Budget of UNICEF grows to 5 billion, the UK gives generously

Last year UNICEF received $5 billion in donations and grants from governments, organisations and individuals from all over the world; the UK Government and private sector provided a total of $600 million to the non-profit organisation. According to UNICEF’s latest annual report, the UK comes seventh in terms of the value of donations per capita.

UNICEF, the United Nations’ children’s agency, was founded in 1946 to help children whose lives were devastated by World War II. Today, the organisation is committed to protecting the rights and wellbeing of every child, everywhere; the non-profit organisation’s major focus is on improving the living standards of vulnerable children, particularly in war zones and regions where there is poverty.

UNICEF recently published its annual report for 2015. The Fund – UNICEF stands for United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund – received approximately $5 billion in donations, grants and other donations in 2015, the figures show. 60% of which was derived from governments of countries worldwide, while the remaining 40% came from individuals, the private sector and NGOs (29%) or inter-organisational arrangements (9%). In total, less was donated last year than in 2014 – the donated amount from the private sector, individuals, NGOs and foundations increased by 4% last year, donations from governments were down by 6%.

The decline is small, however, relative to UNICEF’s achieved turnover across the previous decade. The turnover of UNICEF can be broadly divided into Regular Resources (‘fixed income' and Other Resources ('other income'), which are limited to specific aid programmess or themes.

A closer look at the figures reveals that UNICEF is currently receiving lower funding than in 2007. Interestingly enough, UNICEF’s revenue was seemingly unaffected by the financial crisis – revenue in 2008 and 2009 were up. Between 2009 and 2011, however, fixed income dropped by almost half, while other income revenue managed to tick up slightly in the same period. Between 2011 and 2012, however, other income revenue plunged, while regular income remained roughly stable – emergency funding, however, saw an equally steep decline during the period.

The UNICEF report also provides an overview of how much is contributed by various countries. The US donates by far the largest sum of money to the organisation, contributing almost $1.2 billion to the organisation across four funding streams. The UK finds itself in second place, with a contribution of around $600 million. The top 3 is closed by Germany, which provided a total of $293 million in funds. Japan and Sweden followed closely behind, donating $281 million and $255.6 million respectively. The Netherlands comes in sixth place, providing a total of $185.8 million. The rest of the top 10 consists of Norway, Canada, South Korea and France.

Looked at in terms of contribution per capita, however, Norway comes out far ahead. In 2015, the Nordic country provided almost $34 per capita in contributions to the fund. Neighbour Sweden came in second place, providing $26 per capita, while the other Nordic countries too were high on the list, with Iceland at #4, Denmark #5 and Finland #8.

Luxembourg is the only Western European country in the top five, providing $19.5 per capita, while the Netherlands takes sixth spot with $11 and the UK comes seventh with a per capita contribution of $9.25. Canada is the only non-European country to make the top-10. Canada provided an average of $4.66 per capita, about $1 more than their southern neighbours, the US.