We fight for every child

In over 150 countries, UNICEF works to ensure that children have clean drinking water and enough to eat , receive medical care, can go to school and are protected from violence and exploitation. Our presence enables rapid aid in the event of an emergency.

Whether during the floods in South Sudan, the civil war in Yemen or after the cyclones in southern Africa, we fight tirelessly to save lives and make the plight of children just a little bit more bearable.

UNICEF is also committed to helping children in forgotten conflicts and emergencies that are not, or no longer, in the media or the public eye. For example in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the second-largest Ebola epidemic in history is currently raging.

Our work focuses on survival, protection and education. In emergencies, this includes the following:

• UNICEF provides therapeutic food and medicine and ensures that important vaccination campaigns are not interrupted.
• UNICEF provides clean drinking water, sets up sanitation facilities and distributes packages of hygiene items.
• UNICEF cares for children who have lost loved ones, creates child-friendly zones and provides psychological support to traumatized children.
• UNICEF sets up temporary learning centers and kindergartens and supports the rapid reconstruction of schools.

The many current crises around the world should not obscure the fact that the situation of children worldwide has improved significantly in recent decades. UNICEF has contributed significantly to this.

• Whereas in 1990, well over 30,000 children under the age of five died every day, today the figure is less than 15,000, despite population growth.
• The number of new polio infections dropped from 350,000 annually over the same period to just 33 cases in 2018.
• Worldwide, over 80 percent of HIV-positive young women now receive antiretroviral drugs to prevent transmission of the virus to their child.
• The number of children of primary school age who do not attend school has declined from almost 100 million to fewer than 60 million since 2000.

By donating to UNICEF, you can help save lives and give children the chance to live the lives they choose. Whether you provide UNICEF with one-time support, or sponsor a project over the long term, as a member or by financing specific relief supplies, your donation will be put to use where it is needed.

Every donation means hope. Accordingly, UNICEF handles donations carefully and sets the highest standards for efficiency and transparency in its organization. As a national committee, UNICEF Switzerland and Liechtenstein used 70 percent of donations for global program work or for operations in Switzerland and Liechtenstein last year. 15 percent was spent on fundraising, and another 15 percent went toward administration.