UNICEF 2025: How leaders can unite in support of future generations

As we head into 2025, a “new era of crisis” threatens our global future. If we are to resolve armed conflicts, tackle the climate crisis and address rising inequality, the need for systemic change has never been more essential.

In the latest edition of its annual Global Outlook – Prospects for Children report published this week, UNICEF highlights the unique challenges facing us in 2025, painting a stark picture of how systemic failures, such as multilateral fragmentation and lack of sustainable investment, are disproportionately impacting children around the world.

But 2025 also brings opportunities. A youth-centred path forward across diverse government and private sectors is possible, in recognition of the fact that building a brighter future for humanity is only possible when we invest in our young people.

For global leaders and decision-makers, the Outlook 2025 report provides insight into how they can help to drive systemic change through global collaboration, technological innovation, sustainable development and financial reform. 

Global collaboration: bridging the gap between nations

In 2024, a shifting geopolitical landscape has complicated efforts for global cooperation, leading to an undermining of the rule of law and eroding confidence in the multilateral system. Less unity and more protectionism among governments has led to a failure to deliver on key issues for children. However, new paths emerge.

New coalitions are forming to tackle global conflicts, with the concept of ‘minilateralism’ gaining traction. While the UN Security Council sat at a stalemate in 2024, a new ‘minilateral’ system saw smaller, more flexible groups of states working together, helping restore international norms and uphold accountability between nations.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private sector entities are also emerging as influential forces tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. Outlook 2025 highlights that within the UN, “the number of NGOs with ECOSOC consultative status has more than tripled since 2000 to over 6,000 today, and is expected to go on rising.”

In the year ahead, UNICEF calls for stronger alignment between global and national priorities. This would mean strengthening collaboration between nations as well as public and private sectors, promoting resilience through the development of innovative approaches, knowledge sharing and policy transfer.

Involving young people in decision-making processes, enabling them to shape governance, demand accountability and build public support for change, is also a key opportunity. While children and young people are already actively involved in social justice and transformation, if government stakeholders were to recognise young voices as legitimate political actors, states could better anticipate and address future challenges and scale up solutions to protect and empower children.

On an international level, a child-centred approach to governance serves a unifying purpose, allowing global nations to collaborate on a long-term vision for equitable growth, demonstrating economic solidarity, market collaboration and investment in future skills. 

Technological innovation: great power, great responsibility

Technological innovation presents a major opportunity in the fight to improve global systems. Advancements in AI and data analytics are revolutionising how governments, organisations and communities protect and support their citizens, enabling them to better anticipate societal needs, detect inefficiencies and respond more effectively to emerging threats. 

From personalised healthcare to digital public infrastructure (DPI), digital solutions are getting resources to those in need more effectively and will remain a key growth area in 2025. Going forward, concerns surrounding data security, surveillance and digital access need to be addressed to ensure no one is harmed or left behind in an increasingly tech-driven world. 

Children stand to gain the most from digital advancements but also face the biggest burden of risk. Exploitation, surveillance, privacy breaches and discrimination are all threats to the digital welfare of young people and the establishment of clearer legal and regulatory frameworks in 2025 will be critical in safeguarding against harm.

A fairer, more inclusive society can be built for tomorrow, UNICEF proposes, but only if public and private institutions come together to prioritise and protect public welfare today. While the private sector will be pivotal in realising the potential of digital technologies, robust governance and regulatory cooperation are needed to ensure adequate guardrails and inclusivity measures are put in place.  

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Responsible innovation for social impact

Technological and digital innovations play a growing role in children’s lives. UNICEF has partnered with academic researchers and the LEGO Foundation to create tools for businesses and governments that will empower them to put the well-being of children at the heart of digital design. 

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Climate financing: equitable, youth-centred investments

The impact of the climate crisis on the health, development and security of future generations is becoming increasingly stark. Global nations are beginning to recognise that climate action is not just a necessity for environmental health, but a key pillar in securing a stable and equitable future for humanity.  

In June 2024, Parties of the Paris Agreement opened up a dialogue on climate change’s disproportionate impact on children. UN data reveals that children under the age of five now bear 88 per cent of the global disease burden associated with climate change, while young children, girls, disabled and marginalised people suffer most from rising temperatures and extreme weather. 

However, at present, only 2.4 per cent of multilateral climate finance is characterised as ‘child-responsive’. If global societies are to successfully adapt to climate change, UNICEF cites the critical need to create adequate and equitable financing mechanisms to improve the climate resilience of child-critical social services, such as health, education and social protection systems.  

As well as incorporating children’s rights in national plans with targeted funding, there is also a clear responsibility for the private sector. On a global scale, there is a need for more equitable financing solutions – such as debt restructuring and green bonds – to account for the economic disparity between nations and help mitigate a “green squeeze”. 

The New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) agreed upon at COP29 in 2024 signals collective progress, with the aim of translating climate commitments into concrete action and making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. 

Corporate ESG: enhanced regulation and transparency

In 2021, the private sector was responsible for 84 per cent of global emissions. Though ESG regulations have grown 155 per cent over the past decade, UNICEF predicts momentum will intensify in 2025, in recognition of the private sector’s critical role in tackling climate change. 

Major regulatory successes for the European Union in 2024 include the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). In 2025, private interests will see a broader trend towards stricter climate reporting and sustainability requirements, driven by market demands for transparency and accountability. 

Despite progress, ESG regulations can present significant challenges for developing nations, especially when competing with wealthy corporations in developed nations, which may have more robust compliance capacities and policy frameworks.  

To avoid deepening economic marginalisation, UNICEF again highlights the critical need for equitable financing and support for vulnerable nations, in recognition of the fact that worldwide cooperation is needed if humanity is to successfully avert the climate crisis.

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Partner with UNICEF to create a positive impact 

Through its partnerships with the public and private sectors, UNICEF helps leaders drive meaningful impact, embracing global collaboration and innovation to improve children’s health, nutrition, education and protection and build a brighter future for the next generation.  

Initiatives such as Giga saw UNICEF and corporate partners connect schools around the world to the internet, while Generation Unlimited is on a mission to upskill the world’s 1.8 billion young people. Impactful initiatives like Voices of Youth amplify young voices, helping decision makers better address youth concerns. 

With UNICEF’s credibility and reach, partners can create lasting, systemic change while aligning with a mission to empower the next generation.  

Partner with UNICEF today.

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Reshaping financial systems: a call for equity

Challenges financing our global future go beyond climate action. In 2025, global debt and sluggish growth will continue to hamper efforts to invest in future generations.  

For developing countries in particular, systematic underfunding of vital services like education, healthcare and social protection, undermines long-term economic prospects and “erodes human capital, leading to a ‘lost generation’ that is less skilled, less healthy and ultimately less productive”, UNICEF reports. 

Debt servicing and cuts to Official Development Assistance (ODA) further exacerbate the problem for developing nations. According to the UN World Food Programme, for every 1 per cent reduction in food assistance, 400,000 people are pushed into emergency hunger.

Additionally, a staggering 14 per cent of government revenues are being spent on debt repayments alone. Among the 34 African Union countries with available data, UNICEF reports, 44 per cent now allocate more to debt servicing than to education, compromising the development of a skilled future workforce and perpetuating a cycle of intergenerational poverty. 

For UNICEF, debt burden is a violation of child’s rights. For change to be seen, UNICEF reports, the multilateral system needs to embrace a transformed mindset, one that sees youth-centred investments as fundamental to sustainable financial systems.  

UNICEF cites the Financing for Development Conference in Seville in June 2025 as a crucial opportunity to reshape global financial systems and prioritise sustainable development. Innovative financial solutions will be discussed at the conference, such as a “Children’s Debt Reset”, which aims to restructure debt and free up resources for vital services to alleviate strain on the most vulnerable economies. 

In 2025, the mobilisation of private investment also holds promise. Funds such as the International Finance Facility for Immunisation and the recently established Child Nutrition Fund could leverage €48 billion in donor guarantees to invest in the health of young people around the world. 

Turning the tide: a collective responsibility

While the challenges for future generations are immense, in 2025, optimism pervades. Innovative financial solutions and technological tools can be used for good, helping reshape global systems to better tackle modern challenges that threaten future generations.  

But the reality is that no one country or institution can tackle these challenges alone. For sustainable progress to occur, UNICEF recognises that a coordinated global effort is essential. Beyond policy change, transformation will require recognition that investing in children is not an act of charity, but an investment in the future of humanity.  

The UN’s Pact for the Future already points the way, aligning 193 world nations with a common mission to protect the rights of young people, invest in their futures and build resilient systems that can weather the challenges ahead. 

If the global community is to seize this moment and align its efforts, it can begin to turn the tide for the next generation – ensuring that all people, wherever they are, can dream of a brighter, more secure future. 

Read the full Global Outlook 2025 report.