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Product innovation
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Product innovation
UNICEF works with partners to identify, develop and scale life-changing products for children.
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Creating sustainable supply chains
Collaboration is key to creating sustainable supply chains that can deliver essential supplies to children.
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Markets influencing
Access to affordable and fit-for-purpose products from sustainable markets is essential for the survival and development of children.
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Product innovation
The challenge, Children worldwide face urgent, unmet needs. From life-saving medical oxygen and nutritional solutions, to learning tools for children with disabilities and mental health resources in crisis zones. Products that help address these needs are often not readily available on the market. At other times...
Article
Saving children’s lives with oxygen
In Pakistan, one-year-old Muhammad Umar suffers from pneumonia, A child dies of pneumonia every 43 seconds a condition that kills 700,000 children under five each year . He was admitted to the emergency ward where, for two days, he received oxygen to help him breathe while antibiotics fought the disease. "My child was admitted to the emergency…, An investment in over 130 oxygen plants worldwide, Since 2021, UNICEF has expanded its health progra...
Article
From ideas to impact for children: The evolution of product innovation at UNICEF
Innovation has always been integral to UNICEF, intertwined with the organization’s origin and mission. Products like nutrient-rich powdered skim milk used in the 1960s for combating malnutrition in children, and oral rehydration salts in the 1990s as a remedy for diarrhoea, were critical innovations of their time....
Article
Three ways UNICEF is innovating for children and unlocking their creativity
Children and young people need support to nurture their potential as innovators. They are also aware of the challenges their communities face. Cultivating their creativity and critical thinking skills is key to helping them develop their capacity to address these issues. Through three different play initiatives, About UNICEF Supply Division…, Imagining the future and building it, brick by brick, UNICEF teamed up with the LEGO Group to launch Bui...
Document
Target Product Profile: Rapid water quality detection method or portable kit
Issued in September 2016 and revised in January 2023. Through this Target Product Profile (TPP) UNICEF is seeking a solution for innovative and easy to use water detection methods that can accurately determine faecal contamination as rapidly as possible. Resources: Project page Questions and answers on rapid E. coli detection For product developers: sign up to help us assess the interest of product developers in responding to this TPP and stay in...
Article
UNICEF UK President Olivia Colman visits UNICEF and advocates for disability inclusion
International Day of Persons with Disabilities, celebrated on 3 December, is an opportunity to shine a light on assistive technology, supportive devices like wheelchairs and hearing aids that change the lives of children with disabilities, allowing all children, no matter their disability, to learn, play, particip...
Article
Providing shelter in times of crisis
For nearly five decades UNICEF has supplied tents to provide shelter to people fleeing conflict and disaster. They are one of the first supplies deployed in an emergency. With disasters often leaving infrastructure partially or completely destroyed, the tents become makeshift classrooms for displaced students, nut...
Document
Target Product Profile: Faecal sludge and wastewater management in emergencies – treatment products
Issued November 2021 Without faecal sludge and wastewater management, deadly diseases can quickly spread in humanitarian settings. But access to wastewater and faecal sludge treatment options that are affordable, easy to deploy and that deliver satisfactory performance remains a challenge in humanitarian emergencies. UNICEF is seeking products that ensure the treatment of faecal sludge and wastewater in these contexts. With this project, we a...
Article
UNICEF innovative High Performance Tent on the path to global scale-up
In the mountainous regions of Afghanistan, freezing temperatures of -9 °C (15 °F) are common for many communities during the winter months. Around 50 per cent of the country is covered by mountains where most inhabitants are rural, isolated from social services, and experience harsh winters, rough terrain, and a l...
News note
First ever global guide for assistive technology to improve the lives of millions
Original article published by the World Health Organization (WHO). Eight-year old Aseel had a surgery when she was a baby that left her partially paralyzed. She has spent most of her life finding ways to adapt and experience a normal childhood in a refugee camp in Jordan. Being a refugee hasn’t made her life easier. Until recently, Aseel used a…
Article
Inclusive supplies making a difference for children living with disabilities
Aseel, age eight, was left partially paralysed after undergoing surgery at eight months old. She has spent most of her life finding ways to adapt and experience a normal childhood. But as a refugee living in Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan, she struggled to stay engaged in the classroom since the stroller she was ...
Article
Inclusive innovation transforms a standard latrine into a disability-friendly solution
Sohel, 10, was born with a physical disability affecting his feet, making it extremely difficult to walk. Rajuma, 6, also has a physical disability, where she experiences pain in her knees and is unable to walk long distances. Both Sohel and Rajuma are Rohingya refugees living in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. F...