UNICEF study reveals significant gap between corporate commitments and action for children across Asia

Bangkok, 8 July 2026 – A new UNICEF study of 1,399 listed companies across nine Asian countries finds that while most companies make commitments on human rights, few identify, report on or measure their impacts on children, revealing significant gaps both in disclosure and in action.

The report, Making Children Count: Sustainability Reporting across Emerging Asia, developed with The Centre for Child Rights and Business, finds that children remain largely invisible in corporate sustainability reporting, despite making up around one in three people across much of the region. 

“Across Asia, corporate sustainability reporting is accelerating faster than anywhere else,” said Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. “Yet child rights remain one of the most significant unreported dimensions of corporate sustainability. This report shows us a great opportunity – and where we can start acting.” 

The report finds that while nearly 3 in 4 companies report human rights commitments and 88 per cent report child-related community activities as corporate philanthropy, only one in 20 companies identify children as stakeholders and only one in 100 assess their business impacts on children. 

The disconnect is particularly stark in sectors tied to some of the region's greatest challenges for children. 

Only a small fraction of companies discloses how they are addressing risks and material impacts on children in climate change, online harms, malnutrition, child labour and the working conditions of parents. Just 2 per cent mention children in climate strategies, fewer than 10 per cent of tech companies report measures to protect children online, and only 3 per cent of companies commit to implementing protective marketing practices for children. Even within the food and beverage sector, just 12 per cent disclose protective marketing practices.

On child labour, where 72 per cent of companies have commitments, only 2 per cent explain how they remediate cases when these are found, while just 3 per cent support suppliers to improve practices. The picture is slightly better on family-friendly workplaces, where reporting is more common, but meaningful commitments on living wages remain rare.

“These gaps matter not only for children's wellbeing today, but for Asia's future workforce, productivity, economic growth and human development. As Asia takes a leading role in shaping global ESG standards, it has an opportunity to ensure children are no longer overlooked. UNICEF is ready to work with companies, investors and governments to integrate child rights into business practices and investments,” added Mr. Wijesekera.

UNICEF is calling on all stakeholders to make children visible in the decisions, disclosures and standards that will shape a more sustainable and inclusive future for every child. Specifically, UNICEF calls for:

• Companies to move from promises to proof by identifying, managing and reporting on impacts on children and aligning philanthropy with children's needs and business impacts.
• Governments and policymakers to make child-inclusive business the norm by integrating children's rights into laws, policies and reporting frameworks.
• Investors and stock markets to make child rights part of mainstream ESG by integrating child-related risks and impacts into reporting and ratings and promoting child-lens investment to contribute to the development of children in Asia.
• Parents, consumers, children and young people to use their voices, choices and lived experiences to hold companies accountable and help shape business practices that better protect and support children.