Publications

The world is facing unprecedented compounding crises. The war in Ukraine, the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, a looming economic crisis, energy shortages, the increasing cost of living, and the ongoing effects of climate change and the associated food insecurity have created challenges across the world, and continue to disrupt the lives of children, their families and communities. More than ever, UNICEF needs to understand the implications of the emerging situation to be able to adapt programmes and approaches effectively to achieve the objectives of the 2022–2025 Strategic Plan, especially that of aiding recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

UNICEF Innocenti directed much of its research and foresight work in 2022 towards generating and supporting the use of quality research and analysis to inform programming for children, prioritizing focus on the most marginalized populations. The office collaborated closely with UNICEF offices and partners in countries, regions and globally, and published research and evidence regularly. The office also facilitated knowledge management on research, including ethics, capacity development and standard-setting for the organization.

Our foresight team undertook horizon-scanning, trend analysis, risk assessments and scenario analysis, making policy recommendations on major global and emerging issues. 

Besides this, the office leveraged major reports and convened top thinkers to lead global discourse and to position UNICEF as a thought leader. 

UNICEF Innocenti’s Annual Report 2021 highlights the key results achieved by the office in research generation, research facilitation, knowledge management and ethics in evidence, and convening and thought leadership. In 2021 UNICEF Innocenti produced more than 100 research publications, which were cited in 331 policy documents across the globe. UNICEF Innocenti also expanded its scope of work by amplifying children’s voices, opinions, and experiences, exploring emerging research areas, and producing fresh and innovative reports. The office continued to focus much of its research on at-risk populations including girls, migrants, refugees and children with disabilities; on the impact of the COVID pandemic on children; and on established areas of research such as social and economic policy, learning and education and child protection, as well as emerging areas including online safety, blended learning and mental health. While continuing to generate high quality global reports on such themes as learning losses and social spending for children, UNICEF Innocenti enhanced its support to national and regional programming through implementation research, scaling science, behavioural sciences and systems strengthening analysis. More than ever, there was growth in the proportions of research on the Global South, increased work, collaboration, and engagement with other UN agencies, and with other UNICEF offices in every region.

The COVID-19 pandemic dominated the landscape for UNICEF Innocenti’s work in 2020, bringing both opportunities and disruptions. The pandemic has underscored the power of utilizing research and evidence in addressing crisis and uncertainty, and in finding solutions to tough global challenges.

Opportunities emerged in the shape of a Rapid Research Response to assess the pandemic’s impact on children, utilizing evidence syntheses, rapid assessment tools and agile communication modalities. In turn, thousands of users were empowered to gain access to UNICEF Innocenti’s research, knowledge management, ethical advice and convening power.

2019 was a year of celebration and achievement for UNICEF Innocenti. It marked the research Centre’s 30th anniversary, which coincided with the 30th year of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the global charter of children’s rights. And it was the 600th anniversary of our home, the Istituto degli Innocenti, perhaps the world’s oldest continuously operating institution dedicated to childcare. Throughout 2019, we celebrated several events with our Italian hosts – the Government of Italy, the Regione Toscana, the City of Florence and the Istituto degli Innocenti – to which we are all immensely grateful for their unstinting support over the past three decades. This Annual Report outlines some of our achievements in our key strategic workstreams of research generation, research facilitation, and convening and communication, during 2019.

In 2018, significant gains were made in generating evidence to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged children, build organizational capacity to conduct and use quality, ethical research on children, and set a foundation as an important convening centre for expert consultation on next-generation ideas on children. 2018 marks the first year the UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti is reporting on the progress of research under the new UNICEF Strategic Plan (2018-2021). This plan is the first to clearly delineate the role of research and evidence as one of the eight priority change strategies for children. This report therefore is an account of the first year of work to generate critical evidence to inform programmes, policies and advocacy for children and young people around the world.

Our latest annual Results Report presents a review of the Office of Research - Innocenti’s top-line results delivered in 2017. It contains an excellent summary of how our research contributes to impact for children. Selected key results are highlighted for all research and capacity-building areas, while ‘deeper dive’ case studies provide in-depth narratives. The report also highlights capacity building, promotion of ethical research, and communications and operations milestones in 2017. Importantly, the report describes the Office of Research’s expanding role as a physical and virtual convening space for dialogue and critical thinking on issues concerning children and adolescents, in support of UNICEF’s new global Strategic Plan.

The 2016 UNICEF Innocenti Results Report presents the activities and key results of the Office of Research achieved in 2016. Research continues to influence policy and practice by addressing inequalities in child well-being and expanding the international evidence base in social protection, child poverty, child protection and education. New and emerging areas of research are beginning to address critical gaps for children, including migration and displacement, children in care work and gender inequality. Enhanced reach, improved dissemination platforms and growing influence are creating positive impacts on social policy for children in various countries. Over 140 research products were published in a range of print and electronic media, including peer-reviewed journal articles, contributions to edited volumes, working papers, research reports and resources, digests, briefs, blogs, podcasts and videos.

 

2014 marked a successful year for the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti and included the development of key research outputs, active advocacy for research, successful growth in the research portfolio, and expansion of outreach, tools and products. The Office actively engaged in: generating high-quality research to inform programmes and knowledge about children; strengthening the capacity to improve the quality and use of evidence; convening international events by acting as a catalyst for research globally. In 2014, research activities ranged from multi-disciplinary initiatives to large-scale international collaborative projects. High-calibre, policy-relevant research was conducted in the areas of: equity, poverty and well-being; child rights and governance; child protection and violence against children; social protection systems and cash transfers, among others.

This Annual Review provides a brief outline of the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre's ongoing workin the areas of promoting advocacy and policy dialogue to support the implementation of international standards and the development of child friendly policies and in monitoring the impact of economic and social policies on children's rights. Efforts were focused on analyzing, documenting and disseminating information related to the implementation of international standards for all children, monitoring the impact of economic and social policies on children's rights, advocating the development of child-friendly policies and practices, and enhancing partnerships both within and outside the organization.

Since its creation in 1988, the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (IRC) has made major contributions to socio-economic research highlighting the impact of economic policy on children and to improved understanding of children's rights. IRC contributes cutting-edge research to influence policy-making in favour of the world's poorest and most marginalized children and their famililes; informs policy formulation within UNICEF, strengthens the role of UNICEF as an advocate for children's rights; and supports programme development and capacity-building.

The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child guides every aspect of the work of the Centre and of UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund) as a whole. The Centre has been the research engine for UNICEF’s shift to a rights-based approach over the last decade, measuring the reality for children against the standards required by the Convention. In 2000, as in previous years, the Centre worked in partnership with UNICEF offices and National Committees, with Governments, non-governmental organizations, universities, researchers and others to share expertise, ideas and experience. And, as always, it maintained its intellectual independence to focus on cutting-edge, action-oriented research.