Events & Convening
Convening thought leadership in issues affecting children.
Prospects for Children and Youth in the Polycrisis
8 March 2023:
Right now, the world is being confronted by a series of multiple and near-simultaneous shocks amplified by a world that is more interdependent than ever before – and many are calling this phenomenon a “polycrisis”. No matter what it’s called, it will have an enormous impact on children across the world.
At UNICEF, we recently analyzed the trends that we believe will impact children in the future, and they have much to lose. But while those trends are worrying, there are also positive signs.
This webinar will build upon our analysis and unpack some of the most pressing challenges facing children today and will feature thought-provoking contributions not just from sector analysts and experts, but from the very young people who will be most affected by the polycrisis.
Best of UNICEF Research 2022
14 December 2022: For the past 10 years, the Best of UNICEF Research annual competition, run by UNICEF Innocenti, has invited UNICEF colleagues around the world to submit their latest and best research for children.
Monitoring the Social Costs of Climate Change for Low-and Middle-Income Countries
17 November 2022:
This event, organized by UNICEF-Innocenti, will provide an opportunity for leading experts on social spending to discuss a new report from UNICEF, ‘Monitoring the Social Spending Costs of Climate Change for Low-and Middle-Income Countries’ which argues that investing in social spending will be key to managing the climate crisis.
Places & Spaces: Shaping policies for environments and children's well-being
24 May 2022: This panel discussion, timed with the global launch of Report Card 17, comes at a moment when policymakers are seeking to ensure child well-being during a protracted global pandemic and with mounting climate change challenges. Join us for a rich discussion with youth activists, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners on shaping better policies for environments and children’s well-being. Panelists to be announced.
Latest events
Shortfalls in Social Spending in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Join researchers, experts, educators, and policymakers for a one-hour virtual policy panel discussion on Shortfalls in Social Spending Worldwide. A new report from UNICEF, ‘Shortfalls in Social Spending in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. COVID-19 and Shrinking Finance for Social Spending’ argues that, in order to meet the rights of all to basic social services, greater mobilisation of both domestic and international resources will be needed to boost social spending in the wake of COVID-19. It calculates that low-and middle-income countries will need to spend an additional 0.9% of GDP on education; 4.7% of GDP on health; and 0.6% of GDP on social protection. Failure to meet these targets is currently resulting in annual shortfalls of, on average, $281 per child (education); $513 per capita (health); $66 per capita (social assistance). However, the fiscal space to achieve adequate spending on social services remains constrained in many countries. Join us as our experts discuss how to approach this challenge, bolster finance for the SDGs and address widening inequalities post COVID-19.
17 February 2022
Mediterranean Dialogues
Mediterranean Dialogues is the annual high-level initiative promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and ISPI (Italian Institute for International Political Studies) in Rome. On 2-4 December, more than 40 live session with 40+ ministers, over 100 business representatives, and members of the civil society from the MED region will share their views.
2 - 4 December 2021
The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery
The global disruption to education caused by the COVD-19 pandemic is without parallel and the effects on learning are severe. The crisis brought education systems across the world to a halt, with school closures affecting more than 1.6 billion learners. While nearly every country in the world offered remote learning opportunities for students, the quality and reach of such initiatives varied greatly and were at best partial substitutes for in-person learning. Now, 21 months later, schools remain closed for millions of children and youth, and millions more are at risk of never returning to education. Evidence of the detrimental impacts of school closures on children’s learning offer a harrowing reality: learning losses are substantial, with the most marginalized children and youth often disproportionately affected.
This December 6th, building on the close collaboration of UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank under the Mission: Recovering Education, the three organizations will launch a joint report on the state of the crisis.
The Report – titled “The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery” – charts a path out of the global education crisis and towards building more effective, equitable, and resilient education systems.
Learning losses can be reversed if countries act now!
The cost of keeping schools closed is steep and threatens to widen existing disparities for children and youth. Reopening schools and keeping them open should remain the highest priority for countries, as growing evidence indicates that with adequate measures, health risks to children and education staff can be minimized.
The event will feature the participation of Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO, Robert Jenkins, Global Director of Education, UNICEF, Jaime Saavedra, Global Director of Education, the World Bank, as well as a panel of government officials and international education stakeholders who will reflect on the evidence presented in the joint report and lessons from country experiences in support of learning recovery from around the world. The panel will be moderated by Andrew Jack, Global Education Editor, Financial Times.
This December 6th, building on the close collaboration of UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank under the Mission: Recovering Education, the three organizations will launch a joint report on the state of the crisis.
The Report – titled “The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery” – charts a path out of the global education crisis and towards building more effective, equitable, and resilient education systems.
Learning losses can be reversed if countries act now!
The cost of keeping schools closed is steep and threatens to widen existing disparities for children and youth. Reopening schools and keeping them open should remain the highest priority for countries, as growing evidence indicates that with adequate measures, health risks to children and education staff can be minimized.
The event will feature the participation of Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO, Robert Jenkins, Global Director of Education, UNICEF, Jaime Saavedra, Global Director of Education, the World Bank, as well as a panel of government officials and international education stakeholders who will reflect on the evidence presented in the joint report and lessons from country experiences in support of learning recovery from around the world. The panel will be moderated by Andrew Jack, Global Education Editor, Financial Times.
6 December 2021
What Makes Me? A Policy Panel Discussion on Core Capacities for Living and Learning
What Makes Me? Join researchers, experts, educators, and policymakers for a one-hour virtual policy panel discussion on the Core Capacities for Living and Learning. A new report from UNICEF, the Learning for Wellbeing Foundation, and the Fetzer Institute reveals nine core capacities and underscores the importance of noticing and nourishing these capacities from birth through adulthood. Often overlooked as innate basic skills, these capacities are underutilized in efforts to promote child well-being, education, and development. By protecting and promoting the development of these capacities, children can better understand and interact with the world around them, for life and for learning, and realize their unique potential. Join us for our regional launch of the research – to learn about these core capacities and why and how every child can cultivate these capacities to thrive.
9 December 2021
Best of UNICEF Research 2021
For the second year running, the Best of UNICEF Research is being awarded in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know that poor and discriminated children are being hardest hit by the pandemic. Research and data are critical to reinvent responses, show tangible impact, and prioritize those children most at risk.
1 December 2021
Ethical considerations when applying behavioural science in projects with children
Over the last decade there has been a global trend to apply evidence and methods from the behavioural sciences to achieve programme and policy objectives. This webinar provides a focused reflection on ethical considerations for applying “behavioural insights” approaches to work that implicates children. UNICEF’s Office of Research-Innocenti worked in partnership with the Behavioural Insights Team, Australia, and the Young and Resilient Research Centre (Western Sydney University) to undertake a systematic exploration of relevant literature along with consultations with youth to develop a comprehensive discussion paper and a set of practical tools to help practitioners navigate ethical considerations specific to applying behavioral insights approaches to programming with children. The webinar will provide an introduction and overview of the paper and associated tools followed by a panel discussion with select members of the Project Advisory Group as thought leaders and practitioners directly involved in shaping the project.
Presenters: Karen Tindall, PhD, and Lydia Hayward, PhD, Behavioural Insights Team
Discussants:
Allison Zelkowitz, Director, Center for Utilizing Behavioral Insights for Children (CUBIC), Save the Children International
Liam Delaney, PhD, Head of Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics
Julianne Birungi, Social and Behaviour Change Specialist, UNICEF NYHQ
Mary MacLennan, Lead, UN Behavioural Science Group, UN Innovation Network
Chair: Benjamin Hickler, PhD, UNICEF Innocenti
26 October 2021
What does gender-responsive social protection have to do with the climate crisis?
With the increased recognition of the important role social protection plays in securing household and gender-equitable security and response to shocks, the webinar will feature a panel of leading experts on gender, climate change and social protection. These experts will convene to investigate what and how current social protection policies and programmes have addressed climate change impacts, and how gender responsive and age sensitive they are or not. It will discuss:
13 October 2021
Connected learning and living in a Disconnected Era
The pandemic sparked the biggest increase in history in digital learning and living, but what does it mean for this generation of children and the next? Is the future already inevitably written in computer code? What does this mean for the millions of children who simply cannot get online? Are today’s tweens and teens the canaries down the coal mine of this mass human online experiment?
Join us in our new Leading Minds Online series* as we put these questions and more to our two experts – a Japanese-American academic Cultural Anthropologist Dr. Mizuko Ito, Director Connected Learning Lab, University of California, Irvine, and student Zulaikha Patel, a South African youth activist.
29 September 2021
Strengthening and Promoting Education Data Systems and Utilization in Africa: Lessons from the Data Must Speak Global Initiative
With reliable data, policymakers, school managers, teachers, and communities can identify problems, pose solutions, and direct resources where they are most needed. As part of the Africa Evidence Week 2021, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti is organizing a live webinar to share and discuss how UNICEF’s implementation of the Data Must Speak global initiative has supported countries in Africa strengthen the use of data and research for education management and decision-making. It will draw on panelists from Ministries of Education from Namibia and Togo, as well as UNICEF and its office of research.
15 September 2021
How to apply Smart Buy's evidence in country education investment decisions
Lessons on the implementation and contextualization of Smart Buys evidence at country level by the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP).
23 July 2021
What's Next? Lessons on Education Recovery
Webinar on the latest research findings with panelists from UNESCO, UNICEF, OECD, and the World Bank.
13 July 2021
Intersections between Violence Against Children and Women - Prevention and Response
The second event in the 2021 Solutions Summit Series Together to #ENDviolence series aims to share evidence and foster discussion on intersections between violence against women and violence against children, highlighting synergies opportunities for greater collaboration and opportunities for moving towards implementation to build knowledge and translate it into policy and programs.
19 October 2021
Evidence Matters
14 September 2021 - This event aims to share information and advance understanding of the growing body of evidence on violence against children (VAC) prevention and response. The event will bring together researchers, practitioners and policymakers, providing a forum to reflect on the current state of the evidence, the role of evidence in driving action to end VAC, and the opportunities that lie ahead.
14 September 2021
Strengthening Data Systems and Utilization in the Education Sector
How can research play a vital role in ensuring strengthening of Education data systems and utilization for more data-informed decision-making?
27 July 2021
Reopening the Future: Prioritizing Pre-primary Education
Join UNICEF, UNESCO and World Bank for a webinar event on prioritizing pre-primary education.
27 July 2021
Gender dimensions of violence against children and adolescents
The Child Protection and Gender sections at NYHQ and the Office of Research – Innocenti organized an internal webinar on UNICEF’s Strategy Paper on the Gender Dimensions of Violence against Children and Adolescents in which over 200 UNICEF colleagues from regional and country levels participated. The webinar aimed to help participants learn more about the strategy paper and provided an opportunity to share ideas and recommendations for the implementation of priority actions in this area.
27 May 2021