In the last one year, India has provided the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) with more than 500 million USD worth of equipment, materials and supplies for the various missions of the organisation. According to foundation’s most recent Supply Annual Report (for the year 2017), India is the largest supplier of vaccines and drugs to the international child welfare wing of the United Nations.
The UNICEF has listed all the countries from where it has procured equipment and medications worth more than 20 million USD. India was at the top of this list, having given 529,002,602 USD worth of medications and supplies. The report also detailed the percentage of material utilised by region.
The UNICEF uses most of the materials it receives in the Sub-saharan Africa, where up to 56 percent of its collected supplies and resources are used, per documents. In Asia, only 22 percent of supplies are utilised.
Source: UNICEF Supply Annual Report
Each year, several materials are purchased by the UNICEF and distributed to different countries where there is a need. The organisation puts together emergency kits to be distributed to medical camps set up around the globe. They then identify where their assistance is required and distribute the kits accordingly.
The latest report shows that India provides most of the vaccines and medications for the same.
UNICEF was created by the United Nations in 1946 in an effort to provide food and emergency healthcare to the children affected by World War II. Since then, the organisation has come a long way in providing for children around the world and has been actively involved in ensuring that less privileged children have access to education, healthcare and that basic human rights are protected.