Date Published: 6 March 2011

UK Govn almost double contribution to UNICEF (from £21M 2010-11 to £40M 2011-12)

It has been announced that the UK Government will almost double its core funding to UNICEF following a recent aid review. The review found UNICEF to be highly effective in delivering results to keep children healthy and ensure access to quality education.

" Nine organizations have been assessed as providing very good value for the British tax payer," said Andrew Mitchell, UK's Secretary of State for International Development.

"UNICEF's work to keep children healthy and ensure they have access to education enables them to demonstrate the kind of results that the British taxpayer can feel proud to have played a part in achieving."

The British government's annual contribution nearly doubled from 21 million pounds ($35.2 million) in 2010/2011 to 40 million pounds ($65.3 million) in 2011/2012; the contribution is to core funding, which are non-earmarked donations allowing for rapid responses and flexibility in delivering assistance on the ground.

The Multilateral Aid Review, commissioned by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), assessed if the UK's contributions to international organizations were yielding maximum results and found that UNICEF was able to demonstrate "impressive results" in helping to tackle child mortality, maternal health issues, education and HIV/AIDS – all of which are closely aligned to the UK Government's aid objectives.

The UK also noted that UNICEF delivers a number of programmes for children in conflict and fragile states. As a result of the aid review the UK Government is looking to expand its work in fragile states, 15 of which are among the 20 poorest in the world.

UNICEF's Executive Director, Anthony Lake welcomed UK's assistance to improve the lives of the world's poorest and most vulnerable children.

UNICEF will use the additional support from the UK Government to strengthen its efforts to further reduce child and maternal deaths by building stronger community-based public health interventions, especially in the poorest and remotest communities. UNICEF will also use this support to get more children into the classroom, improve the quality of education by training more teachers, and making what children learn more relevant to their lives.

About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

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