The Humanitarian Review
Strengthening UNICEF’s humanitarian action.
The Humanitarian Review examines UNICEF’s humanitarian operations in the context of the global challenges of the 21st century: rapid rises in the number, scale, duration and complexity of humanitarian crises; climate breakdown and the impact of extreme weather events; large-scale migration and displacement of populations; significant public health emergencies, including the global pandemic of COVID-19; and constraints and greater demands on funding from a widening community of humanitarian actors.
The review process was initiated partly in response to the Evaluation Office report ‘The Coverage and Quality of the UNICEF Humanitarian Response’. The evaluation included recommendations to increase UNICEF’s capacity (in terms of its policy, structure, accountability, systems, and resources) to deliver on its humanitarian commitments.
The Humanitarian Review was designed to answer two related questions: Does UNICEF’s current business model prepare it for an effective response to a rapidly evolving landscape of crisis, whether that be a global pandemic, the climate crisis, or increasing global insecurity and migration? And, how can UNICEF adapt its model to ensure it can respond to future humanitarian contexts and needs quickly and effectively?
The report focuses on the changes that are needed to meet identified challenges and makes 70 recommendations for change. The recommendations focus on how UNICEF’s humanitarian action can become more predictable, timelier and provide a response that is equitable and of quality. They focus on the following areas:
- Preparing for Future Emergencies; including public health emergencies. This includes further strengthening technical capacities and adapting response strategies and leveraging technology and innovation to improve the speed and quality of UNICEF’s response.
- Humanitarian Capacity and Leadership; looks at all aspects of our human resource management and how our workforce can be better fit for purpose for future emergencies.
- Corporate Commitment to Humanitarian Response; looks at our financial systems and fund management and how we can be more flexible, how our advocacy can be more focused and how we can improve our commitment to implementing the triple nexus.
- Accountability to Results for Children in Humanitarian Settings, which looks at how UNICEF’s systems and processes can enable the organization to implement programmes in an optimal way.
The changes required are proportionate to the scale of the challenges faced. However, there are also reasons for optimism in the many positive advances and promising workstreams with UNICEF in recent years, notably the work on the revised Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action (CCCs) and the new Emergency Procedures. This review acknowledges these positive developments, while recognizing gaps that remain that need to be addressed.
Highlights
The Humanitarian Review examines UNICEF’s humanitarian operations in the context of the global challenges of the 21st century: rapid rises in the number, scale, duration and complexity of humanitarian crises; climate breakdown and the impact of extreme weather events; large-scale migration and displacement of populations; significant public health emergencies, including the global pandemic of COVID-19; and constraints and greater demands on funding from a widening community of humanitarian actors.
Available in English.
