Funding Kids

Across the globe, nearly six out of ten children are unable to read before the age of 10. And more than 47 million children have been displaced due to conflict. Grim statistics like these are why UNICEF created the first-ever “child lens” for impact investing, a tool for potential funders to analyze how companies might benefit (or impede) the well-being of children. The framework—which includes toolkits, due diligence questionnaires, and metrics to track—is freely available online and already being used by investing firms like Calvert Impact. “Our goal is to steward and to ensure that the multi-trillion dollar capital markets are considering children’s well-being, and optimizing for those outcomes,” says Cristina Shapiro, Chief Strategy Officer and President of UNICEF’s Impact Fund for Children.