools, homes, and communities as they flee violence, poverty, the collapse of essential services, xenophobia, and the consequences of climate change.
In Nicaragua, GHTF has contributed to strengthening of national capacity in protecting children and adolescents, including supporting psychosocial services and awareness raising activities in border municipalities around the risks of irregular migration. Flexible funding was also used to support the National System for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Attention, to improve the resilience of families to climate change, including training 1,000 adolescents to provide peer-to-peer psychosocial support.
“These timely resources have been crucial, allowing us to support essential services for children and adolescents through the Ministry of the Family.” Vanessa Pichardo, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF Nicaragua
