On 16 June 2026, the European Union, speaking as a donor at the UNICEF Executive Board in New York, commended UNICEF's humanitarian work in 2025 amid unprecedented needs, erosion of international humanitarian law, and severe funding shortages. The statement was delivered by Hans Das, Deputy Director General of the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).
The EU welcomed UNICEF's humanitarian diplomacy and advocacy in crises with severe access constraints, including Palestine, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, under the leadership of the Emergency Relief Coordinator and in cooperation with other UN agencies. The EU expressed regret that UNICEF received only 31 per cent of its original requirement for its Humanitarian Appeal, and noted that in the context of the Humanitarian Reset, UNICEF had to prioritise life-saving interventions. The EU welcomed UNICEF's efforts to adapt and strengthen its humanitarian supply chains to maintain timely and efficient delivery of assistance, and confirmed that the EU continues to be a partner in this regard.
The EU noted that the prioritisation of interventions as of mid-2025, in line with the Humanitarian Reset, led UNICEF to greater reliance on local partners. While the EU described this as a positive development, it stressed that for this process to lead to qualitative work, it should be accompanied by solid engagement with local authorities and civil society. The EU therefore supported the new UNICEF localisation strategy for 2026–2029, which emphasises capacity building of local partners, including national governments.
The EU welcomed UNICEF's renewed commitment to the centrality of protection in humanitarian aid and to ensuring that child protection and education in emergencies remain an integral part of life-saving assistance. In view of funding constraints, the EU asked how UNICEF can ensure that education in emergencies will stay a priority for the organisation. The EU also welcomed UNICEF's integration of children and caregivers with disabilities into emergency assessments, planning, and response, and its work with local organisations of persons with disabilities. The EU noted that securing better data collection and analysis is crucial to programme quality, and welcomed the development of a version of the Child Functioning Module for humanitarian contexts.
Finally, the EU welcomed that UNICEF started integrating anticipatory action more systematically into its humanitarian preparedness and response, describing it as an efficient tool to reach populations earlier in case of shocks and to maximise the efficient use of scarce humanitarian resources. The EU looked forward to the rollout of a new anticipatory action strategy for 2026–2029. The EU pledged to stay actively engaged with UNICEF and to advocate together for the protection of girls and boys and for building strong partnerships to operationalise the humanitarian, development, and peace nexus for every child in any humanitarian crisis setting.