UNITLIFE

UNITLIFE is a United Nations-affiliated fund dedicated to reducing chronic malnutrition among pregnant women and young children worldwide. It was launched on 28 September 2015 by Philippe Douste-Blazy, on the margins of the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York, initially under the auspices of UNICEF. The fund is now attached to the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and UN Women. Its headquarters are located within Station F in Paris, France. Chronic malnutrition, according to UNICEF, affects 149 million children globally. It develops slowly amid structural poverty where children lack access to a balanced diet, and its consequences — stunting, weakened immune systems, and reduced cognitive development — are largely irreversible. UNITLIFE's founder has described chronic malnutrition as one of the two existential threats to humanity, alongside climate change, noting that when it occurs during the first thousand days of life, the brain suffers a 30% reduction in neural connections, significantly lowering IQ. The fund's innovative financing model relies on voluntary contributions from states that agree to implement a micro-tax on their extractive industries (gas, oil, minerals). From 2017, $0.01 per barrel of oil and $0.60 per gram of gold were to be paid into the fund by participating states. The program aims to raise approximately $100 million per year. At its creation, Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea, Mali, and Niger agreed to participate. The mechanism is similar to that of Unitaid, a UN-affiliated fund financed by a solidarity tax on airline tickets. UNITLIFE's priority objectives are to reduce child stunting and other immediate effects of malnutrition, and to narrow the gender gap in climate-resilient agriculture. In 2019, Philippe Douste-Blazy was elected president of the fund's board of directors. In June 2021, France and the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi joined the board as permanent members, alongside the Ecobank banking group. The board is currently chaired by Philippe Douste-Blazy and includes the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, France, UN Women, the World Food Programme, and Ecobank. UNITLIFE primarily appeals to private actors to raise funds for its projects. In 2020, it organized a fundraising campaign with the association Game for Good and gamers from the African continent. In 2023, UNITLIFE partnered with the company RETREEB to create and sell NFTs at auctions to raise funds. The fund continues to operate as an active United Nations-affiliated financing mechanism against chronic malnutrition.

UNITLIFE was launched on 28 September 2015 by Philippe Douste-Blazy, on the margins of the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York, as a fund placed under the auspices of UNICEF to fight chronic malnutrition. The program is based on the voluntary commitment of states to implement a financial tax on their extractive industries (gas, oil, minerals), a micro-portion of which is transferred to UNITLIFE. From 2017, $0.01 per barrel of oil and $0.60 per gram of gold were to be paid to the fund by voluntary states. The program's objective is to raise approximately $100 million per year. At its creation, Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea, Mali, and Niger agreed to be part of the fund. The priority objectives are to reduce child stunting and other immediate effects of malnutrition and to reduce the gender gap in climate-resilient agriculture. This financing mechanism is similar to that of Unitaid, a UN-affiliated fund financed by a solidarity tax on airline tickets adopted by certain countries. In 2019, Philippe Douste-Blazy was elected president of the board of directors of the UN fund UNITLIFE. In 2021, UNICEF warned that the Covid-19 pandemic was worsening child malnutrition, relaying a study published in the scientific journal The Lancet indicating that nearly 2.6 million additional children would suffer from chronic malnutrition by 2022. In January 2021, UNITLIFE stated it wanted to reduce chronic malnutrition by one third, which would create nearly $417 billion in economic benefits. In June 2021, France and the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi joined UNITLIFE's board of directors as permanent members, accompanied by the Ecobank banking group. To date, the board is chaired by Philippe Douste-Blazy and composed of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, France, UN Women, the World Food Programme, and the Ecobank group. UNITLIFE primarily appeals to private actors to raise funds for its projects. In 2020, UNITLIFE organized a fundraising campaign with the association Game for Good and gamers from the African continent. In 2023, UNITLIFE and the company RETREEB partnered to create and sell NFTs at auctions to raise funds. The fund is now attached to the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and UN Women, with its headquarters located within Station F in Paris, France.

• UNITLIFE launched by Philippe Douste-Blazy at the 70th UN General Assembly, under UNICEF auspices.

• Micro-levy mechanism begins: $0.01 per barrel of oil and $0.60 per gram of gold paid by voluntary states.

• Philippe Douste-Blazy elected president of UNITLIFE's board of directors.

• Fundraising campaign organized with Game for Good and African gamers.

• UNITLIFE announces goal to reduce chronic malnutrition by one third, citing potential $417 billion in economic benefits.

• France and the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi join the board as permanent members, alongside Ecobank.

• Partnership with RETREEB to create and sell NFTs at auctions for fundraising.

United Nations-affiliated innovative financing fund against chronic malnutrition

1. 1UNITLIFE - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2UNITLIFE - Wikipédiafr.wikipedia.org
3. 3UNITLIFE official websiteunitlife.org