What we’ve achieved for children in Asia and the Pacific
UNICEF was born out of the ashes of World War II. We’re no strangers to crises.
Since then, Asia and the Pacific has witnessed dramatic improvements in children’s health, education and life prospects. But the years have also been marked by brutal conflicts and devastating natural disasters in which children too often suffered.
Throughout, UNICEF has never wavered from our mission: To reach every child in need, protect children’s rights and help every child thrive.
Standing side by side with children since 1948
UNICEF’s very first regional office opened in Bangkok in 1948. Since then, our work has always been driven by hope.
From the mountains of Nepal to the reefs of Tonga, the valleys of Pakistan to the scattered isles of the Philippines, millions of children are alive today thanks to our work with partners.
Innovating. Collaborating. Never giving up.
Across 36 countries and territories, we’ve reached places few could reach and made what once seemed impossible, possible.
Here’s just some of the ways we’ve changed children’s lives.
More children than ever are living to see their fifth birthday
Left to Right: A health worker cares for a premature baby in rural Cambodia. Cornellia (3 months) is cradled by mum, Benalyn, as she gets her first vaccines in remote Papua New Guinea. UNICEF joins local efforts to shield children from tuberculosis, Philippines, 1952.
We’ve helped children and their mothers get the healthcare they need, when they need it.
As the world’s largest vaccine distributor, we’ve defied distance, disaster, and danger to deliver life-saving vaccines to children to shield them from deadly diseases.
The result? Vaccination rates have skyrocketed, and child deaths have plummeted.
Between 2000 and 2024, the percentage of children vaccinated against polio increased from 70 per cent to 90 per cent. DTP vaccination rose from 70 per cent to 90 per cent, vaccination against measles1 increased from 69 per cent to 92 per cent, and vaccination against tuberculosis rose from 79 per cent to 92 per cent.
In 2020, UNICEF helped lead the historic COVID-19 vaccine response as part of the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX), ensuring fair access to lifesaving vaccines at unprecedented speed and scale.
Since 2000, under-five mortality in the region has plummeted from 72 to 27 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Stories of hope
We’ve helped families on the frontlines of conflicts and disasters survive and rebuild their lives
Clockwise from left: East Timor 1999, a girl helps unpack the contents of a UNICEF 'edukit' containing educational and recreational materials. Emergency supplies on the way to Laputta Township, Myanmar in 2008, in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. Unloading a transport plane carrying urgently needed food, medicine, shelter and clean water supplies to assist children and women in Bangladesh in 1972.
We’ve stayed and delivered for families through some of the worst conflicts and disasters to hit the region.
From armed conflicts to tsunamis, earthquakes and typhoons, UNICEF is among the first to reach families and children when homes are swept away, schools reduced to rubble and communities are left struggling to recover.
In the 1960's and 1970's, we provided aid for conflict-affected children and families in Viet Nam and Cambodia. In 1972, we rolled out our largest aid operation to date in Bangladesh, reaching four million children with badly needed shelter, food, water and sanitation.
During the 1999 Timor Leste crisis, UNICEF ran large-scale vaccination campaigns, provided school supplies and set up Child-Friendly Spaces.
When the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck in 2004, we delivered lifelines: clean water, medical care, nourishing food, and safe spaces for children, reuniting families and shielding the most vulnerable from harm.
In 2008, just 24 hours after Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar, we were there, with emergency shelter, vital healthcare, and cash assistance to help the hardest-hit families begin to rebuild. Similarly, when Super Typhoon Haiyan tore through the Philippines in 2013, we responded with 100 tons of critical supplies.
In 2022, when catastrophic floods submerged nearly one third of Pakistan, UNICEF supported millions with emergency drinking water, hygiene kits, mobile health camps, and temporary learning spaces.
And in Afghanistan, UNICEF has carried out extensive humanitarian relief for decades, using all means available to deliver supplies to the most remote areas.
As conflicts escalate and climate-driven disasters become more frequent and severe, the need has never been greater. And neither has our readiness to respond.
Stories of hope
We’ve fought to get millions more people safe drinking water and sanitation
Left to Right: Thailand, 2005: Three girls enjoy a new water point, built in their school by UNICEF, after the tsunami devastated their village. Clean hands, bright smiles: Kim and Tin, both 6, use new water facilities, supported by UNICEF, at their school in rural Cambodia, 2024.
Safe drinking water and sanitation have transformed health, dignity, and daily life for millions against life-threatening illnesses.
Between 2000 to 2024, access to basic water increased from 80 percent to 94 percent.
In 2000, only 40 per cent of people in Asia and the Pacific had toilets that got rid of waste, that they didn’t share with other families. Today, 87 per cent do.
And toilets have improved in schools too! Between 2015 and 2023 alone, the percentage of schools with toilets that are available, private, functional, and separate for boys and girls climbed from 64 per cent to 77 per cent.
Stories of hope
The number of children suffering from stunted growth and development has dropped significantly
Left to Right: Little Domino drinks his daily milk from UNICEF — hope for malnourished villages in the Philippines, 1949. Kaikai (2) enjoys a nutritious lunch in China. Mia (8) has her height measured as part of UNICEF's fight to improve nutrition for undocumented children in Malaysia.
To grow up healthy, children need the right nutrition at every stage of childhood. We’ve helped pregnant women stay nourished, championed breastfeeding and quality first foods, provided vitamin supplements, improved foods in schools, and brought urgent treatment to severely malnourished children.
And the results are powerful. Since 2000, stunting in the region has declined from 39 to 25 per cent, plunging from 129 million children to 71 million, giving more children the chance to grow, thrive, and reach their full potential.
New national nutrition policies and initiatives, such as Bhutan’s Golden 1,000 Days, Philippines’ Multisectoral Nutrition Project, India’s Eat Right schools and trans-fat caps, and Sri Lanka’s traffic light labelling are all helping protect child nutrition from birth through adolescence. Meanwhile, regional initiatives like Fix My Food are helping to ensure healthy and nutritious food is widely available, affordable, and appealing.
Stories of hope
We’ve worked tirelessly to protect children from violence, neglect, exploitation and child marriage
![In 1980 in Kampuchea [now Cambodia], a boy in a camp for people displaced by civil conflict shows one of his drawings, which reflects some of the trauma he has experienced. Children who have been uprooted by man-made or natural disasters often bear serious psychological scars.](/asia-pacific/sites/unicef.org.asia-pacific/files/styles/mc_two_vrt_desktop/public/UNI41947.webp?itok=FM9GmLn_)
![In 1980 in Kampuchea [now Cambodia], a boy in a camp for people displaced by civil conflict shows one of his drawings, which reflects some of the trauma he has experienced. Children who have been uprooted by man-made or natural disasters often bear serious psychological scars.](/asia-pacific/sites/unicef.org.asia-pacific/files/styles/media_large_image/public/UNI41947.webp?itok=IrM4Fosw)
Left to right: Kampuchea (now Cambodia), 1980: A boy displaced by conflict shares his story through art. Viet Nam 2015, with support from his case manager and the Youth Union, Khuong turned his life around — trading petty trouble for vocational training, a steady job, and a hopeful future.
For too many children, home isn’t always safe, school isn’t a refuge, and the online world is full of threats. Abuse, trafficking, bullying, and sexual exploitation leave deep, lasting scars on a child’s body and mind. And every year, millions of girls lose their childhoods and futures to early marriage.
Across Asia and the Pacific, UNICEF has worked with governments to strengthen child protection systems from laws and social services to skills of frontline social workers, helping countries develop comprehensive national frameworks to prevent and respond to violence against children at scale. Following advocacy from UNICEF and partners, Thailand banned corporal punishment in all settings, including at home and in every setting that provides care to children, through a landmark legal amendment.
We’ve also run positive parenting programmes, supported community engagement and advocated for investments in social protection systems that help prevent violence before it happens. Because quick fixes don’t protect children, strong systems do.
Stories of hope
More children are in and finishing school
Left to Right: Malaysia 1968, children immersed in the magic of learning. Teenage girls in Thailand learn STEM at school. Aung Khin and Kham Li, both 7, hug their new backpacks as they head back to school during the COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar.
When children gain knowledge, they gain power: to stay healthy, escape poverty, and fuel progress.
And hope is rising in our classrooms. Lower secondary school completion in the region has jumped to 85 per cent. Millions more children are learning.
From 2010 onwards, programmes focused on foundational learning, teacher training, and curriculum reforms to strengthen classroom learning outcomes.
Today, almost all children of primary school age in the region — 93 per cent — are attending school. We’ve trained teachers, improved schools, providing learning materials, helped children learn through digital technology and set up safe classrooms during emergencies to help children keep learning. We’ve also helped countries build climate-resilient schools and integrate climate change education and green skills into curricula.
Children who faced the biggest challenges — poverty, disability, and distance — are now getting the education they would have missed out on, opening doors to a better future.
Stories of hope
We’ve helped countries give the poorest children a fairer chance
Left to Right: 1946, Hengyang, China: A child gives his name to a clerk at a shelter for famine refugees. Wenfeng (18 months) is cared for by his grandma in rural China as his parents work in the city; she’s learning skills to help him thrive, thanks to new services launched by UNICEF and the Government. Sai Wai has faced seizures since being a baby; UNICEF’s support helps his family in Myanmar cope with medical bills.
We’ve helped governments set up systems and safety nets to help the poorest children in the region, backed by sustainable financing, so support is built to last.
Across the region, UNICEF has worked with governments and partners to strengthen child-focused budgets and expand access to essential services including health, education, nutrition, and social protection.
In 2015, based on the research and evidence, UNICEF supported the Royal Thai Government to introduce the Child Support Grant for the poorest families. Ten years on, the programme has helped lift children under 6 and their families out of poverty, reduce acute malnutrition and empower new mothers during the critical early years.
In China, our research and guidance spurred huge policy change for families, including expanded child grants, improved maternity insurance, and more affordable childcare.
And in one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world, we’ve been on hand to help get cash support to families hit by disaster.
When Typhoon Yagi, the most powerful storm to strike Viet Nam in 70 years, submerged thousands of children’s homes, we got emergency cash support directly into the hands of nearly 4,000 people hit hardest, helping families survive and hold onto hope.
In Nepal, UNICEF supported digital cash transfer systems under the “Rahat” initiative, enabling rapid and transparent emergency support for households affected by economic hardship and disasters.
Stories of hope
More girls are learning, leading, and shaping their futures
Asia and the Pacific is home to about 313 million adolescent girls, making it the region with the largest population of adolescent girls worldwide. With that comes an immense opportunity to unlock potential, build girls’ leadership and propel growth and development.
In 2022 alone, skills programmes such as UPSHIFT, Rupantaran, and Skills4Girls provided training to over 20 million adolescents, expanding their economic opportunities and benefiting families, communities and entire societies.
We also partner with girl-led organisations to strengthen adolescent girls’ leadership and agency and create safe spaces where girls can learn, grow, and influence decisions that affect their lives.
And among escalating disasters, UNICEF ensures that the various needs, roles, and vulnerabilities of women, men, girls, and boys are taken into consideration while responding to an emergency.
Stories of hope
We’ve sounded the alarm on unseen harms to children
Left to Right: Celebrating World Children's Day in Malaysia in 1965, championing every child’s right to be heard, safe, and educated. Bank shelters at home during a record-breaking heatwave in Thailand, May 2024. Children at kindergarten in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia wear masks to protect them from toxic winter smog.
We’ve helped the world learn about dangers to children’s health, happiness and futures — from air pollution to sugar-laced baby foods, from unethical formula-milk marketing to tech-facilitated harm. And we’ve supported children and youth to raise their voices on the issues that matter to them.
Together, with our partners, we’ve brought attention to issues and proposed solutions for governments, decision-makers, businesses and parents to make real change for children at scale.
Thanks to our powerful advocacy, 24 countries in the region put laws in place to ban manipulative formula-milk marketing and protect breastfeeding. Millions of mothers now have more freedom to choose how to feed their babies, guided by facts, not untruthful advertising.
Standing up for children's rights
We’re so proud of everything we've achieved for children, since starting work in Asia and the Pacific eight decades ago. But since then, the world has changed — and so have the challenges children face.
One truth remains: we will never stop fighting for children.
No matter the crisis, no matter the challenge, we’ll be there. Standing beside children and their families, delivering hope, protection, and the chance at a better tomorrow.
With every hand that joins ours, with every voice that rises in solidarity, we can protect more futures and ensure that no child is left behind. No matter what tomorrow brings.
