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SIGN OUR OPEN LETTER

We risk losing decades of progress for children. Will you sign our open letter?

Multiple crises - conflict, climate change, mounting debts and extreme poverty – damage the lives of the most vulnerable children every day, drastically limiting their chances of getting nourishing food, life-saving health care or quality education. Every child should have these by right.

We've written an open letter to the UK Government calling on them to commit to a Global Growing Up Promise that:

💷 Prioritises funding for health, nutrition, and education to set the world’s poorest children up for success.

🌍 Uses the UK's leadership to protect children from the climate crisis.

📣 Champions children’s rights in the plans and commitments the Government makes internationally.

Join us and sign our open letter.

READ THE FULL OPEN LETTER >

Dear Foreign Secretary,

We risk losing decades of progress for children around the world.

Extreme poverty, climate change, conflict, mounting debts, and widening inequalities all negatively affect the lives of the most vulnerable children every day, by drastically limiting their access to nourishing food, life-saving health care, protection from violence and quality education. Every child should have these by right.

For many years, progress has been made towards ensuring the basic right to health and education for all children. But further cuts to the aid budget will reverse this.

In 2023:

Nearly 21 million children missed out on one or more life-saving vaccines, leaving them vulnerable to preventable diseases.

45 million children under 5 were severely acutely malnourished.

90% of children in the lowest income countries could not read a simple story by age 10.

Extreme heat increased the risk of stillbirth by 5 % for every 1°C rise in temperature.

The world’s most vulnerable children must be protected. We know that by almost every measure, 2024 was one of the worst years on record for children in conflict. Cutting critical aid again, this time even more drastically, will put their lives at risk, and undo decades of progress.

The UK’s commitment to spend 0.7% GNI on aid demonstrated our leadership and our compassion. The decision to cut it to 0.3% will make it impossible for this government to achieve its aspirations of tackling extreme poverty, addressing the climate crisis and building long-term global security.

The UK Government must:

Keep ODA at 0.5% until at least 2027, as well as find a pathway back to 0.7%. Conduct and publish child impact assessments on decisions.
Spend 25% of aid on children and protect programmes that support the world’s most vulnerable children from cuts, like nutrition, vaccines, education and WASH.
Stop spending ODA in the UK, so that even with a limited budget, it goes to the world’s most vulnerable and at-risk children.

The world’s children cannot bear the brunt of difficult decisions. The UK Government must fully commit to supporting children out of poverty, giving them the best start in life and restoring hope for their futures.

Sincerely, 

UNICEF UK and the undersigned