South-South Cooperation for Children
Working together to deliver results for children
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Challenges
As we work to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the problems that children face are increasingly transnational and interconnected.
Every child has the right to survive and thrive. However, children – especially those in humanitarian emergencies and less developed areas – still face challenges in many aspects of their lives.
| Newborn deaths | Every day some 6,500 babies die in the first month of life. Uneven access to affordable, high-quality health care and services impedes efforts to improve maternal and newborn survival in many countries. |
| Malnutrition | At least one in three girls and boys under 5 are affected by malnutrition in its most visible forms: stunting, wasting and overweight. Micronutrient deficiencies affect more than 340 million children under 5 globally, delaying their growth, weakening their immune systems and impairing their brain development. |
| Unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) | Today, 1.3 billion people – including 450 million children – live in areas of extreme water vulnerability. Over 700 girls and boys under age 5 die of diarrhoeal diseases due to lack of WASH services every day. |
| Climate change | Children are the least responsible for climate change, yet they will bear the greatest burden of its impact. Close to 90 per cent of the burden of disease attributable to climate change is borne by girls and boys under the age of 5. |
| Emergencies | Conditions for children living in humanitarian situations are exacerbated by conflicts, global pandemics and natural disasters. In these contexts, children are especially vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and violence. |
| Learning crisis | 11 per cent of primary-school-aged children and 20 per cent of lower-secondary-aged children are not in school at all. Without skills for lifelong learning, children face greater barriers to earning and employment later in life. |
Solutions
UNICEF leverages its global presence and diverse partnerships to find sustainable solutions for developing countries’ greatest challenges.
South-South Cooperation – the exchange of knowledge, solutions, know-how and resources – can accelerate the progress of developing countries towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for children, reduce inequities, and safeguard the rights of vulnerable children.
| Knowledge Curation and Sharing |
UNICEF is identifying, documenting and enabling the exchange of good and promising practices to cross-fertilize development solutions. This includes:
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| Technical Assistance |
Countries in the global South have become providers of technical assistance. UNICEF is facilitating the sharing of technical assistance to bridge capacity and knowledge gaps, provide in-service training and develop policy and programmes.
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| Resource Exchange |
South-South cooperation is about partnerships, seizing opportunities for meaningful engagement, and mobilizing financial resources. China’s South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund supports UNICEF projects:
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Resources
By sharing knowledge on solutions, technical know-how, and resources, especially between countries that share common development challenges, UNICEF can help countries achieve the SDGs, especially those for children.
