UNICEF Innovation

TIME's 2024 Best Innovations list is out, and we made the cut! 🎉The UNICEF Child-Lens Investing Framework (CLIF) was selected in the Social Good Category. 🎉 Investments often fall short in considering the risk of funding business activities that directly or indirectly harm children or do not maximize the full benefits they could deliver for children’s wellbeing. The CLIF equips investors to intentionally integrate child-related considerations, advancing positive outcomes for children while minimizing harm.  "All investments ultimately impact children, directly or indirectly—whether in education, energy production, or even agriculture. This is often overlooked by investors. It is a great honor for UNICEF to receive TIME's award. I hope it encourages new investors and financial sector actors to take an interest in CLIF and work in the best interests of children," Kitty van der Heijden, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF. With strategic partnership and support from Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the CLIF was created and developed by the UNICEF Innovative Finance Hub in collaboration with UNICEF USA’s Impact Fund for Children. Looking forward to charting pathways to implement the framework in alongside Finnfund. Read the article here 👉🏽 https://uni.cf/4flrHxi

Child-lens investing encourages investors to be intentional about integrating child-related considerations to advance positive outcomes for children while minimizing harm. ⭐We're excited to announce our collaboration with Finnfund - the Finnish development financier. ⭐Together we'll explore pathways to implement the UNICEF Child-Lens Investing Framework (CLIF). “Finnfund has been among the forerunners on responsible investing. We are looking for opportunities to integrate the child lens into our already robust and comprehensive impact investing approach, namely as part of our new Finnfund Digital Access Impact Fund, allowing us to even better address the needs of children, one of the most vulnerable stakeholder groups, and enhance the positive impact of our investments and operations on their development and well-being”, says Kaisa Alavuotunki, Director of Impact and Sustainability, Finnfund. At a time when so much more can be done to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the investment community can be catalysts for transformational progress by adopting child-lens investing. With support from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the CLIF was created and developed by the UNICEF Innovative Finance Hub in collaboration with UNICEF USA’s Impact Fund for Children. “This partnership with Finnfund is an important milestone in operationalizing child-lens investing. We hope it inspires other investors to follow suit - the need to include a child-lens into investing is urgent in the world where one billion children still lack access to education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation, and safe access to water”, says Cristina Bertolino, Head of UNICEF Innovative Finance Hub. Click here to find out more. 👉🏼 https://uni.cf/3AhCfP8

2.4 MILLION actions were taken online by young people and partners to support the #SummitOfOURFuture campaign.     “It was through your comments, your likes, your shares that we were able to amplify this message and showcase young innovators and entrepreneurs in emerging markets using cutting edge technology to solve some of the 🌎’s most pressing challenges.” Dr. Vee Kativhu, Youth Engagement Advisor, UNICEF Innovation    Together, let’s keep raising our voice and collectively act to shift trends and increase capital and resources for talented young social entrepreneurs in emerging markets today, and for generations to come. 🚀    #UNGA79 #UNGA2024 #summitofthefuture 

“Global warming is not an inevitable fate. Entrepreneurs are inherently problem solvers; they possess the curiosity to explore opportunities and challenges, the creativity to devise innovative solutions, and the determination to transform obstacles into successes. Youth entrepreneurship can be a solution to averting the looming crisis of climate impact. It’s time to harness this power.” Tony O. Elumelu, C.F.R, Chairman, Heirs Holdings, via TIME. Full article 👉🏾 https://uni.cf/3Y6xgZm      UNICEF Innovation agrees wholeheartedly! With UNICEF’s #Innovation30: Young Climate Innovators Shaping the Future initiative, we aim to directly impact 20 million children and young people across 70 countries by 2030. 🌍 Join us on this journey ahead and learn how in the comments below. 

“It’s not about what young innovators in the Horn of Africa don’t have; it’s about the changes they can make with the right support,” says Yasmin Abdulkadir, Head of the Environmental Health Unit, Somalia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and UNICEF Youth Advocate.     In the article, “Bridging the Gaps”, Yasmin highlights 5 ways we can create a more enabling environment for youth-led water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) innovation.     💧 Meaningfully involve youth in water-related policymaking and governance.  💧 Ensure access to financing and mentorship opportunities.   💧 Trust, collaborate and consult with young innovators at every stage.  💧 Provide youth innovators access to technology.  💧 Move beyond symbolic inclusion.     Read the full article here 👉🏾 https://uni.cf/4h5RmMd 

With breakthrough solutions and the support of a global network of accelerators, our inaugural cohort of #Innovation30 entrepreneurs- all under 30 years old- share stories of their journeys toward being 'The Next 1000 Unicorns.' 🦄      Watch the full episode here 👉🏽 https://uni.cf/47YSJYZ    Ethic, Canopy (CISL) , Undaunted: Tackling climate change with innovation

It's a wrap! Over the past couple of days at GITEX GLOBAL Largest Tech & Startup Show in the World, Expand North Star, Patty Alleman and Hanna Burkhardt from UNICEF's #TeamInnovation were behind the scenes and center stage in strategically important conversations.   They have been energized by the diversity of like minded partners who share the common ambition of maximizing and democratizing technology across the globe for social good.   To the great connections made, Dina H. Sherif, Katie Chambers (née Rowlett), Raluca C., Dima Gazda, Omar Hassan, Noa Khamallah, Paul Miller OBE, Raphaël Azor-Smith, CFA, Pratik Gauri let's keep in touch!  

“42 per cent of growth funded companies in the UNICEF Venture Fund are women-founded or led, but they generate 62 per cent of the entire cohort’s revenue and account for 92 per cent of children reached,” says Natalia N., Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lead, UNICEF Venture Fund. ♀️     While data highlights the outsized returns and social impact of gender lens investing, barriers still exist for women-led or founded companies, particularly in emerging markets. 🌍 Learn more how the Fund is turning barriers into opportunities 👉🏼 https://uni.cf/485f47g 

At the GITEX GLOBAL Largest Tech & Startup Show in the World in Dubai today we announced the 5 companies chosen 🏆 in our Asia and Middle East Gender Innovation Challenge. This is one of a series of regional market challenges by UNICEF Innovation and partners to identify promising local solutions, including those that may qualify for an early 2025 Venture Fund #femtech call for applications. Stay tuned for this announcement 📣! From a pool of applications across 18 countries, congratulations to the following: 🔵 Aziza - عزيزة from Egypt 🔵 Maternally from the UAE 🔵 MommyKidz from Bangladesh 🔵 Sakhi from India 🔵 StandWeSpeak from India We look forward to connecting and learning with 10 hours of technical mentorship, including to refine business models and impact measurement as well as AI strategy and open-source software.

Ericsson recently joined us on in Kenya, to witness the increase in school connectivity to the internet, making positive impact in the lives of 340,000 students and teachers so far. 🧒🏿 Giga, a UNICEF-International Telecommunication Union initiative, aims to connect all schools to the internet by 2030. With the support of leading technology companies, this vision can become a reality.