After feeding, a mother plays with her baby at a UNICEF nutrition event in Uganda on April 23, 2025.

UNICEF Gifts Help Mothers and Children Worldwide

May 7, 2025

Sarah Ferguson

This Mother's Day, honor the moms in your life by giving gifts that support mothers and children all over the world.

Gifts that give back

Mothers everywhere want the same things for their children: nutritious food to eat, drinkable water, vaccines to protect against disease. A safe place to play, a quality education, the opportunity to grow up and reach their full potential.

For families caught in humanitarian crises, these basic building blocks of a happy and healthy childhood can be impossibly out of reach without help. That's where UNICEF comes in, working with partners to ensure every child receives the support and services they need to survive and thrive.

A mother holds her 11-month-old daughter, who is being treated for severe acute malnutrition, at a UNICEF-supported health center in Burao, Somaliland. — Yaasmin Ismail holds her 11-month-old daughter, Saja, who is being treated for severe acute malnutrition, at Dr Yusuf Health Center in Burao, Somaliland. "Saja is getting healthy. She no longer has diarrhoea and is not throwing up now," says Yaasmin. Children in Somaliland are facing a severe malnutrition crisis exacerbated by prolonged drought, inadequate health services and poor water, sanitation and hygiene conditions. With joint funding from KSrelief and the UK Government, UNICEF Somalia worked with the Government to procure over 50,000 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food to treat severely malnourished children and hygiene kits for more than 48,000 families. © UNICEF/UNI791262/Hill

UNICEF Inspired Gifts are lifesaving and life-changing supplies for children: a resuscitation kit and blankets for newborns, art supplies for school children, ready-to eat therapeutic food to restore the health of kids suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Each UNICEF Inspired Gift can be dedicated to a friend or loved one.

Handcrafted by artisans around the world, fair trade UNICEF Market gifts offer another way to support UNICEF. A portion of the proceeds from every purchase is used to fund UNICEF's wide-ranging work in over 190 countries and territories to ensure every child is healthy, educated, protected and respected.

Vital care for mothers and newborns

A mother holds her newborn in the step-down unit at UNICEF-supported GMERS Civil Hospital, Sola, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. tep-down unit provides an intermediate level of care between intensive care and discharge during which the infants can be with their mothers, allowing for better observation and recovery. © UNICEF/UNI781364/Jariwala

Healthy moms are more likely to have healthy babies. UNICEF works to ensure quality care for mothers and babies every step of the way, starting with prenatal care and labor and delivery.

Trained UNICEF staff teach new mothers about the importance of breastfeeding, immunizations and the lifelong benefits of early childhood education. UNICEF also advocates for the rights of mothers and children, and stands up for them during humanitarian crises and environmental disasters.

Give newborn kits for mothers and babies

Emergency assistance for displaced families

Displaced by violence in the DRC, a mother holds her baby in Bihambwe village, North Kivu province, on March 6, 2025. — Sarah holds her 2-year-old son, Vincent, in Bihambwe village, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on March 6, 2025. Ongoing conflict forced Sarah and her three children to flee their home village. “Back home, I was a farmer, but here, to have something to eat, we have to work in other people’s fields to earn a little money. It’s the same for health care, which isn’t free,” Sarah explains. “Without money, giving birth is extremely difficult. The same goes for education — my children have all had to stop school,” she adds. “I’m just asking for a little help. I pray for peace so that we can finally return home.” © UNICEF/UNI757397/Benekire

During humanitarian crises, children are the first victims. UNICEF works around the world to provide support for children uprooted by armed conflict, natural disasters and the effects of climate change. With partners, UNICEF works to reach children with both immediate lifesaving services and investments in their longer-term development.

Give emergency supplies to families caught in crises

Vaccines protect children from disease

In the Somali region of Ethiopia, a mother holds her smiling 4-year-old daughter, who has just received her polio vaccine during a UNICEF-supported national campaign. — On Feb. 21, 2025, in the Somali region of Ethiopia, Halima holds her 4-year-old daughter, Bisharo, who holds up her finger, inked to show she has received her polio vaccine during a national campaign supported by UNICEF and co-financed by the European Union, the EU Investment Bank and Rotary International. The campaign aims to vaccinate millions of children and, ultimately, eradicate polio across Ethiopia. "Prevention is good," says Halima. "Thank God, I am very happy. The vaccine has excellent benefits for children's health." © UNICEF/UNI752408/Pouget

Since 1974, vaccines have saved an estimated 154 million lives. As the world's largest single vaccine buyer, UNICEF procures more than 2 billion doses of vaccines annually for routine immunization campaigns and outbreak response — supplying enough vaccines each year to vaccinate 45 percent of the world's children under age 5.

Give vaccines to protect children from disease outbreaks

Health care helps children get the best possible start in life

On Feb. 18, 2025, a mother holds her 10-month-old baby during a check-up by a UNICEF-supported visiting nurse in he village of Kafongo, in the North of Côte d’Ivoire. — On Feb. 18, 2025, a mother holds her 10-month-old baby during a check-up by a UNICEF-supported visiting nurse in the village of Kafongo, in northern Côte d’Ivoire. © UNICEF/UNI755254/Dejongh

UNICEF works nonstop to protect children's health and help end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths by scaling up essential care services, increasing immunization coverage and strengthening health systems to better respond to disease outbreaks.

Give essential supplies to help children stay healthy

Education and recreation supplies let children learn and play

Ten-year-old Andrii embraces his mother in their kitchen in Kherson, Ukraine on Feb. 9, 2025.. — Ten-year-old Andrii embraces his mother in their kitchen in Kherson, Ukraine on Feb. 9, 2025. Kherson is on the front line, and shelling occurs here almost daily. But the southern city is still home to more than 60,000 civilians, according to local authorities. A significant number of them are children who, for three years since the full-scale war broke out in 2022, have had to live without schools, kindergartens or even a safe space to play and be with friends outside. UNICEF is working to ensure every child can continue learning by repairing and improving school shelters, providing essential learning materials, training teachers to address learning gaps, offering catch-up classes, and strengthening both in-person and online education. © UNICEF/UNI738309/Filippov

UNICEF works in 147 countries to provide quality learning opportunities that prepare children and adolescents with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive. UNICEF supports every child’s right to an education no matter where they must learn — under a tent in a refugee camp, at a local school or at home using a parent’s mobile phone.

Give education and recreation supplies

Every child has the right to a safe and healthy childhood

A mother and three of her four children stand outside a site for displaced people in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on March 18, 2025. — Resita Marcial, mother of four, lost her husband to armed groups in Carrefour-Feuille, in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. She now lives with her children at the site for displaced people at the Marie-Jeanne school in Port-au-Prince. By March 2025, 85 percent of Port-au-Prince was **controlled by armed groups** and almost one in eight — over half a million — children in Haiti had been displaced by violence. © UNICEF/UNI769140/Noel

Right now, the lives of the most vulnerable children hang in the balance as conflicts and crises jeopardize the care and protection that they deserve. Dependable, uninterrupted and effective foreign aid is critical to the well-being of millions of children. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance.

TOP PHOTO: After feeding, a mother plays with her baby at the launch event for the Egg Powder Initiative for Children (EPIC) in Uganda on April 23, 2025. Piloted in Kamwenge District, where nearly 48 percent of children in refugee settlements suffer from stunting, the program introduces locally produced powdered eggs as a safe, affordable and nutritious complementary food. EPIC is a partnership between UNICEF and the Ministry of Health with support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). © UNICEF/UNI786803/Abdul

HOW TO HELP

There are many ways to make a difference

War, famine, poverty, natural disasters — threats to the world's children keep coming. But UNICEF won't stop working to keep children healthy and safe.

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories — more places than any other children's organization. UNICEF has the world's largest humanitarian warehouse and, when disaster strikes, can get supplies almost anywhere within 72 hours. Constantly innovating, always advocating for a better world for children, UNICEF works to ensure that every child can grow up healthy, educated, protected and respected.

Would you like to help give all children the opportunity to reach their full potential? There are many ways to get involved.

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A mother holds her child inside a shelter for displaced families in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.