In 2013, UNICEF procured $2.8 billion worth of services and supplies in more than 130 countries, according to its latest annual supply report. Consistent with UNICEF’s efforts to buy supplies where they will be used, two-thirds of its top 33 supplier countries last year — or countries in which procurement exceeded $10 million — have UNICEF development programs.
The UNICEF supply chain — a process that involves budgeting, procurement, delivery, monitoring and evaluation, among others — is a critical component of UNICEF’s goal to protect the world’s most disadvantaged and excluded children.
This supply chain becomes more complex in an emergency — and in 2013, UNICEF responded to emergencies in 34 countries and territories. Much of UNICEF’s large-scale supply response was directed toward emergencies caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, conflicts in the Central African Republic and South Sudan, and the civil war in Syria that has spilled over to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.