UNICEF

 Additional information on UNICEF funding allocations and girls education from DKG Society International, August 2023

HOW ARE FUNDING ALLOCATION DECISIONS MADE?UNICEF thematic funding is divided into two categories – development and humanitarian1. UNICEF uses a different set of criteria for allocating global development and humanitarian thematic funding.
Development
An internal senior-level committee provides governance and oversight to allocate thematic funds contributed by partners at the global level. Within the specific funding window, funding is prioritized for countries that:

• Are furthest from achieving Strategic Plan targets, Sustainable Development Goals and other global goals.
• Are in fragile post-conflict situations with key priority areas remaining unfunded.
• Are heavily reliant on Core Resources for Results (RR) funding.
• Strengthen the Humanitarian-Development nexus approach.
• Demonstrate means and opportunities to leverage partners’ contributions and national budgets.
• Focus on equity and the most marginalized children everywhere.
• Respond to global and regional priorities.

Humanitarian
An internal senior-level committee governs allocation of global humanitarian thematic funding. Funds are allocated to countries that demonstrate the following criteria:

• Critical unmet needs for the most vulnerable children.
• Critical funding gaps based on available and projected contributions.
• Strong implementation capacity based on the delivery track records of regular country programs. 
•  Alignment with organization-wide initiatives to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of UNICEF humanitarian action. This can include gender-transformative programming; mechanisms for the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse; accountability to affected populations; and strategies that emphasize anti-racism and anti-discrimination.

 Allocation of regional non-humanitarian thematic funding follows the same criteria outlined for global non-humanitarian thematic funding, while taking into account specific regional and country contexts. Regional humanitarian funding is allocated based on the specific regional Humanitarian Action for Children appeal.

WHICH COUNTRIES IN AFRICA ARE PRIORITY FOR GIRLS EDUCATION?Below is a list of UNICEF’s prioritized program countries in Africa for girls education. In these countries, the risks to girls’ education are high and UNICEF is prepared to scale up solutions.
Ethiopia, Niger, Guinea, Nigeria, Tanzania, Benin, Northern Kenya, Togo, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Uganda, Burundi, Malawi, Senegal, Cameroon, Mali, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Chad, Mauritania, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Congo DR, Mozambique, South Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire, Namibia, Sudan
Here are some of the key barriers preventing girls from accessing an education:

• Poverty is a major barrier prohibiting many girls from attending school
• Traditional norms and increasingly conservative practices related to girls’ and women’s roles in society.
• A lack of menstrual products and safe, separate toilets at school.
• A lack of female teachers, especially in rural schools.
• Threats of violence and certain harmful practices, such as child marriage.
• A shortage of schools and insufficient transportation.
• Geographical barriers, including in remote, rural and mountainous areas.
• Low quality of education, especially in places where teachers have limited academic qualifications.

This video provides additional context on the barriers to girls education:
10 Things Keeping Girls Away from School.