President's Message

Congressional testimony in support of increased UNICEF funding

Charles J. Lyons, President, U.S. Fund for UNICEF

Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate this opportunity to submit testimony regarding the United Nations Children's Fund.... On behalf of supporters of UNICEF across the United States, I respectfully ask the Subcommittee to provide $130 million as the U.S. Government's voluntary contribution to UNICEF for Fiscal Year 2005.

First, I want to thank this Subcommittee for providing $120 million as the U.S. Government's contribution to UNICEF for Fiscal Year 2004. Through the efforts of this Subcommittee, this contribution has been maintained at this level for each of the last three fiscal years.

Supporters of UNICEF's global work for children are encouraged by the Administration's request for an overall increase in international affairs funding for Fiscal Year 2005. We urge you to include an increase for UNICEF's core activities for children as part of this increase.

Children must be a priority
The well-being of the world's children clearly must be a priority of U.S. foreign policy. Nearly 11 million children die each year before their fifth birthday — about 30,000 children a day — mostly from preventable causes. Four million of them die in their first month of life.

More than 30 percent of children in developing countries — about 600 million — live on less than $1 a day. About 150 million children under five — one in four — are malnourished. At least 30 million children in the developing world are not immunized against preventable killer childhood diseases such as measles, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, tuberculosis and tetanus.

These are among the challenges that have been targeted by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for 2015 and by the United Nations General Assembly's Special Session on Children of 2002. In response, UNICEF has adopted a Medium-Term Strategic Plan that commits its resources to securing results for children in the following five priority areas:

• To ensure that every child is fully immunized and receives essential nutrients that protect health; 
• To promote integrated early childhood development, ensuring every child the best possible start in life; 
• To ensure that every girl and every boy completes a quality primary education; 
• To work to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and to ensure that children and young people already affected by the disease are cared for; and 
• To work to ensure that all children grow up in an environment that protects them from violence, exploitation, abuse and discrimination.

Impressive gains realized
Building upon more than 57 years of experience, UNICEF has organized its programs, partnerships, alliances, advocacy work and internal operations around these five organizational priorities. While much work remains to be done, some impressive gains have been realized:

• Immunization efforts supported by UNICEF help to save the lives of nearly 3 million children a year. Today, three out of four children are immunized before their first birthday, which is a dramatic increase from the early 1970s, when fewer than 10 percent were vaccinated. 
• UNICEF is the largest supplier of vaccines to developing countries, providing 40 percent of the world's doses of vaccines for children. In 2002, UNICEF supplied countries with nearly 400 million auto-disable syringes, which cannot be reused and therefore are safer than previous devices. 
• UNICEF-led efforts have helped protect almost 35 million women from maternal tetanus, and maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) has been eliminated in 108 of 158 countries. 
• In 2002, UNICEF helped protect 10 million Afghan children against measles and administered doses of vitamin A, which is essential to the functioning of the immune system and helps prevent blindness. 
• Spearheaded by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, Rotary International and other partners, the campaign to eradicate polio vaccinated more than 500 million children in 2002. 
• Thanks to global efforts by UNICEF, Kiwanis International, and other partners, 70 percent of the world's households now use iodized salt, which protects 91 million newborns from iodine deficiency disorders. 
• In Afghanistan in 2002, UNICEF conducted the largest education campaign in its history, making it possible for 4 million children to return to school, including more than 1 million girls. 
• In 2002, UNICEF supported programs in 58 countries — up from 30 countries in 2000 — to help parents avoid passing HIV/AIDS to their children. 
• UNICEF has helped to fight malaria by providing over 4 million bed nets treated with insecticide to ward off mosquitoes that spread the disease. 
• In 2002, UNICEF provided $541 million worth of vaccines, immunization equipment, medical and nutrition supplies, education materials, and water and sanitation supplies.

The appropriations provided by this Subcommittee to UNICEF's core resources have helped to make this kind of progress possible. The contributions to UNICEF's regular resources enable UNICEF to be well-positioned in the field to meet the health, education and protection needs of vulnerable children. This makes UNICEF an effective partner for initiatives with the U.S. Government, with other international partners, with non-governmental organizations and with the private sector.

"UNICEF needs a secure base"
In the House Report to accompany the Foreign Operations Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2003, the Department of State was asked to provide its perspective on core contributions to UNICEF and other United Nations Affiliates. In its report on this matter, the State Department observed: "UNICEF needs a secure base to maintain the focus on its mandated priorities, carry out its country programs, and do long-term planning while responding to emergencies." The report went on to conclude: "UNICEF remains an effective organization that supports U.S. objectives for child survival goals as set by the UNGA Special Session for Children. In order for UNICEF (and other UN funds and programs) to continue to effectively and efficiently carry out its mandate as set by its governing body, and to respond flexibly to situations as they arise, such as in Afghanistan, and to maintain the transparency of its program, it needs strong core funding."

As the State Department noted, the U.S. Government's voluntary contribution to UNICEF's regular or core resources supports the essential foundation of UNICEF's work and makes it possible for UNICEF to make a measurable impact on saving children's lives and improving the quality of those lives. The funding provided by this Subcommittee is joined by contributions from other donor nations that form the structure sustaining UNICEF's country programs around the world. It positions UNICEF to help the United States in international emergencies and humanitarian crises, conflicts (such as in Iraq and Afghanistan) and emerging threats to the well-being of children.

It should be emphasized that over one-third of UNICEF's global resources are generated in the private sector. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF works in the United States to help encourage private sector contributions. Our efforts are enhanced through partnerships with a variety of individuals, corporations, foundations and service organizations. UNICEF's innovative partnerships with organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Kiwanis International and Rotary International are examples that are known to this Subcommittee. In this regard, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF supports the funding requests submitted to the Subcommittee by the Vaccine Fund, Kiwanis International and Rotary International. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF also supports the requests for child survival and maternal health advocated by the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival and the Student Campaign for Child Survival.

American advocates of UNICEF's work for the world's children salute the bipartisan support this Subcommittee consistently has provided for child survival and for UNICEF. In view of the budgetary challenges faced by the Subcommittee, we encourage you to continue your historical leadership to ensure that children are a priority of U.S. international assistance programs. We believe that UNICEF is an indispensable partner of the United States on initiatives to save and to improve the lives of vulnerable children around the world.

We believe that now is the time for additional funding from the United States to strengthen UNICEF's capacity to meet the ongoing needs of children. Helping UNICEF truly extends the reach of the American people in assisting children everywhere. We respectfully ask the Subcommittee to provide $130 million for UNICEF's regular resources for Fiscal Year 2005.

May 14, 2004