https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/prospects-children-2026-global-outlook
BY Cécile Aptel
Deputy Director, Innocenti Global Office of Research and Foresight, United Nations Children’s Fund
Today’s children are growing up in a world that is more uncertain than at any time in recent memory. The accelerating pace of technological change, shifting geopolitical landscapes, climate and environmental crises, and evolving social contracts are converging to create a world marked by volatility. In 2026 and the years to come, that looks set only to deepen.
Within this turbulence lies both opportunity and responsibility: the responsibility to act equitably so that every child can survive, grow, learn, and thrive, and the opportunity to reimagine how we collectively protect, empower, and invest in children.
Against this background of growing uncertainty, important questions lie at the core of this edition of UNICEF’s Prospects for Children: Global Outlook 2026: how can public, private, and social systems be steered to withstand volatility and provide the support children need to flourish? What are the right choices to be made today to bend the trajectory toward inclusion, resilience, and opportunity for every child?
The articles in this year’s Global Outlook provide foresight‑informed analyses of key issues shaping children’s lives today. After a year that has seen Artificial Intelligence (AI) enter ever more into the mainstream, the impact of this technology on children’s rights is a recurring theme.
