IMPACT FUND FOR CHILDREN
2025 ANNUAL REPORT
DEAR IMPACT FUND SUPPORTERS,
Since UNICEF’s founding in the aftermath of World War II, it has delivered key results while weathering ebbs and flows in foreign aid support. Its resilience and collaboration with governments, communities and partners have created meaningful impact on children, cutting the under-five mortality rate by more than half since 1990. Nearly eighty years after its founding, even in the face of new headwinds to the foreign aid ecosystem, UNICEF and UNICEF USA have not stopped working toward a world where children are healthy, educated, protected and respected.
UNICEF embraces innovative tools and ideas, like its Innovative Finance strategy, that allow it to achieve its impact goals by growing the pie of funding and financing focused on children’s well-being. The Impact Fund for Children — which has enabled more than $740 million in aggregate impact for children to date — is a testament to the power of innovation to achieve UNICEF’s goals.
In a year of significant uncertainty, we’ve worked to get every dollar we could to children faster and more effectively. We accelerated $70.1 million to urgent priorities, such as $2 million in emergency response following the earthquake in Myanmar and $11 million for global polio eradication efforts. We were a critical funding partner to the Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Supplier Advance Payment Window — from its inception to its sunset — and saw its success in providing 6.5 million children with malnutrition treatment over its lifetime.
Lastly, we executed a $10 million increase to UNICEF’s Vaccine Independence Initiative (VII) — a critical engine for equitable access to lifesaving supplies. In 2024 alone, the VII enabled the rapid delivery of 202 million vaccine doses to 152 million children, helping reduce child mortality and strengthen immunity (UUSA Impact Fund estimate). By bridging timing gaps in funding, the VII supports governments to increase their ownership of vaccine procurement and to move toward self-financing. In a time of shrinking aid budgets and rising needs, the VII helps countries avoid stockouts, sustain immunization coverage, and reduce reliance on external funding.
We are proud of these results, but we need to do more.
The Impact Fund for Children continues its work to influence and catalyze investment capital toward the well-being of children. The team is building a coalition of like-minded investors who actively make investment decisions to improve the lives of children — forming a “Community of Practice” for Child-Lens investing. This group will lay the groundwork for a market that mobilizes hundreds of millions of dollars of capital toward child-aligned investments.
Thank you for your continued partnership and commitment to our mission. At a time when change is constant, your steadfastness and shared vision have been a source of resilience for children around the world.
Cristina Shapiro Glen Baptist President Board Chair UNICEF USA Impact Fund for Children
UNICEF USA Impact Fund for Children
Interview with Kitty van der Heijden THE POWER OF INNOVATIVE FINANCE
UNICEF’s Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of Partnerships discusses Child-Lens investing and the unique potential of capital markets to shape the future of the world by investing in its youngest citizens.
What makes UNICEF’s Innovative Finance for Children Global Vision and Strategy unique? What are some of its key priorities?
Children make up a third of the global population, yet they are 50 percent of the world’s poor. Additionally, they remain largely invisible in economic systems — they don’t vote, earn, or factor into policy decisions or investment strategies. Children’s bodies are disproportionally vulnerable to multiple shocks: they process air pollution, heat and toxins differently. Their brains and immune systems are still being developed, making them uniquely vulnerable in ways adults are no longer. While they are pint-sized citizens, they are also global stakeholders who have rights. The outcomes of our policies and investment decisions on children should be mapped, measured and managed. Positive impacts on children should be amplified and replicated, negative impacts on children should be prevented and mitigated.
UNICEF’s Innovative Finance for Children (IF4C) Global Vision and Strategy tackles this issue by mobilizing domestic and international capital markets with children as a focus — a child lens While many impact investments or development finance efforts benefit children indirectly, UNICEF’s Innovative Finance strategies are designed with them in mind. Financial innovation — including some of UNICEF’s most promising sustainable finance solutions like sovereign debt solutions, outcome financing, pre-arranged and bridge financing initiatives, SME financing and insurance mechanisms — can be a valuable tool to meet today’s funding challenges in ways that maximize child impact. But it will only happen if we deliberately factor children’s needs into the design and execution of the investment cycle.
One example is UNICEF’s Today and Tomorrow initiative — a pre-arranged, trigger-based insurance mechanism that can distribute capital within 36 to 72 hours of a natural disaster — which has generated more than $11.4 million in rapid payouts for cyclone preparedness and response. When funds are released, they go directly to restoring services children rely on most — education, health, water and protection. Without these special considerations, child-specific needs may go overlooked, with detrimental effects for child survival and well-being. The child lens ensures that recovery supports children returning to school sooner and avoids cascading harms from malnutrition or displacement. By centering children in the design, they regain stability faster, supporting not just their well-being but also the long-term resilience of the community as a whole.
The Child-Lens Investing
Framework Recognized as One of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024
The Child-Lens Investing Framework — a collaborative effort between the UNICEF Innovation Hub, Tideline and the Finnish Government, was recognized on TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024 list under the “Social Good” category, reinforcing our approach that investing in children is investing in our collective future. This recognition reinforces our commitment to big thinking and bold action, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to thrive.
“While they are pint-sized citizens, they are also global stakeholders who have rights. The outcomes of our policies and investment decisions on children should be mapped, measured and managed.”
Kitty van der Heijden, UNICEF’s Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of Partnerships
As foreign aid flows face increasing pressure, how can Child-Lens investing (CLI) catalyze new forms of capital for children and bring new players into the field?
Cuts in public funding for international development work could not have come at a worse time. Only 18 percent of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are on track, and needs for children are rising due to economic setbacks, rising debt, climate shocks and man-made disasters like war. A $4.2 trillion annual financing gap for SDGs demands urgent attention. Yet, while the figure sounds daunting, this is not an issue of scarcity, but one of structure. Global financial institutions hold more than $400 trillion in assets. Aligning even 1 percent toward outcomes for children could transform the future – not just for young people, but for communities, markets and future generations.
UNICEF’s approach is not to replace traditional funding but identify new ways to make an impact on children. CLI is a powerful way to direct capital intentionally toward children’s needs. By asking how investment decisions affect children, we can uncover unintended and overlooked risks, amplify
“Global financial institutions
hold more than $400 trillion in assets. Aligning even 1 percent toward outcomes for children could transform the future — not just for young people, but for communities, markets and future generations.”
Kitty van der Heijden
positive impacts, hold companies accountable for the effects of their products and operations, and scale services that children rely on. Doing so ensures not only immediate returns, but long-term resilience for our economies, societies and shared future. Rather than providing funding for projects as part of corporate social responsibility initiatives, CLI intentionally avoids harm, or actively redirects finance to the needs of children as part of the corporate strategy.
How important are cross-sector partnerships — from private investors to governments — in scaling UNICEF’s innovative finance initiatives and reaching its broader impact goals?
UNICEF’s strong partnerships across sectors help it design the right tools, mobilize capital at scale and deliver better, more sustainable outcomes for children. These collaborations can unlock new sources of funding and de-risk transactions, making it possible to use innovative approaches like blended finance, results-based funding, sovereign debt solutions and climate insurance instruments.
Mobilizing private finance at scale — from investors, donors, insurers, multilateral banks and financial institutions — requires intentional frameworks and tools that enable investors to realize their impact goals. UNICEF and UNICEF USA’s Impact Fund for Children created the Child-Lens Investing Framework (CLIF) and its accompanying toolkits; the market’s first resources dedicated to guiding investors to adopt and embed a Child-Lens approach. CLIF was created alongside 100+ global stakeholders, resulting in an interoperable tool that complements existing standards and lenses.
We cannot build this field in a silo. To drive collaboration and diverse insights, UNICEF and UNICEF USA are working to launch a CLI Community of Practice that unites investors across the ecosystem. It is a collaboration that will enable feedback cycles to optimize design of fit-forpurpose tools and scale investor adoption of ChildLens investing. In this way, we can ensure more capital flows to better outcomes for children.
How can investors and philanthropic partners deepen their engagement with UNICEF’s innovative finance work?
CLI-aligned investments are investments in tomorrow’s citizens, workers and consumers. Every financial decision — public or private — affects children directly or indirectly.
I urge governments to prioritize sectors like early childhood education, health and nutrition; and investors to integrate child considerations into their strategies. We invite investors to engage with us to explore ways to align their philanthropic and investment assets with strategies that advance children’s well-being.
Overall, I urge all stakeholders to ask themselves: Would you invest the same way if you saw the
world through the eyes of a child? Would you make the same decisions if you knew your child could (unintentionally) be harmed by your investment decisions?
Children should not be overlooked. By bringing insights and evidence of how CLI works, accompanied by tools and a community of practice, we aim to show that a better world for children is possible if you take an intentional look at how your investment decisions might affect their well-being. Your engagement with CLI helps us refine and optimize our tools.
Join us.
Because we can all do better together — for every child.
CHILD-LENS INVESTING
6.5M CHILDREN BENEFIT FROM AN
INNOVATIVE SUPPLIER SOLUTION
The Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Supplier Advance Payment Window (RUTF Window) has helped suppliers scale up production to meet urgent demand, while advancing UNICEF’s commitment to local procurement and stronger in-country supply chains. Its point-in-time goals have succeeded.
UNICEF remains committed to financing solutions that strengthen the nutrition supply ecosystem and expand access to critical health commodities.
READY-TO-USE THERAPEUTIC FOOD
(M) Children Treated with RUTF*
Period of rising needs from conflict, economic shocks and climate. Advance payments were made to 16 suppliers across 10 countries since 2022** $
FASO
From 2022 to 2025, the RUTF Window has: supported $114.6M in advance payments corresponding to $294.9M in purchase orders
$ enabling the purchase of 6.5M cartons of RUTF
Suppliers offer perspective on the RUTF Window *Note:
“I want to emphasize how transformative the Advance Payment Facility has been for our business. It has provided us with immediate access to critical funds — allowing us to kick start manufacturing, secure essential raw materials without delay and maintain continuous operations, even during challenging periods.”
“We were able to place orders of raw materials in large quantities, which normally take 2 to 3 months to reach us ... UNICEF's facility is one of the key reasons we could scale up in 2023.”
FY25 BRIDGE FUND ACTIVITY AND IMPACT
The data below summarizes nine new transactions that include funding for emergency needs and ongoing development programs, plus the impact achieved through the Bridge Fund’s existing (and new) investments in the Vaccine Independence Initiative (VII) 1 and the RUTF Window. 2
Annual Aggregated Activity by Sector
MONTHS
revolved impact, disbursements such as the $10 million in FY25, are adjusted for the period they were disbursed. On this basis, the Bridge Fund generated an estimated ~$26 million of revolved impact in FY25 through the VII. This is counted as additional to the $10 million September disbursement for total impact enabled reported. Aggregated child impact figures include a UUSA IF4C conservative estimate of the Bridge Fund’s proportion of children reached through the VII in 2H FY25.
2. Figures represent the impact attributable to the Bridge Fund’s committed share of total capital in the RUTF Window (26.7 percent) as of February 28, 2025. To date, the window has enabled a cumulative $294.9 million in RUTF purchase orders, translating to the provision of ~6.5 million cartons of RUTF, equivalent to a six- to eight-week course of treatment for 6.5M children. One carton of RUTF can provide one course of treatment for a severely malnourished child. The Bridge Fund’s investment in FY25 delivered approximately $18 million in revolved impact enabled through purchase orders, based off of a 1.66x impact multiple (UUSA IF4C estimate).
3. Cumulative amount from two separate transactions.
4. Impact enabled figures include a UUSA IF4C estimate of revolved impact from investments in the VII and purchase orders enabled from the RUTF Window for nutrition and health, respectively, based on the methodology described in footnotes 1 and 2.
“Release of fungible, flexible funding is crucial both for the planning and implementation of polio outbreak response activities.”
Ezra Jerome, Deputy Director, Foundation Partnerships, UUSA
FY25 IMPACT
ENABLED HIGHLIGHTS ACROSS THE GLOBE
Accelerated $308K to support interventions targeting HIV/AIDS, and child protection and WASH interventions when the region was suffering from ongoing drought.
SOUTH AFRICA
Provided $362K to support the Zero Dose initiative to immunize an estimated 869 children across eight regions and contribute to routine immunization advocacy efforts.
Fast-tracked ~$2.0M to support UNICEF teams in mitigating severe impacts of conflict and addressing CHAD & SUDAN
INDIA
Fast-tracked $500K to ensure continuation of Project LION’s programmatic activities, which implement non-institutional familybased alternative care in India.
MULTIREGIONAL
Polio Response: Provided $11.1M across two transactions, including support for UNICEF’s ad hoc logistic needs to deliver polio outbreak response supplies and services.
VII: Committed an additional $10M at a time when capital was needed urgently to meet global needs. As of the end of December 2024 (the latest data available), The VII reached 152M children faster with 202M doses of vaccines (UUSA IF4C estimate).
RUTF: Since inception, the RUTF Window has helped purchase and distribute enough malnutrition treatment for ~6.5M children (UUSA IF4C estimate).
Accelerated $2.0M across two transactions, providing emergency assistance in earthquake-affected regions via programming efforts across MYANMAR
THE BRIDGE FUND CONTINUES TO DRIVE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
IN FY25, THE BRIDGE FUND ENABLED $ 65.4M 1 1
TO DRIVE PROGRESS ACROSS TWO DISCRETE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
3.
1.
The Bridge Fund’s SDG Impact 2
SDG CHALLENGES ADDRESSED BRIDGE FUND IMPACT
Zero Hunger
SDG 2
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
You can find detailed targets for SDG 2 by clicking on the link here
Nearly half of deaths among children under five are linked to undernutrition, with most incidences in low- and middle-income countries.
Additionally, some RUTF suppliers face capacity constraints and may lack the ability to scale to meet demand. These suppliers require liquidity and flexible capital to ramp up production.
The Bridge Fund committed $15 million to UNICEF Supply Division’s RUTF Supplier Advance Payment Window, which gives suppliers extra liquidity by paying a portion of a purchase order value up front. This intervention allows suppliers to address challenges in labor, input costs and equipment availability. In FY25, the Bridge Fund’s investment in the RUTF Window enabled $18.3 million in revolved impact through purchase orders.3
Good Health and Well-Being
SDG 3
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
You can find detailed targets for SDG 3 by clicking on the link here
Outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus continue in Africa, parts of the eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia, posing a setback to eradication efforts.
In order to make polio response most efficient, it’s crucial to mitigate against logistics challenges, including insufficient cold chain equipment and commercial flight restrictions.
2. Please contact the Impact Fund for Children team for the full list of FY25 transactions and SDG targets.
The Bridge Fund accelerated a total of $11.1 million across two transactions, which included support to fast-track equipment/ad hoc transportation solutions to ensure continuity of polio program support and to support vaccine procurement and outbreak campaigns for polio outbreak response efforts globally.
IMPACT FUND CAPITALIZATION AND PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN
Bridge Fund Current Capital Base
Portfolio Breakdown by Repayment Source
Portfolio Breakdown by Loan Watch Category
“The
Bridge Fund’s
work to meet the urgent needs of
children around
the world has been essential and
is needed now more than ever. Their unique model demonstrates the great potential for impact investments to have a multiplier effect — initial accelerated delivery of supplies and services when and where needed, plus recycling of capital to be positioned for the next emergency need. We have been glad to scale as a partner as the Fund’s work has scaled.”
Victoria Fram, Managing Director of Impact Investment, Sobrato Family Foundation
UNICEF USA IMPACT FUND FOR CHILDREN
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS
BRIDGE FUND
NET-WORTH DONORS
$10,000 or above
Anonymous (14)
Jenny Austin
Glen and Anita Baptist
Barnum Family Fund
Bradley Belt
George and Danielle Boutros
Mr. Andrew Beer and Ms. Eleanor Chai
Gary M. Cohen
Kent and Elizabeth Dauten
Bill and Cindee Dietz
The Derek A.T. Drummond Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Steve Eaton
Laura Fenton
Fidelity Charitable Trustees’ Initiative
Fidelity Charitable Trustees Philanthropy Fund
Susan Cummings-Findel and Stefan Findel
Dolores and Thomas Gahan
Mrs. Melba Gschneidner
Ms. Deborah Hart and Dr. William Goodykoontz
Carol Hamilton
Sippi and Ajay Khurana
Kathy Lai
G. Barrie Landry
Mr. Harry W. Lange
Lopp Family Fund
Mariner Investment Group, LLC
Inspired by Dad: The Campaign to Honor
Anthony Pantaleoni
Jennifer Paradis-Behle and Tim Behle
Sandra and Lawrence Post
Qatalyst Partners
Ian Rosenfield and Susanne Caballero
Jen Rubio and Stewart Butterfield
Luly and Maurice Samuels
Schlessman Family Foundation
Hilary & Sean Scott
Nicole and Shahriar Shahida
Cristina Shapiro
Bernard Taylor, Sr.
Mr. Jeffrey Urbina and Ms. Gaye Hill
Kayhau Wu Memorial Fund
UNICEF USA
IMPACT FUND FOR CHILDREN
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Glen Baptist, Chair
Michael J. Nyenhuis
Jennifer Pryce
Cristina Shapiro
Vidya Vasu-Devan
BRIDGE FUND
RECOVERABLE GRANT PROVIDERS
Anonymous (1)
Claudine and Michael Ferrante
The Karmani Fund
Hal and Nancy Kurkowski
The McClelland Fund
David and Emily Merjan
The Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini
Charitable Fund
John A. and Susan Sobrato Fund, a donor-advised fund of Silicon Valley
Community Foundation
BRIDGE FUND LENDERS
Loans of $1,000,000 or above
Anonymous (2)
Aflac
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
G. Barrie Landry
Merck & Co., Inc.
New Summit Investments
Sandra and Lawrence Post
Sisters of St. Francis
Sobrato Family Foundation
St. Joseph Province
TD Bank, N.A.
Loans under $1,000,000
Anonymous (4)
Sheilah and Matt Burnham
The Alison Carlson Trust
Laura Fenton
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA)
Hal and Nancy Kurkowski
Minneapolis Foundation
Gloria Principe and John O’Farrell
Eric Ross and Nicole MacNeel
Sudip Thakor
Impact Fund for Children’s 11th Consecutive Year on the ImpactAssets 50 List
The Bridge Fund was selected as an Emeritus Impact Manager for the ImpactAssets 50 (IA 50) 2025 list . The IA 50 recognizes managers who have demonstrated a consistent ability to generate positive impact and resilience within the impact investing market. We thank our investors and donors who have contributed to this inclusion for the 11th consecutive year.
To learn more, please visit our website at unicefusa.org/impact-fund-for-children or contact:
Cristina Shapiro, President UNICEF USA Impact Fund for Children cshapiro@unicefusa.org 212-922-2556
CREDITS
Erin Egan, Managing Director UNICEF USA Impact Fund for Children eegan@unicefusa.org 212-922-2571
Photographs — Front cover: © UNICEF/UNI665920/Yebuah; page 2: © UNICEF/UNI469243/Al Asad; page 4: © UNICEF/UNI613118/Mrigua, Hardlight; page 7: © UNICEF/UNI672991/Gabreez; page 13: © UNICEF/UNI810645/Dawod; page 17: © UNICEF/UNI667813/Amo; page 19: © UNICEF/UNI735619/ Reklajtis; page 22: © UNICEF/UNI787945/Roisri; Back cover: © UNICEF/UNI798096/San Diego - Highway Child
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