Visual highlights of the UNICEF Supply Annual Report 2024
UNICEF Supply Annual Report 2024
For every child, access to essential supplies
In 2024, UNICEF and partners continued to strive for equitable access to essential supplies and services for every child.
UNICEF procured $5.610 billion worth of supplies and services in 2024 in 160 countries, a 7 per cent increase from the previous year. The global value of supplies procured was $3.778 billion, while the total global value of services procured was $1.832 billion.
This report highlights UNICEF and partners’ global shared results in supplies and services for children in 2024, along with examples of innovation and delivering at scale across seven regions.
“As we reflect on 2024, we also reaffirm our commitment to equitable and sustainable access to life-saving supplies. UNICEF remains steadfast in its efforts to ensure that every child, everywhere, can survive and thrive – supported by agile and resilient supply chains.”
Results were enabled by strategic partnerships, enhanced localization efforts, digital transformation and a deepened focus on sustainability.
In 2024, 79 per cent of supplies were procured in collaboration with United Nations agencies and other humanitarian and development partners.
Highlights
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Immunization
UNICEF delivered 2.787 billion vaccine doses to 99 countries in 2024, enough to reach 45 per cent of the world’s children under 5.
UNICEF is the largest single buyer of vaccines, contributing to securing access to vaccines for routine immunization programmes, preventive campaigns and outbreak responses.
UNICEF supported 24 vaccine introductions in country immunization programmes in 2024, including the introduction of the malaria vaccine in 15 countries.
Cold chain
To enable reliable power for medical equipment and vaccine storage, UNICEF procured 1,500 solar systems in 2024, supporting the solarization of an expected 450 facilities by mid-2025.
Nutrition
5.2 million cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) were delivered to 66 countries. Sixty-six per cent of this total was sourced from suppliers in programme countries, where life-saving nutrition supplies are needed most.
Construction
In 2024, UNICEF procured $294.7 million in construction services, including projects in refugee camps and the construction or rehabilitation of schools and learning facilities.
Insecticide-treated nets
UNICEF delivered 7.6 million insecticide-treated nets to 22 countries in 2024 and continued to positively influence markets, improving affordability, availability and sustainability of supplies. Successes included reducing price volatility and achieving a 5 per cent price reduction for insecticide-treated nets.
Medical equipment
UNICEF delivered 1.2 million cholera rapid diagnostic tests to 14 high-risk countries, including Ethiopia, Somalia, Syria and Zambia to enhance cholera outbreak detection and response in 2024.
Procurement services
UNICEF provided procurement services to governments and other development partners resulting in $2.390 billion worth of supplies and services delivered to 114 countries.
UNICEF delivered $1.234 billion worth of emergency supplies to support humanitarian action in 68 countries and areas in 2024. Approximately half of these supplies supported major emergencies requiring the mobilization of a system-wide response, reflecting the growing complexity and severity of global humanitarian needs.
To mitigate global transport disruptions, UNICEF secured priority access, obtained favourable rates and continued to pre-position supplies. UNICEF rerouted shipments of critical supplies and optimized transport plans to minimize delays.
Digitalization
To drive supply chain efficiency, digitalize processes and support decision-making, UNICEF delivered 23 digitalization projects and implemented solutions. UNICEF continued to promote vaccine innovation, including microarray patches, barcoding and controlled temperature chain vaccines.
Sustainability
UNICEF continued to leverage its buying power to increase the environmental, social and economic sustainability of manufacturers and products procured. Significant progress was made in sustainable procurement, supplier engagement and waste reduction.
Localization
Collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control deepened, and UNICEF continued to work with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to promote the growth of vaccine manufacturing in Africa through the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator.
Regional supply highlights
East Asia and the Pacific | Eastern and Southern Africa | Europe and Central Asia | Latin America and Caribbean | Middle East and North Africa | South Asia | West and Central Africa
In 2024, UNICEF helped significantly reduce the humanitarian impact of intense climate-related disasters by rapidly mobilizing pre-positioned emergency supplies and surge personnel to reach affected communities, hospitals, health facilities and schools.
UNICEF also launched its first-ever humanitarian cash transfers in Viet Nam to help families meet basic needs and restore livelihoods.
UNICEF invested $21 million across eight countries in the region towards strengthening immunization and primary health care supply chains.
To strengthen the resilience and efficiency of humanitarian supply chains in Eastern and Southern Africa, UNICEF and the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation launched the Accelerating Delivery of Essential Products Together initiative. A pilot in Madagascar demonstrated the potential of this initiative by reducing customs processing times by 10 days.
In response to escalating crises, UNICEF enhanced its emergency preparedness and response capacity and continued to build regional self-reliance by expanding local production of essential nutrition commodities.
Collaboration with governments and partners led to strengthened national capacities. In South Sudan, the Health Sector Transformation Project, funded by the World Bank and partners, supported over 800 health facilities, procured $30.4 million in commodities, and distributed $40 million worth of supplies.
In 2024, in Europe and Central Asia, complex challenges required UNICEF to manage diverse priorities simultaneously, often under resource constraints and operational complexities.
The establishment of 173 national long-term agreements for 54 categories of supplies and services strengthened emergency preparedness and responsiveness. In Ukraine, UNICEF developed a warehouse inventory and management assessment tool.
UNICEF played a key role in strengthening national procurement legislation in Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Solarization initiatives in North Macedonia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan resulted in improved energy sustainability in healthcare facilities. In Uzbekistan, UNICEF led the rehabilitation and installation of medical equipment in 227 perinatal centres, and an innovative healthcare waste management project demonstrated effective waste reduction strategies.
In 2024, UNICEF achieved record response times across the Latin America and the Caribbean thanks to pre-positioned supplies and the expansion of UNICEF’s global supply hub in Panama City. Supplies reached Cuba within 72 hours, communities in Haiti within seven days and Brazil within 24 hours of severe flooding.
UNICEF swiftly replenished contingency stocks in Barbados and delivered supplies to areas that were hardest hit by Hurricane Beryl. In Haiti, UNICEF responded to the humanitarian crisis and urgent needs with clean water, cholera kits, nutrition supplies and hygiene items
In Bolivia, UNICEF improved local markets by launching a searchable platform of over 700 categorized suppliers. Thirty-five suppliers were trained on gender-sensitive practices and on preventing sexual exploitation and abuse.
In 2024, UNICEF strengthened its partnership with the European Union, ensuring timely access to essential supplies for populations affected by major emergencies and jointly advocating for a more strategic approach to supply chain management.
UNICEF established a regional logistics hub and additional warehouse capacity in Jordan for the pre-positioning of emergency supplies for the State of Palestine emergency response.
UNICEF also supported Tunisia’s introduction of the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer into the national immunization programme.
Regional market assessments for key supplies resulted in the establishment of multiple long-term agreements , empowering local manufacturers and improving procurement speed during emergencies.
In 2024, the South Asia Regional Sustainable Procurement Working Group was launched to accelerate capacity building and drive strategic thinking on sustainable procurement across all countries in the region.
UNICEF strengthened emergency preparedness in the South Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, by building local pharmaceutical procurement capabilities. UNICEF supported local procurement and issued expressions of interest towards regional long-term agreements, improving access to medicines and health services amid recurrent emergencies.
UNICEF supported the Government of Bangladesh to improve warehousing through refurbishment and implementation of a simple digital solution to track inventory.
Nepal was the first country in the region to adopt the ADEPT programme, leveraging existing systems to streamline operations and reduce delays in the delivery of health supplies.
UNICEF high performance tents were swiftly delivered to Niger in response to devastating floods, thanks to in-kind transport support from Flexport.org.
Strategic prepositioning of $9 million worth of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) in Burkina Faso and Nigeria accelerated responses to nutrition emergencies.
UNICEF scaled its supply response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, dispatching critical emergency items including RUTF, emergency health kits and vaccines.
UNICEF conducted a comprehensive supply chain maturity assessment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in a national resilience plan for 2025–2033. The electronic Supply Management Tool, a UNICEF and WHO digital solution, was adopted by the country for the first delivery of mpox vaccines.
Highlights
Use the links to the right to read or download the full report and its annexes.
