Global Humanitarian Thematic Funding
Saving lives, protecting rights and securing a better future for children through flexible funding.
UNICEF relies on voluntary contributions to uphold our mission of reaching every child. UNICEF seeks adequate and quality resources to support effective preparedness and timely response to humanitarian and protection needs, particularly of the most vulnerable populations. UNICEF thematic contributions are pooled, flexible multi-year funds to support the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2022-2025, including humanitarian action.
Global humanitarian thematic funding (GHTF) is, after the Core Resources for Results (RR), the most flexible form of funding as it allows for rapid and strategic responses by UNICEF to humanitarian crises. GHTF makes it possible for UNICEF to deliver assistance to the most vulnerable children when and where it is needed and in a timely and effective manner.
Why Global Humanitarian Thematic Funding is important
With Global Humanitarian Thematic Funding (GHTF), UNICEF and partners are able to:
Global Humanitarian Thematic Funding: Contributions and allocations tracker
This dashboard provides a real-time overview of all GHTF contributions by resource partners and allocations to UNICEF offices. We express our gratitude to the partners who support GHTF, as their contributions are essential to UNICEF’s ability to reach the most vulnerable, crisis-affected and forgotten children. Each one of these resource partners, regardless of the size of their contribution, shares in the achievements of GHTF worldwide.
GHTF Impact for Children: Examples from 2024
In 2024, flexible allocations from the Global Humanitarian Thematic Fund allowed country offices to ensure a robust response across multiple sectors, including child protection; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); education and health.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Global humanitarian thematic funding was fundamental in strengthening UNICEF’s capacity to prepare for and respond to the impacts of the withdrawal of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the eastern part of the country. UNICEF allocated $122,008 in global humanitarian thematic funding to support these efforts, which contributed to 19,268 children being provided with psychosocial and mental health support, 514 children associated with armed group being reintegrated through socioeconomic pathways and school reinsertion, and 158 unaccompanied and separated children being reached with family tracing and reunification interventions.
South Sudan
Global humanitarian thematic funding allowed a swift, flexible cholera response to prevent mass fatalities in high-risk areas, particularly in overcrowded transit centres in South Sudan. UNICEF provided integrated water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health and risk communication and community engagement interventions, reaching more than 50,000 people with access safe water and sanitation. By the end of December, 1.3 million oral cholera vaccines had been received in the country, and 147,392 individuals had received oral cholera vaccine in Renk and Juba counties. Additionally, 2.7 million people had been reached with life-saving hygiene messages. Global humanitarian thematic funding was instrumental in launching the initial response and funding deployment of critical staff.
Iraq
In Iraq, approximately 9 per cent of boys and 15 per cent of girls aged 6–11 years are out of school, and nearly 29 per cent of boys and 46 per cent of girls aged 12–17 years are also out of school. In 2024, global humanitarian thematic funds were essential to giving children in Iraq a second chance at education. Specifically,
UNICEF utilized $579,000 in flexible funding to prepare for the launch of the Back to Learning campaign in September 2024, which helped to re-enroll 30,198 children in formal education and 36,576 children in non-formal education through accelerated learning schools and literacy centres, including 12,000 internally displaced persons and returnees.
Mongolia
In 2024, Mongolia endured the harshest dzud – an extreme weather event characterized by temperatures of -30°C or lower, strong winds, heavy snow and ice – in the last 50 years, affecting more than 188,300 people, including 80,215 children. Global humanitarian thematic funding was critical to a rapid multisectoral response to the dzud, restoring life-saving services for children and families in remote herder communities. An allocation of $350,000 in global humanitarian thematic funding was critical to enabling UNICEF to address urgent needs in the hardest-hit provinces. UNICEF’s response reached 134,099 people with primary health services and 4,240 people with mental health and psychosocial support services.
Allocation criteria
The directors of the Public Partnerships Division, Programme Division and Office of Emergency Programmes endorse the proposals for GHTF allocation. The proposals are then reviewed and approved by the Deputy Director of Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations. A set of clear criteria is used to allocate GHTF at all levels – country, regional, multi-regional and global. These criteria include:
- Critical unmet needs for the most vulnerable children
- Critical funding gaps based on available and projected contributions
- Strong implementation capacity based on the delivery track records of regular country programmes
- Alignment with organization-wide initiatives aimed at strengthening the efficiency and effectiveness of UNICEF humanitarian action (e.g., the Humanitarian Review recommendations; the revised Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action, etc.) This can include gender-transformative programming; establishing effective mechanisms for the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse; accountability to affected populations; and localization strategies that emphasize anti-racism and anti-discrimination.
Previous results
Top resource partners to GHTF, 2024
As of 31 December 2024
| Ranking | Name of Partner | Total US$ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kingdom of Netherlands | 18,619,934 |
| 2 | German Federal Foreign Office | 17,895, 879 |
| 3 | Private sector fundraising by UNICEF country offices | 11,758,217 |
| 4 | Sweden | 10,523,401 |
| 5 | United Kingdom Committee for UNICEF | 3,576,985 |
| 6 | United States Fund for UNICEF | 3,230,687 |
| 7 | Dutch Committee for UNICEF | 2,081,707 |
| 8 | Swedish Committee for UNICEF | 2,008,194 |
| 9 | Korean Committee for UNICEF | 974,966 |
| 10 | Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF | 944,888 |
| 11 | Danish Committee for UNICEF | 650,816 |
| 12 | Canadian Committee for UNICEF | 517,491 |
| 13 | Italian Committee for UNICEF (Foundation UNO) | 332,151 |
| 14 | Finnish Committee for UNICEF | 274,837 |
| 15 | German Committee for UNICEF | 256,815 |
| 16 | UNICEF Ireland | 216,207 |
| 13 | French Committee for UNICEF | 169,935 |
| 14 | Slovenska Fundacja za UNICEF | 154,917 |
| 15 | Spanish Committee for UNICEF | 141,082 |
| 16 | Portuguese Committee for UNICEF | 113,861 |
| 17 | Austrian Committee for UNICEF | 70,815 |
| 18 | Belgium | 64,647 |
| 19 | Belgian Committee for UNICEF | 37,134 |
| 20 | Polish National Committee for UNICEF | 31,638 |
| 21 | Committee for UNICEF Switzerland and Luxembourg | 29,661 |
| 22 | Canada | 27,206 |
| 23 | Icelandic National Committee for UNICEF | 11,057 |
| 24 | New Zealand | 174 |
| Grand Total | 74,715,392 |
Global Humanitarian Thematic Funding Allocations, 2024
As of 31 December
| Destination | Total US$ |
|---|---|
| Lebanon | 4,450,000 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2,853,028 |
| Bangladesh | 2,750,000 |
| Sudan | 2,120,000 |
| Afghanistan | 2,110,464 |
| South Sudan | 1,900,000 |
| Haiti | 1,600,000 |
| Mali | 1,600,000 |
| Ethiopia | 1,570,000 |
| Myanmar | 1,500,000 |
| State of Palestine | 1,320,000 |
| Nigeria | 1,300,000 |
| Mozambique | 1,094,373 |
| Pakistan | 1,000,000 |
| Burkina Faso | 980,000 |
| Papua New Guinea | 850,000 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 850,000 |
| Somalia | 805,643 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean Region | 803,600 |
| Central African Republic | 800,000 |
| Iran | 770,000 |
| Middle East and North Africa Region | 762,000 |
| Libya | 750,000 |
| Ecuador | 750,000 |
| Iraq | 750,000 |
| Mauritania | 700,000 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 650,000 |
| Jordan | 600,000 |
| Yemen | 600,000 |
| Egypt | 600,000 |
| Algeria | 600,000 |
| Chad | 550,000 |
| Europe and Central Asia Region | 505,000 |
| West and Central Africa Region | 503,000 |
| Serbia | 500,000 |
| Madagascar | 500,000 |
| Azerbaijan | 485,000 |
| Cameroon | 480,000 |
| South Asia Region | 473,000 |
| Nepal | 450,000 |
| Honduras | 440,300 |
| Eastern and Southern Africa Region | 387,000 |
| Angola | 370,000 |
| Namibia | 350,000 |
| Djibouti | 325,000 |
| Democratic People's Republic of Korea | 300,000 |
| Burundi | 300,000 |
| Mongolia | 300,000 |
| Cote d'Ivoire | 300,000 |
| Armenia | 250,000 |
| Malawi | 250,000 |
| Thailand | 250,000 |
| Belarus | 250,000 |
| Türkiye | 250,000 |
| Greece | 231,000 |
| Cabo Verde | 230,000 |
| Benin | 225,000 |
| Sri Lanka | 200,000 |
| Togo | 180,000 |
| Lao PDR | 150,000 |
| Uganda | 150,000 |
| Costa Rica | 150,000 |
| Kazakhstan | 150,000 |
| Peru | 150,000 |
| Kenya | 150,000 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 150,000 |
| Guatemala | 150,000 |
| East Asia and Pacific Region | 127,000 |
| Tajikistan | 120,000 |
| Dominican Republic | 100,000 |
| Zambia | 100,000 |
| Georgia | 100,000 |
| Albania | 100,000 |
| Nicaragua | 100,000 |
| Eritrea | 100,000 |
| Barbados (Eastern Caribbean) | 100,000 |
| Cuba | 100,000 |
| Jamaica | 100,000 |
| Niger | 69,357 |
*Above figures exclude allocations to HQ.
Top resource partners to GHTF, 2023
As of 31 December
| Ranking | Name of Partner | Total US$ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | German Federal Foreign Office | 31,996,394 |
| 2 | Kingdom of the Netherlands | 18,619,934 |
| 3 | Private sector fundraising by UNICEF country offices | 11,878,506 |
| 4 | Sweden | 11,050,795 |
| 5 | United Kingdom Committee for UNICEF | 9,007,964 |
| 6 | Dutch Committee for UNICEF | 3,624,667 |
| 7 | United States Fund for UNICEF | 3,348,887 |
| 8 | German Committee for UNICEF | 1,257,008 |
| 9 | Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF | 1,198,557 |
| 10 | Swedish Committee for UNICEF | 1,174,380 |
| 11 | Finnish Committee for UNICEF | 686,359 |
| 12 | Denmark | 587,199 |
| 13 | Norwegian Committee for UNICEF | 474,219 |
| 14 | Australian Committee for UNICEF Limited | 370,358 |
| 15 | Canada | 364,751 |
| 16 | Danish Committee for UNICEF | 339,993 |
| 17 | Portuguese Committee for UNICEF | 298,959 |
| 18 | Canadian Committee for UNICEF | 61,505 |
| 19 | Polish Committee for UNICEF | 60,168 |
| 20 | Belgian Committee for UNICEF | 38,680 |
| 21 | UNICEF Hungarian Committee Foundation | 24,210 |
| 22 | French Committee for UNICEF | 21,386 |
| 23 | New Zealand Committee for UNICEF | 11,534 |
| Balance from prior years | 244,812 | |
| Grand Total | 96,741,224 |
We express our gratitude to the partners who supported GHTF, as their contributions are essential to UNICEF’s ability to reach the most vulnerable, crisis-affected and forgotten children. Each one of these resource partners, regardless of the size of their contribution, shares in the achievements of GHTF worldwide.
Global Humanitarian Funding Allocations, 2023
As of 31 December
| Destination | Total US$ |
|---|---|
| Sudan | 7,998,960 |
| State of Palestine | 7,178,550 |
| Lebanon | 4,877,000 |
| Afghanistan | 3,977,500 |
| Haiti | 3,812,579 |
| Myanmar | 3,655,382 |
| Syria | 3,651,973 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 3,486,782 |
| Bangladesh | 2,949,000 |
| Cameroon | 2,928,080 |
| Chad | 2,908,852 |
| Europe and Central Asia Region | 2,600,000 |
| Yemen | 2,035,514 |
| Malawi | 1,900,000 |
| Mozambique | 1,866,963 |
| Ethiopia | 1,768,757 |
| Egypt | 1,700,000 |
| Middle East and North Africa Region | 1,562,500 |
| Pakistan | 1,500,000 |
| South Sudan | 1,487,500 |
| South Asia Region | 1,400,000 |
| Burkina Faso | 1,319,700 |
| East Asia and the Pacific Region | 1,250,000 |
| Mali | 1,176,513 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean Region | 1,173,913 |
| Armenia | 1,100,000 |
| Central African Republic | 1,080,819 |
| West and Central Africa Region | 1,062,500 |
| Eastern and Southern Africa Region | 1,000,000 |
| Somalia | 1,000,000 |
| Zimbabwe | 1,000,000 |
| Kenya | 900,000 |
| Pacific islands | 800,000 |
| Libya | 770,000 |
| Democratic People's Republic of Korea | 750,000 |
| Eritrea | 700,000 |
| Nigeria | 700,000 |
| Colombia | 662,500 |
| Ecuador | 650,000 |
| Nepal | 650,000 |
| Iran | 600,000 |
| Peru | 600,000 |
| Uganda | 600,000 |
| Venezuela | 600,000 |
| Honduras | 550,000 |
| Jordan | 500,000 |
| Madagascar | 500,000 |
| Türkiye | 500,000 |
| Papua New Guinea | 450,000 |
| Thailand | 450,000 |
| Azerbaijan | 400,000 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 400,000 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 400,000 |
| Mexico | 350,000 |
| South Africa | 350,000 |
| Sri Lanka | 350,000 |
| Dominican Republic | 300,000 |
| El Salvador | 300,000 |
| Guatemala | 300,000 |
| Panama | 300,000 |
| Serbia | 300,000 |
| Togo | 300,000 |
| Zambia | 300,000 |
| Senegal | 250,000 |
| Vanuatu | 250,000 |
| Algeria | 200,000 |
| Benin | 200,000 |
| Cuba | 200,000 |
| Rwanda | 200,000 |
| Tajikistan | 200,000 |
| Tanzania | 200,000 |
| Niger | 167,950 |
| Bolivia | 150,000 |
| Brazil | 150,000 |
| Chile | 150,000 |
| Mongolia | 125,944 |
| Albania | 100,000 |
| Costa Rica | 100,000 |
| Croatia | 100,000 |
| Djibouti | 100,000 |
| Kosovo | 100,000 |
| Nicaragua | 100,000 |
| Iraq | 62,500 |
| Ukraine | 62,500 |
*Above figures exclude allocations to HQ.
|
Ranking |
Name of Partner |
Total US$ |
| 1 | Netherlands | 21,716,649 |
|
2 |
United States Fund for UNICEF |
21,567,098 |
| 3 | German Federal Foreign Office | 20,682,523 |
|
4 |
Private sector fundraising by UNICEF country offices |
16,627,834 |
|
5 |
Swiss Committee for UNICEF |
12,232,416 |
| 6 | Sweden |
11,717,546 |
|
7 |
United Kingdom Committee for UNICEF |
4,796,483 |
|
8 |
Swedish Committee for UNICEF |
3,538,013 |
|
9 |
Dutch Committee for UNICEF |
2,868,301 |
|
10 |
Republic of Korea |
1,000,000 |
|
11 |
Denmark |
589,188 |
| 12 | Irish Committee for UNICEF | 518,486 |
|
13 |
Finnish Committee for UNICEF |
435,645 |
|
14 |
Danish Committee for UNICEF |
226,812 |
|
15 |
French Committee for UNICEF | 218,585 |
|
16 |
Canadian Committee for UNICEF | 143,830 |
|
17 |
Portuguese Committee for UNICEF | 36,654 |
| 18 | Belgian Committee for UNICEF | 34,148 |
|
19 |
Australian Committee for UNICEF | 31,189 |
|
20 |
UNICEF Hungarian Committee Foundation | 24,031 |
|
21 |
Slovak Foundation for UNICEF | 8,272 |
| Grand Total |
119,013,702 |
We express our gratitude to the partners who supported GHTF, as their contributions are essential to UNICEF’s ability to reach the most vulnerable, crisis-affected and forgotten children. Each one of these resource partners, regardless of the size of their contribution, shares in the achievements of GHTF worldwide.
| Destination | Total US$ |
| Ethiopia | 6,663,272 |
| Somalia | 5,978,245 |
| Yemen | 5,859,000 |
| Burkina Faso | 5,500,000 |
| Kenya | 4,000,000 |
| Cluster Coordination** | 4,000,000 |
| Mali | 3,208,076 |
| Bangladesh | 1,785,000 |
| South Sudan | 1,278,351 |
| Niger | 1,235,063 |
| Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) | 1,150,000 |
| Philippines | 1,058,026 |
| Haiti | 1,000,000 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 1,000,000 |
| State of Palestine | 879,560 |
| Myanmar | 749,436 |
| Colombia | 650,000 |
| Pakistan | 650,000 |
| East Asia and the Pacific Region | 600,000 |
| Eastern and Southern Africa Region | 600,000 |
| Cross-border response in Chile, Bolivia, and Peru | 600,000 |
| Central African Republic | 500,000 |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | 500,000 |
| Kazakhstan | 500,000 |
| Central America and Mexico (Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua) | 500,000 |
| Libya | 500,000 |
| Malawi | 500,000 |
| Republic of Cameroon | 500,000 |
| Sri Lanka | 500,000 |
| Uganda | 500,000 |
| Ukraine | 400,000 |
| Iraq | 379,560 |
| Armenia | 350,000 |
| Ghana | 350,000 |
| Guinea | 350,000 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean Region | 350,000 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 300,000 |
| Greece | 300,000 |
| Nigeria | 300,000 |
| South Asia Region | 300,000 |
| Thailand | 300,000 |
| Papua New Guinea | 280,000 |
| Tonga | 250,000 |
| Azerbaijan | 200,000 |
| Benin | 200,000 |
| Cote d’Ivoire | 200,000 |
| Togo | 200,000 |
| West and Central Africa Region | 200,000 |
| Brazil | 193,658 |
| Ecuador | 150,000 |
| Algeria | 100,000 |
| Burundi | 100,000 |
| Eswatini | 100,000 |
| Belarus | 93,658 |
| Cuba | 40,000 |
| Honduras | 40,000 |
| Belize | 20,000 |
| Jamaica | 20,000 |
*Above figures exclude allocations to HQ.
** Supports the cluster leadership role to enhance capacity at the field level prioritizing Levels 2 and 3 Emergencies.
|
Rank |
Resource partner |
Total US$ |
|
|
Netherlands |
19.9m |
|
|
Swedish Committee for UNICEF |
3.1m |
|
|
Republic of Korea |
1.0m |
|
|
Australian Committee for UNICEF |
850,836 |
|
|
Finnish Committee for UNICEF |
765,578 |
|
|
Denmark |
662,202 |
|
|
Netherlands Committee for UNICEF |
642,914 |
|
|
United Kingdom Committee for UNICEF |
628,901 |
|
|
Danish UNICEF Committee |
461,113 |
|
|
German Committee for UNICEF |
351,959 |
|
Destination |
Total US$ |
|
Haiti |
1,500,000 |
| South Sudan | 1,250,000 |
| State of Palestine | 1,225,024 |
|
Afghanistan |
1,150,000 |
|
Mozambique |
1,146,857 |
|
Bangladesh |
1,050,000 |
|
Yemen |
1,000,000 |
|
Burkina Faso |
900,000 |
|
Latin America and the Caribbean |
850,000 |
|
Democratic Republic of the Congo |
800,000 |
|
Iraq |
800,000 |
|
Pakistan |
750,000 |
|
Central African Republic |
700,000 |
|
Ethiopia |
700,000 |
|
West and Central Africa Region |
580,000 |
|
East Asia and Pacific Region |
550,000 |
|
Europe and Central Asia Region |
550,000 |
|
Myanmar |
500,000 |
|
South Asia Region |
500,000 |
|
Venezuela |
500,000 |
|
Syrian Arab Republic |
500,000 |
|
Cameroon |
400,000 |
|
Libya |
400,000 |
|
Tanzania, United Republic of |
345,269 |
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
300,000 |
|
Burundi |
300,000 |
|
Guatemala |
300,000 |
|
Niger |
300,000 |
|
Iran |
250,000 |
|
East and Southern Africa Region |
200,000 |
|
Eritrea |
200,000 |
|
Middle East and North Africa Region |
200,000 |
|
Pacific Island Countries |
200,000 |
|
Timor-Leste |
200,000 |
|
Cuba |
150,000 |
|
Colombia |
150,000 |
|
El Salvador |
150,000 |
|
Honduras |
150,000 |
|
Croatia |
100,000 |
|
Kyrgyzstan |
100,000 |
|
Mexico |
100,000 |
|
Ukraine |
80,000 |
|
Total |
22,077,150 |
