Impact Brief 2025
Accelerating results for every child
About the Impact Brief
In a year marked by escalating conflict, rising climate threats and political instability, the UNICEF Office of Innovation doubled down on what matters most: unlocking the world’s most promising ideas and scaling what works for children. The 2025 edition of the Impact Brief captures how we have worked across sectors and geographies to turn disruption into opportunity, leveraging frontier technologies, sustainable finance and bold new partnerships. By the end of 2024, UNICEF’s global innovation portfolios had 61 initiatives across 118 countries, cumulatively reaching 38 million people directly.
This is possibility-led innovation: a proactive approach grounded in curiosity and urgency. We are focused on solutions that can be embedded into public systems and adapted across diverse contexts, helping governments and communities adopt innovations that deliver results at scale.
Innovation at UNICEF is more than a set of tools. It is a mindset—evidence-driven, locally grounded and future-focused. We co-create with a global network of UNICEF colleagues and innovators in over 190 countries, working side by side with governments, young people, entrepreneurs and communities. Together, we are building sustainable pathways for impact and working to transform systems and shape futures, for every child.
“As the world faces compounding crises, shifting geopolitics, and the growing influence of emerging technologies, OOI remains resolute in catalyzing innovation for global social impact.”
Thomas Davin, Global Director, UNICEF Office of Innovation
Shaping Future Impact
The future is not something we wait for – it’s something we create. At OOI, we envision better realities for children and their communities. Alongside our partners and collaborators we are driven by these possibilities to identify and refine the next generation of game changing solutions.
In 2024, this approach bridged the gap between speculation and action, between theory and impact. We leveraged global networks, explored cutting-edge advancements and stress-tested solutions that could redefine education, climate action and financial inclusion. By de-risking and demonstrating innovation, we support governments, funders, communities and investors to confidently scale what works effectively.
Exploring What Works, Scaling What Matters
Scaling is about growth and that means deliberately identifying the most impactful solutions and unlocking clear pathways for their adoption at country, regional, and global levels. In 2024, we focused on turning local success into global impact by embedding proven solutions into systems, policies and communities around the world.
We streamlined our portfolios, strategically identifying and validating innovations with the most potential to deliver results for children and their communities. This approach accelerated the adoption of transformative solutions in education, skills building, health, climate resilience, WASH, gender and digital access, proving that when scale is strategic it drives lasting system-wide change.
“The Learning Cabinet represents a significant step forward in our partnership with UNICEF. By combining Arm’s technological expertise with UNICEF’s vision, we’re building a digital learning ecosystem that bridges the digital divide and transforms education for all.”
Rosalie Tribe, Senior Manager, Social Impact and Innovation, Arm
Innovation Culture for Systemic Change
To thrive, innovation needs governance, strategic vision and a culture that embraces bold, evidence-driven solutions. Through thought leadership, we advocate for strong innovation ecosystems and help create the right conditions to unlock the potential of innovation. We help develop frameworks and networks and cultivate a culture of partnerships and collaboration to help deliver innovation impact for children and their communities.
“Our experience with the SPARK Challenge has taught us that innovation is not an isolated process, but a cross-cutting approach that empowers all our areas of work, from technology to youth engagement.”
Francisco Benavides, Representative, UNICEF Uruguay
Through the Summit of OUR Future campaign, the UNICEF Office of Innovation, together with partners and collaborators, called for collective action to unlock resources to build and strengthen ecosystems of young tech innovators and entrepreneurs in emerging economies. Watch the highlights video above to see the impact from the campaign.
Follow the journey of UNICEF Uruguay's Accian Climatica, winner of the first Spark Incubator and Awards.
Looking Ahead
OOI will build on its work scaling transformative solutions in learning, climate resilience and health, leveraging frontier technologies like AI and blockchain, expanding financing instruments and strengthening cross-sector partnerships to unlock new funding pathways.
As compounding crises, unpredictable funding and widening equity gaps continue to shape the development landscape, innovation is no longer optional – it is imperative. UNICEF must source, adapt and scale solutions rapidly to remain both a trusted first responder and a leader in upholding rights and improving outcomes for every child.
Partner Spotlight
Together with our partners in government and the private sector, we are embedding impactful solutions into national systems, policies and markets. Their vision and commitment make this work possible, igniting the innovation spark that drives progress for this and future generations.
Key Results in Numbers
Take a deep dive and explore the data behind our impact.
