Joining the Collaborative
Membership in the Collaborative is open to governments and international organizations, including the private sector and civil society. The Collaborative aims to have members from every region of the world, bringing together diverse perspectives, expertise, networks and ideas. Partners are united around a common vision – that all children deserve to grow up in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment – and believe that working together will help us get there faster.
Who can join?
The Collaborative is open to organizations (not individuals).
To be considered a Collaborative partner, interested entities must fit the criteria of one of the following constituencies:
- Government partners: A ministry, department or agency of one of the UN member states.
- Civil society organizations: Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, professional associations and youth associations that have international membership and/or operations.
- Private sector: Companies, corporate foundations, industry associations or other private organizations having international operations.
Applicants must support the Collaborative's mission and be able to participate in its initiatives, share technical resources, and advocate for and take action to protect children from environmental exposures. Participation in the Collaborative is voluntary. Being a partner does not constitute a formal agreement between individual partners, UNICEF or founding partners. Should members of the Collaborative wish to enter into formal agreements with other partners in the Collaborative, they are welcome to do so and to follow their own organizational policies and procedures.
Why join?
Benefits of partnership include:
- Opportunity to make an impact on children’s health and development.
- Access to the latest news and a knowledge hub with rich content including technical resources, guidance documents and webinars, advocacy materials and videos, and other learning resources.
- Visibility, including amplification of partner organizations’ work, resources and websites on the Collaborative website and e-newsletter. Partners can also be interviewed and featured in our video series on children’s environmental health experts.
- Opportunities to showcase and exchange good practices and lessons learned through forums and networking events. Each partner can host or participate in forums within their sector, as well as participate in a global, multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral annual forum organized by UNICEF.
- Opportunities for joint advocacy with other Collaborative partners.
- Use of the Collaborative’s visual identity, following guidelines.
Additional benefits for each stakeholder group include:
Benefits for governments
- Support for catalysing a whole-of-government approach.
- Insights from other governments working on children’s environmental health.
- Technical and advocacy resources to promote children’s environmental health, including guides on how to conduct national assessments, set national targets, adopt policies, laws, regulations and standards, develop sectoral capacities, and involve local communities in children’s environmental health.
Benefits for civil society
- Opportunities to foster relationships with other partners in the Collaborative, and to share technical expertise and best practices.
- A website to profile tools, resources and educational materials on children's environmental health.
- Access to materials to help accelerate action on children's environmental health.
Benefits for private sector
- An opportunity to achieve impact by improving business practices through environmental, social, governance and corporate social responsibility and employee engagement.
- Connections with like-minded partners, including invitations to global events and convenings.
- Access to private sector-related resources, including standards and best practices.
Expectations of partners
- Promote and advocate for children’s environmental health.
- Share advocacy and technical resources, case studies and lessons learned for inclusion on the website and/or the e-newsletter.
- Participate in the annual convening and forums.
- Review how their organization can take action to protect children’s environmental health.
- Sign up for the Collaborative e-newsletter to receive recent news of key actions.
- Fund their own staff time and participation in events.
How to join
Governments:
Submit a written expression of interest. Letters should be signed by a senior government representative from the ministry, department or agency that will be participating in the Collaborative (e.g., Minister, Director-General, Head of Department, etc.).
Email your letter of interest to ceh@unicef.org. Upon receipt, UNICEF will review to confirm that the government partner is part of the Collaborative.
International civil society organizations:
Civil society partners must be registered on the UN Partner Portal. If your organization is not yet registered, please do so prior to submitting a written expression of interest.
E-mail your letter to ceh@unicef.org. Upon receipt, UNICEF will review to confirm that the organization is part of the Collaborative.
International private sector organizations:
Email your interest to ceh@unicef.org.
For all partners:
Participation in the Collaborative can be refused or terminated if the partner is not an entity registered with the UN, is on the UN sanctions list, or if the partner's conduct is not conducive to the achievement of the Collaborative's mission. Questions regarding refusal or termination can be sent to ceh@unicef.org.