Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of the UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK), said:
“As millions of children’s futures are threatened by extreme poverty, hunger, and climate change, we value the Government’s White Paper on International Development, and its commitment to reaching those most in need and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.
The impact of covid, conflict and climate change have reversed progress that had been made for children. We are therefore pleased to see an emphasis on tackling malnutrition and continued commitment to ending preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children. UNICEF will continue to work in partnership with the Government on the recently launched Child Nutrition Fund to financing nutrition programmes.
Children are already being hit hardest by climate change, so it is right that the paper recognises the need to act now to adapt and improve the resilience of essential services such as health, education, water and sanitation on which they rely.
We support the vision of an inclusive multilateral approach, which emphasises the voices of the people and countries most affected by development challenges. Children’s voices and rights must feature more prominently, as part of a commitment to ensuring their rights guide decisions that impact them.
In order for the White Paper’s ambitions to be realised, concrete action supported by increased and sustainable financing will be required. Budgets must be increased to return ODA to 0.7% of GNI. Every year that this falls short, millions of children’s lives are put at risk.
UNICEF UK looks forward to continuing to work with the UK Government to help reach these development goals and deliver lasting change for children everywhere.”