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On 21 November 2023, health workers deliver doses of  the cholera vaccine during the cholera vaccination campaign in Madani Gezira State.
Blog

Financing Social Spending in Humanitarian Settings

By: Catherine Agg, and Frank OtchereChildren, particularly those living in poverty, continue to bear the brunt of conflict and humanitarian crises across regions. Nearly 40 per cent of children in countries affected by conflict or fragility live in extreme poverty compared to just 10 per cent for children who live in non-fragile states1. Social services should be prepared to respond swiftly and effectively to reach children before, during and after emergencies. For this to be achieved, financing social spending needs to be at the core of humanitarian appeals and responses.The frequency, duration and complexity of humanitarian crises has multiplied in recent years. Since 2020, the world has seen a series of shocks amounting to a polycrisis. The physical, social and economic impact of conflict, climate change and natural disasters has left at least 363 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2023, more than quadruple the people that needed humanitarian assistance in 2013. A disproportionate number of people in need of humanitarian assistance are children.In humanitarian crises children lose access to critical health, education and social protection services. Available evidence shows that humanitarian crises are increasingly concentrated in the poorest countries. Of the top 10 countries by number of people in need of humanitarian assistance (Table 1), seven are low-income, and six are in, or at high risk of, debt distress, with levels of debt that threaten their financial stability2. In these countries, humanitarian requirements for health, education and social protection often outweigh total government spending on the sector, putting children’s lives and their wellbeing at risk.Table 1. Top 10 countries by number of people in humanitarian, July 2023Key: Red = Potential area of concern. C = conflict; D = Displacement; NH = Natural Hazard. Data sources: OCHA Global Humanitarian Overview, 2023; OECD DAC data 2023; Health Nutrition and Population Statistics, 2022; Development Initiatives 2023.Humanitarian assistance from external sources is therefore a critical source of funding in these contexts. However, despite the growing need, the provision of effective humanitarian assistance is threatened by significant funding shortfalls. In 2022, just 57 per cent of the humanitarian aid requested through the UN-Coordinated appeals was raised, and in the 17 out of the 28 countries with Humanitarian Response Plans, pledged funding met less than 50 per cent of assessed needs. For 2023, the predicted funding gap could be even larger, with just 25 per cent of the total funding required received as of July 2023.This level of underfunding, particularly in social sectors, not only affects the life chances of children today, but has wider implications for recovery from, and prevention of, future crises. While governments are primarily responsible for providing an adequate humanitarian response, underfunding and lack of preparedness continues to affect social sectors in emergencies, with health, education and social protection sectors all requiring increased funds to meet growing needs.Challenges by sectorEven relatively stable low- and middle-income countries struggle to adequately fund social services. On average, spending on health, education and social protection in low- and middle-income countries remains below the recommended minimum levels required to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For countries facing humanitarian crises, often in the poorest parts of the world, this challenge is magnified.Health services face the biggest funding gap with an extra $3.9 billion needed worldwide for health in humanitarian settings. This deficit puts children at risk of being cut off from essential care, in contexts where the threat of disease and malnutrition soars. The countries facing the highest ratio of humanitarian requirements over current government spending are Yemen, where health requirements are 4.2 times the size of current government health spending, Afghanistan, with needs 2.6 times the current government health spending, Syria with 2.5 times current government health spending, and South Sudan, where health requirements are more than the current government health spending.Education services also require a further $3.1 billion globally to cover estimated humanitarian costs. This funding gap not only threatens children’s right to education, out-of-school children face a greater risk from the physical and psychological dangers around them. Syria’s humanitarian requirements for education currently amount to over three times current government expenditure on the education sector. Humanitarian requirements for education in Afghanistan, Yemen and South Sudan are also high in proportion to current government spending, making up the equivalent of 43.1 per cent, 35.9 per cent and 28.3 per cent of government expenditure on education respectively.Although data is harder to come by for humanitarian cash transfers (HCTs) – the  cash or voucher assistance that UNICEF and other agencies provide to assist families caught up in crises – the estimated costs of HCTs are significantly higher than current government social protection expenditure in the countries most affected3. HCTs distributed in Afghanistan are estimated to be over 3.4 times the value of government social protection spending in the country. In Yemen the ratio is higher – over 4.6 times the value of government social protection spending; and in Syria it is 15.8 times the value of current social protection spending. More sustainable solutions to financing social spending in humanitarian emergencies are required. There is a growing evidence base that suggests that the under-funding of social services not only restricts response and recovery times, adequately funded social services play a significant role in preventing humanitarian crises. These findings highlight the need for the humanitarian system to focus attention on the financing social spending for children caught up in armed conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies.Recommendations A woman carries containers with clean and safe water collected from a water bladder in Zalingei Town, Central Darfur.To bridge the funding gap and adequately finance social spending in humanitarian contexts, the following four actions are recommended to address the growing need:Investing in anticipation, preparedness and resilience. Despite the recommendations of the UN High Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, 93 per cent of humanitarian aid continues to go to emergency response, with just 4.5 per cent going to disaster prevention and just 1.9 per cent to reconstruction, relief and rehabilitation. Ensuring that sufficient flexible humanitarian finance is available to social sectors in low-and middle-income countries – with a greater proportion of humanitarian Official Development Assistance (ODA), climate finance and development lending going towards preparedness and resilience – will allow governments to provide quality social services in emergencies. Accelerating the harmonisation of donor support. Efforts to align humanitarian, development and climate finance by donors and UN agencies are critical to ensure better coordination and long-term financing, with greater use of pooled and unearmarked funds. This will also involve harmonising financing at sector level: integrating humanitarian cash transfers within existing social protection systems, and better support for displaced children within local health and education systems.Strengthening public finance systems. Greater support from development partners to governments in low- and middle-income countries to strengthen their public finance systems is essential to improve their capacity to assess, prepare and respond to shocks. This should include prioritizing investments in preparedness and contingency plans as essential pillars of programming, as well as more equitable access to global insurance and risk finance markets, to allow governments to establish affordable pre-arranged financing mechanisms for humanitarian response.Improving effectiveness and accountability of the use of humanitarian funds. With ever growing levels of unmet humanitarian need for social spending, especially in the education and health sectors, more detailed analysis of both the level of requested support, and the impact of the funding gap is required. Greater progress on tracking humanitarian cash transfers is required to improve the transparency and accountability of humanitarian reporting at global and country level. These findings highlight the need for increased, sustainable long-term financing of humanitarian assistance, with a greater focus on prevention. Governments bear a significant proportion of the costs caused by disasters and establishing pre-arranged financing mechanisms for scaling up established government programmes in the event of a crisis is crucial. Children in need of humanitarian assistance are particularly vulnerable given their time-sensitive needs for education, health, and protection. It is therefore essential that humanitarian assistance addresses not only immediate need but also contributes to the strengthening of social services in all low-and middle-income countries. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/1-6-children-lives-extreme-poverty-world-bank-unicef-analysis-shows2 Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Pakistan, Ukraine, South Sudan.3 While HCT expenditure is not directly comparable to government social protection spending, the ratio of expenditure is given here to highlight the scale of the challenge of providing adequate social protection in humanitarian settings. ### This blog is based on a forthcoming Social Spending Monitor Report on Financing Social Services in Humanitarian Settings. 
On 21 November 2023, health workers deliver doses of  the cholera vaccine during the cholera vaccination campaign in Madani Gezira State.
Blog

Financing Social Spending in Humanitarian Settings

By: Catherine Agg, and Frank OtchereChildren, particularly those living in poverty, continue to bear the brunt of conflict and humanitarian crises across regions. Nearly 40 per cent of children in countries affected by conflict or fragility live in extreme poverty compared to just 10 per cent for children who live in non-fragile states1. Social services should be prepared to respond swiftly and effectively to reach children before, during and after emergencies. For this to be achieved, financing social spending needs to be at the core of humanitarian appeals and responses.The frequency, duration and complexity of humanitarian crises has multiplied in recent years. Since 2020, the world has seen a series of shocks amounting to a polycrisis. The physical, social and economic impact of conflict, climate change and natural disasters has left at least 363 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2023, more than quadruple the people that needed humanitarian assistance in 2013. A disproportionate number of people in need of humanitarian assistance are children.In humanitarian crises children lose access to critical health, education and social protection services. Available evidence shows that humanitarian crises are increasingly concentrated in the poorest countries. Of the top 10 countries by number of people in need of humanitarian assistance (Table 1), seven are low-income, and six are in, or at high risk of, debt distress, with levels of debt that threaten their financial stability2. In these countries, humanitarian requirements for health, education and social protection often outweigh total government spending on the sector, putting children’s lives and their wellbeing at risk.Table 1. Top 10 countries by number of people in humanitarian, July 2023Key: Red = Potential area of concern. C = conflict; D = Displacement; NH = Natural Hazard. Data sources: OCHA Global Humanitarian Overview, 2023; OECD DAC data 2023; Health Nutrition and Population Statistics, 2022; Development Initiatives 2023.Humanitarian assistance from external sources is therefore a critical source of funding in these contexts. However, despite the growing need, the provision of effective humanitarian assistance is threatened by significant funding shortfalls. In 2022, just 57 per cent of the humanitarian aid requested through the UN-Coordinated appeals was raised, and in the 17 out of the 28 countries with Humanitarian Response Plans, pledged funding met less than 50 per cent of assessed needs. For 2023, the predicted funding gap could be even larger, with just 25 per cent of the total funding required received as of July 2023.This level of underfunding, particularly in social sectors, not only affects the life chances of children today, but has wider implications for recovery from, and prevention of, future crises. While governments are primarily responsible for providing an adequate humanitarian response, underfunding and lack of preparedness continues to affect social sectors in emergencies, with health, education and social protection sectors all requiring increased funds to meet growing needs.Challenges by sectorEven relatively stable low- and middle-income countries struggle to adequately fund social services. On average, spending on health, education and social protection in low- and middle-income countries remains below the recommended minimum levels required to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For countries facing humanitarian crises, often in the poorest parts of the world, this challenge is magnified.Health services face the biggest funding gap with an extra $3.9 billion needed worldwide for health in humanitarian settings. This deficit puts children at risk of being cut off from essential care, in contexts where the threat of disease and malnutrition soars. The countries facing the highest ratio of humanitarian requirements over current government spending are Yemen, where health requirements are 4.2 times the size of current government health spending, Afghanistan, with needs 2.6 times the current government health spending, Syria with 2.5 times current government health spending, and South Sudan, where health requirements are more than the current government health spending.Education services also require a further $3.1 billion globally to cover estimated humanitarian costs. This funding gap not only threatens children’s right to education, out-of-school children face a greater risk from the physical and psychological dangers around them. Syria’s humanitarian requirements for education currently amount to over three times current government expenditure on the education sector. Humanitarian requirements for education in Afghanistan, Yemen and South Sudan are also high in proportion to current government spending, making up the equivalent of 43.1 per cent, 35.9 per cent and 28.3 per cent of government expenditure on education respectively.Although data is harder to come by for humanitarian cash transfers (HCTs) – the  cash or voucher assistance that UNICEF and other agencies provide to assist families caught up in crises – the estimated costs of HCTs are significantly higher than current government social protection expenditure in the countries most affected3. HCTs distributed in Afghanistan are estimated to be over 3.4 times the value of government social protection spending in the country. In Yemen the ratio is higher – over 4.6 times the value of government social protection spending; and in Syria it is 15.8 times the value of current social protection spending. More sustainable solutions to financing social spending in humanitarian emergencies are required. There is a growing evidence base that suggests that the under-funding of social services not only restricts response and recovery times, adequately funded social services play a significant role in preventing humanitarian crises. These findings highlight the need for the humanitarian system to focus attention on the financing social spending for children caught up in armed conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies.Recommendations A woman carries containers with clean and safe water collected from a water bladder in Zalingei Town, Central Darfur.To bridge the funding gap and adequately finance social spending in humanitarian contexts, the following four actions are recommended to address the growing need:Investing in anticipation, preparedness and resilience. Despite the recommendations of the UN High Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, 93 per cent of humanitarian aid continues to go to emergency response, with just 4.5 per cent going to disaster prevention and just 1.9 per cent to reconstruction, relief and rehabilitation. Ensuring that sufficient flexible humanitarian finance is available to social sectors in low-and middle-income countries – with a greater proportion of humanitarian Official Development Assistance (ODA), climate finance and development lending going towards preparedness and resilience – will allow governments to provide quality social services in emergencies. Accelerating the harmonisation of donor support. Efforts to align humanitarian, development and climate finance by donors and UN agencies are critical to ensure better coordination and long-term financing, with greater use of pooled and unearmarked funds. This will also involve harmonising financing at sector level: integrating humanitarian cash transfers within existing social protection systems, and better support for displaced children within local health and education systems.Strengthening public finance systems. Greater support from development partners to governments in low- and middle-income countries to strengthen their public finance systems is essential to improve their capacity to assess, prepare and respond to shocks. This should include prioritizing investments in preparedness and contingency plans as essential pillars of programming, as well as more equitable access to global insurance and risk finance markets, to allow governments to establish affordable pre-arranged financing mechanisms for humanitarian response.Improving effectiveness and accountability of the use of humanitarian funds. With ever growing levels of unmet humanitarian need for social spending, especially in the education and health sectors, more detailed analysis of both the level of requested support, and the impact of the funding gap is required. Greater progress on tracking humanitarian cash transfers is required to improve the transparency and accountability of humanitarian reporting at global and country level. These findings highlight the need for increased, sustainable long-term financing of humanitarian assistance, with a greater focus on prevention. Governments bear a significant proportion of the costs caused by disasters and establishing pre-arranged financing mechanisms for scaling up established government programmes in the event of a crisis is crucial. Children in need of humanitarian assistance are particularly vulnerable given their time-sensitive needs for education, health, and protection. It is therefore essential that humanitarian assistance addresses not only immediate need but also contributes to the strengthening of social services in all low-and middle-income countries. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/1-6-children-lives-extreme-poverty-world-bank-unicef-analysis-shows2 Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Pakistan, Ukraine, South Sudan.3 While HCT expenditure is not directly comparable to government social protection spending, the ratio of expenditure is given here to highlight the scale of the challenge of providing adequate social protection in humanitarian settings. ### This blog is based on a forthcoming Social Spending Monitor Report on Financing Social Services in Humanitarian Settings. 
From a Care Economy to a Care Society
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From a Care Economy to a Care Society

On the occasion of the first International Day of Care and Support observed on October 29 this year, it is critical to reflect and build on the experiences of some of the UN agencies that have been engaged with bringing the spotlight onto care work well before the pandemic – UN Women, the ILO, and UNICEF among them. Nurses putting their lives at risk to care for COVID patients without proper protection; domestic workers separated from their families to stay in a “bubble” with their employer; mothers struggling to cope with the impact of closed child-care centers and schools during the global pandemic. These and countless similar stories threw into stark relief our dependence on care work for optimal human development, and in particular, the vulnerabilities faced by those carrying out the vast majority of that work - women and children.
This young (COVID) life
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This young (COVID) life

This project explores children and young people’s experiences, opinions, and reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic and related government responses. The pandemic brought changes to their daily lives, social spaces, relationships, and inner worlds. The research sheds light on life since the beginning of the pandemic and how it has affected children and adolescents. It provides ideas and recommendations on managing similar crises in the future. The project has collected the words, drawings, and photos of more than 1,000 children across 6 different countries between 2021 and 2023.
On Call: Using Mobile Technologies to Measure Learning in Emergencies
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On Call: Using Mobile Technologies to Measure Learning in Emergencies

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More than a billion reasons: The urgent need to build universal social protection
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More than a billion reasons: The urgent need to build universal social protection

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A Child is smiling and wearing a backpack
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Data Must Speak: Comprendre les facteurs de performance des écoles togolaises

Le gouvernement togolais, à travers le plan sectoriel de l'éducation (PSE) 2014-2025, vise à atteindre une éducation primaire universelle de qualité. A travers cet objectif, le gouvernement reconnaît les défis actuels en liaison avec l'accès et la participation à l’éducation primaire, ainsi que dans la rétention de tous les écoliers Togolais. Mieux comprendre les performances des écoles fait partie des actions nécessaires pour relever ces défis. Quelles ressources et quels facteurs contextuels sont associés à de bonnes performances scolaires au Togo ? En fusionnant et en analysant les bases de données administratives déjà existantes au Togo, ce rapport aide à identifier les écoles modèles positives - celles qui obtiennent de meilleurs résultats que les autres écoles, bien qu'elles opèrent dans des contextes et avec des ressources similaires. Data Must Speak - une initiative mondiale mise en œuvre depuis 2014 - vise à combler le manque d’évidence afin d’atténuer la crise de l'apprentissage en utilisant les données existantes. La recherche DMS sur les modèles positives est cocréée et mise en œuvre conjointement avec les ministères de l'Éducation et des partenaires clés. Elle s'appuie sur des méthodes mixtes et des approches innovantes (telles que l'approche modèle positive, les sciences du comportement, la recherche sur la mise en œuvre et la science de la mise à l'échelle) pour produire des connaissances et des enseignements pratiques sur "ce qui fonctionne", "pourquoi", et "comment" mettre à l'échelle ces solutions locales. La recherche DMS est actuellement mise en œuvre dans 14 pays : Brésil, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Éthiopie, Ghana, République démocratique populaire de lao, Madagascar, Mali, Népal, Niger, République-Unie de Tanzanie, Tchad, Togo et Zambie.
Child Work and Child Labour
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Child Work and Child Labour

Progress towards eliminating child labour stalled for the first time in 20 years from 2016 to 2020. This slowdown puts at risk the international community’s efforts to eliminate child labour by 2025. Action is needed. Child Work and Child Labour: The impact of educational policies and programmes in low- and middle-income countries is a rapid evidence assessment of the evidence on the effectiveness of educational policies and programmes in addressing child labour in low- and middle-income countries. It focuses on describing the causal impact of schooling programmes and policies on labour outcomes, based on experimental and quasi- experimental studies, and systematic reviews. To the extent information is available within the considered studies, it also identifies and discusses the main pathways and mechanisms of impact, as well as the programme design features that influence programme effectiveness.
A series of artworks produced by children to describe their environments is displayed as cards
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Children's Views about their Environments

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Behavioral Insights Research and Design Laboratory
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Behavioral Insights Research and Design Laboratory

The BIRD Lab is a virtual space for experimentation and innovation in the application of evidence and methods from the behavioural sciences to achieve UNICEF programme results.
Two Ukrainian children press their foreheads together. One is a todder and the other is a baby.
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Building Bright Futures - How to integrate Ukraine's refugee children through early childhood education and care

Nine out of every 10 refugees arriving in host countries from Ukraine are women and children. Only 1 in 3 of Ukrainian refugee children are enrolled in early childhood education and care services. This emphasizes the need for expanding and strengthening early childhood education systems to ensure sufficient access for all children, and the integration of Ukranian refugee children in the host-community. These briefs offer recommendations for policymakers on ways to expand services, and how to facilitate the integration of refugee children and their families. Strategies include limiting the barriers that may hinder refugee children's access to ECEC settings, capitalizing existing physical and human resources to address gaps in service delivery, in addition to the inclusion of refugees in national and sub-national plans, data systems and financing, adapting policies and programmes to ensure considerations are made for refugee children.
30 Years of Research on Migration and Displacement at UNICEF Innocenti
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30 Years of Research on Migration and Displacement at UNICEF Innocenti

As global displacement rises, there is a pressing need to understand and respond to the migration experiences of children. This article provides key insights from a comprehensive review of UNICEF Innocenti’s research on migration and displacement over the last 30 years.
Unlocking Learning: The use of digital learning to support the education and inclusion of refugees and migrant children in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Unlocking Learning: The use of digital learning to support the education and inclusion of refugees and migrant children in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the number of refugees and migrants arriving in the country has increased from just a few dozen arrivals annually prior to 2017 to 95,000 between 2018 and 2022. This increase has put incredible strain on the country’s education systems.

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More than a billion reasons: The urgent need to build universal social protection
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More than a billion reasons: The urgent need to build universal social protection

Social protection is a universal human right and a precondition for a world free from poverty. It is also a vital foundation to help the world’s most vulnerable children fulfil their potential and increase their access to food, nutrition, education, and healthcare.
Accessible Digital Textbooks: Universal Design for Learning in Paraguay
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Accessible Digital Textbooks: Universal Design for Learning in Paraguay

The Accessible Digital Textbooks for All (ADT) initiative, implements accessible digital tools and content to make learning accessible to all students - with and without disabilities - in the same classroom.
Monitoring the Social Costs of Climate Change for Low- and Middle-income Countries
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Monitoring the Social Costs of Climate Change for Low- and Middle-income Countries

This policy brief is the third in a series that assesses key issues affecting social spending as part of UNICEF’s work on Public Finance for Children.
Disrupting Harm in Namibia: Evidence on online child sexual exploitation and abuse
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Disrupting Harm in Namibia: Evidence on online child sexual exploitation and abuse

Funded by the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children, through its Safe Online initiative, ECPAT, INTERPOL, and UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti worked in partnership to design and implement Disrupting Harm – a research project on online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA). This unique partnership brings a multidisciplinary approach to a complex issue in order to see all sides of the problem. OCSEA refers to situations that involve digital or communication technologies at some point during the continuum of abuse or exploitation; it can occur fully online or through a mix of online and in-person interactions between offenders and children. The Disrupting Harm research was conducted in six Southeast Asian countries and seven Eastern and Southern African countries, including Namibia. Data were synthesised from nine different research activities to generate each national report which tells the story of the threat, and presents clear recommendations for action.