Global support
How UNICEF supports humanitarian action for children around the world.
Country-level humanitarian action is supported by a global architecture made up of UNICEF’s seven regional offices and 20 headquarters divisions. These offices provide the core infrastructure to support field preparedness and response to save lives, protect rights, reduce vulnerabilities to disasters and conflicts, support global and country coordination mechanisms and promote humanitarian partnerships.
UNICEF’s global support is coordinated by the Office of Emergency Programmes (EMOPS), the focal point for emergency preparedness and response, humanitarian policies, staff security and support to UNICEF's regional and country offices, as well as strategic coordination with external humanitarian partners both within and outside the United Nations system.
EMOPS leads efforts to ensure that UNICEF’s role in humanitarian crises is clearly defined, that the organization is properly equipped to fulfill that role, and that all levels of the organization are prepared to ensure the rights of all children including those affected by humanitarian crises. The division also coordinates headquarters support to country and regional offices dealing with emergencies. HQ divisions, along with EMOPS, provide the core infrastructure to support field preparedness and response to save lives, protect rights, reduce vulnerabilities to disasters and conflicts, support global and country coordination mechanisms, promote humanitarian partnerships and ensure the safety of personnel and assets.
24/7 support
The UNICEF Office of Emergency Programmes coordinates the organization’s global support for humanitarian action, including through a security team and the 24/7 Operations Centre (OPSCEN), OPSCEN monitors humanitarian crises, political events and security-related incidents around the world with a view to ensuring the safety of staff and providing both field offices and senior decision-makers with critical information related to humanitarian emergencies.
The division is located in both New York and Geneva, which allows for systematic and strategic engagement with humanitarian partners and sister United Nations agencies.
2023 requirements
In 2023, this support will cost US$110.7 million. UNICEF will cover 36 per cent of this cost through its core resources and will require US$71.1 million in flexible and multi-year funding to cover the remaining needs.
UNICEF Global Support includes four major components:
View pages in more detail in the Humanitarian Action for Children 2023 Overview.
Moving forward
UNICEF is investing in ensuring it can be the best it can be to uphold the rights of Children affected by Humanitarian crises.
UNICEF undertook the Humanitarian Review in 2019/20 to understand how its work in emergencies could be strengthened to ensure that UNICEF, together with its partners, can continue to deliver results for children and their families.
The review provides a timely framework for change with clear recommendations that will guide UNICEF to improve the quality of its humanitarian action, in order to be more predictable, efficient and equitable in its emergency response. UNICEF will undertake transformational whole-of-organization change, focusing on cultivating stronger humanitarian leadership, advancing in skill building and learning in key technical areas, improving preparedness and conflict-sensitive risk-informed programming and reinforcing technical capacities, particularly in public health emergencies and migration crises, as well as investing in new implementation modalities to respond effectively and efficiently to children’s need in tomorrow’s emergencies. Such change is already supported by the revised CCCs and the development of the new emergency procedures, which together with the implementation of the review, will help us be more accountable to those we serve, including improving capacity sharing with our local partners for a stronger response together for children.
The humanitarian review is guiding UNICEF in transforming its humanitarian action to ensure it is prepared to respond to the needs of children, even in the most challenging environments.