EU Statement UNICEF Executive Board, Agenda item 10: Update on UN80

EU Statement -- UNICEF Executive Board, Agenda item 10: Update on UN80

17 June 2026, New York -- Statement by EU as a donor delivered by Ms. Amélie Lohmann, Humanitarian Policy Officer, EU Delegation to the UN, at the UNICEF Executive Board, Item 10: Update on the UN80 Initiative and implementation by UNICEF.

Chair, Madam Executive Director,

I am speaking on behalf of the European Union as a donor.

The EU fully supports UNICEF's pivotal role in helping shape UN80 reform-a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a more coherent, agile, and impactful UN system that delivers for children and communities in an era of polycrises, fragmentation, and shrinking resources.

We welcome the progress outlined in your update today, particularly UNICEF's leadership on Work Package #2 (New Humanitarian Compact) and Work Package #5 (Country Configuration). These efforts align closely with the EU's newly adopted Communication on Humanitarian Action, which underscores three priorities where UNICEF's work is indispensable:

1. First, on supply chain reform, UNICEF's co-leadership has already delivered tangible results. Now, as this approach moves into the five pilot countries, the EU encourages UNICEF to accelerate harmonised in-country logistics, expand coordinated procurement beyond shelter and operational items to include critical nutrition and health supplies, and ensure that local actors-especially women-led organisations-are integrated into supply chains. How can UNICEF help ensure that the integrated supply chain initiative now moves from pilots to scale?

2. Second, on localisation and partnerships: the EU's Communication commits to directing 30% of humanitarian funding to local and national actors by 2027. UNICEF's modular country configuration approach can help ensure that UNCTs are structured to empower local systems, not replace them. We further encourage UNICEF to leverage its Centres of Excellence to strengthen national capacities, particularly in fragile and middle-income countries, where the risk of UN withdrawal could leave critical gaps. How can UNICEF's country configuration approach best support localisation in practice?

3. Third, on climate resilience and anticipatory action: UNICEF's work on data interoperability and regional risk analysis is vital. The UN Data Commons should build on UNICEF's existing systems, including its real-time monitoring tools. We also welcome UNICEF's engagement in the "Regional Reset", which can help bridge the humanitarian-development-peace nexus in climate hotspots such as the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. How can this work best ensure that early warning leads to early action for children?

Madame ED, the EU recognises the difficult choices UNICEF has made to streamline costs, cut overheads, and reallocate resources. On behalf of the EU, I extend our deep gratitude to UNICEF staff for their dedication and resilience in driving these changes.

At the same time, we must guard against false economies that could undermine the UN's normative role or its ability to reach the most vulnerable. As UN80 moves from design to implementation, we call on all parties to preserve core mandates, strengthen accountability, and engage Member States and donors early on complicated issues, such as country team reconfiguration or pooled funding models, to avoid unintended consequences.

The EU further welcomes UNICEF's proposal to use typology-based criteria for UNCT configuration, rather than one-size-fits-all footprint reductions. Presence decisions should be driven by need, not budgets.

As we approach the implementation phase of UN80, the EU stands ready to work with UNICEF and all partners. The measure of UN80's success will not be the number of reforms adopted, but whether they enable the UN to deliver better, faster, and more equitably for children and their communities. The EU counts on UNICEF to lead by example, championing a child-centred, rights-based approach across all workstreams.

Thank you.