UNICEF
UNICEF (/ˈjuːniˌsɛf/ YOO-nee-SEF), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund,[a] is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide.[3][4] The organization is one of the most widely known and visible social welfare entities globally, operating in 192 countries and territories.[5] UNICEF's activities include providing immunizations and disease prevention, administering treatment for children and mothers with HIV, enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition, improving sanitation, promoting education, and providing emergency relief in response to disasters.[6]
Abbreviation
UNICEF
Fund
Active 11 December 1946 (as United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund)
New York City, New York, U.S.
UNICEF is the successor of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, created on 11 December 1946, in New York, by the U.N. Relief Rehabilitation Administration to provide immediate relief to children and mothers affected by World War II. The same year, the U.N. General Assembly established UNICEF to further institutionalize post-war relief work.[7] In 1950, its mandate was extended to address the long-term needs of children and women, particularly in developing countries. In 1953, the organization became a permanent part of the United Nations System, and its name was subsequently changed to its current form, though it retains the original acronym.[1]
UNICEF relies entirely on voluntary contributions from governments and private donors. Its total income as of 2023 was $8.37 billion; of which public-sector partners contributed $5.45 billion.[8] It is governed by a 36-member executive board that establishes policies, approves programs, and oversees administrative and financial plans. The board is made up of government representatives elected by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, usually for three-year terms.
UNICEF's programs emphasize developing community-level services to promote the health and well-being of children. Most of its work is in the field, with a network that includes 150 country offices, headquarters and other facilities, and 34 "national committees" that carry out its mission through programs developed with host governments. Seven regional offices provide technical assistance to country offices as needed, while its Supply Division—based in the cities of Copenhagen and New York—helps provide over $3 billion in critical aid and services.[9]
In 2018, UNICEF assisted in the birth of 27 million babies, administered pentavalent vaccines to an estimated 65.5 million children, provided education for 12 million children, treated four million children with severe acute malnutrition, and responded to 285 humanitarian emergencies in 90 countries.[10] UNICEF has received recognition for its work, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965, the Indira Gandhi Prize in 1989 and the Princess of Asturias Award in 2006. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF, along with the World Health Organization and other agencies, published guidance about healthy parenting.[11]
History of formation[edit]
Creation[edit]
As early as September 1943, Polish health specialist Ludwik Rajchman suggested in an article published in Free World entitled "A United Nations Health Service—Why not?" that a health service should be incorporated into the future international organization. He also proposed a "health tax" paid by member states.[12]
At the end of the UNRRA, Rajchman proposed to use its residual funds for a child-feeding program beneficiary of US funding.[13] The organization was created by resolution 57(I) of the United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 1946 and named United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). As its first chairman, Rajchman chose Maurice Pate of the Commission for Relief in Belgium to direct the agency and "to think about organizing an action, a fund for the benefit of children, war victims chiefly."[13] Rajchman, as head of a special UN subcommittee and with the support of La Guardia, Herbert Hoover and Maurice Pate, presented the resolution to the General assembly.[12] From a temporary emergency relief agency in 1946 providing food and clothing to children and mothers displaced by World War II, the agency became a permanent UN Organization in 1953,[13] and extended its efforts toward general programs of children welfare.
Promotion and fundraising[edit]
In the United States, Nepal and some other countries, UNICEF is known for its "Trick-Or-Treat for UNICEF" program in which children collect money for UNICEF from the houses they trick-or-treat on Halloween night, sometimes instead of candy. The program was discontinued in Canada in 2006.[19]
UNICEF is present in 191 countries and territories around the world, but not involved in nine others (Bahamas, Brunei, Cyprus, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Singapore, and Taiwan).[20]
Many people in developed countries first hear about UNICEF's work through the activities of one of the 36 national committees for UNICEF. These non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are primarily responsible for fundraising, selling UNICEF greeting cards and products, creating private and public partnerships, advocating for children's rights, and providing other support. The US Fund for UNICEF is the oldest of the national committees, founded in 1946.[21]
On 19 April 2007, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg was appointed UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children,[22] in which role she has visited Brazil (2007),[23] China (2008),[24] and Burundi (2009).[25]
In 2009, the British retailer Tesco used "Change for Good" as advertising, which is trademarked by UNICEF for charity usage but not for commercial or retail use. This prompted the agency to say, "it is the first time in Unicef's history that a commercial entity has purposely set out to capitalize on one of our campaigns and subsequently damage an income stream which several of our programs for children are dependent on". They went on to call on the public "who have children's welfare at heart, to consider carefully who they support when making consumer choices".[26][27] "Change for Good" is also supported by Australian airline Qantas, relying on passengers to fundraise via a given envelope since 1991, and has raised over $36 million, with over 19,500 kg of coins every year.[28] Frequent flyers can also redeem their mile points to donate.[29] Norman Gillespie, UNICEF Australia's chief executive, said "If every Qantas passenger traveling domestically gave us just a few of their forgotten coins each time they traveled it would make little difference to their day, but a world of difference in saving children's lives."[30]
Position on ethical themes[edit]
UNICEF's programmatic objectives include the promotion of safe abortions[58] and education in family planning and in the use of contraception.[59][60] To this end, it is one of the co-sponsors of the Special Programme on Human Reproduction.[61]
In a joint declaration of 2011,[62] UNICEF argued the need to combat the spread of selective abortion, through plans that favored, inter alia, the use of safe abortion services and family planning programs in order to decrease the use of abortion.
In 2013, together with WHO, it published an integrated plan of guidelines for the prevention of infant mortality caused by pneumonia and diarrhea, including, among the recommended strategies for promoting the health of women and children, access to safe abortion.[63]
UNICEF has adopted the ABC strategy ("abstinence, be faithful and consistent condom use") promoted in various international AIDS prevention interventions.[64] The strategy was later updated as the "ABC to Z model", to include Delaying and Voluntary Counselling & Testing.[65]
In 1996 the Vatican withdrew its symbolic contribution to UNICEF on the occasion of the publication by UNICEF of a manual on emergency operations for refugee populations which supported the spread of emergency contraceptive practices.[66][67][68]
Despite this, on several occasions senior UNICEF officials have denied that the organization promoted abortion or family planning methods.[69][70]
UNICEF also supports the adoption by states of laws that guarantee LGBT couples and their children the legal recognition of their status, as these rules would help ensure the best interests of children.[71]
Controversies[edit]
Adoption program[edit]
UNICEF has a policy preferring orphanages only be used as temporary accommodation for children when there is no alternative. UNICEF has historically opposed the creation of large-scale, permanent orphanages for children, preferring instead to find children places in their (extended) families and communities, wherever possible. This has led UNICEF to be skeptical of international adoption efforts as a solution to child care problems in developing countries; UNICEF has preferred to see children cared for in their birth countries rather than be adopted by foreign parents.[72][73]
A 2013 article in U.S. News & World Report magazine asserted UNICEF's intervention that on giving large cash payments to developing countries can lead to a cessation of international adoptions until all of its recommendations are in place, and have even labelled UNICEF a "villain" for the extent of its negative impact on orphans.[74]
Child mortality[edit]
One concern is that the child mortality rate has not decreased in some areas as rapidly as had been planned, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where in 2013 "the region still has the highest child mortality rate: 92 deaths per 1000 live births",[75] and that "Globally, nearly half of under-five deaths are attributable to undernutrition."
In 2005, Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet, editorialized that "over 60% of these deaths were and remain preventable" and that the coverage levels for these interventions are "appallingly low in the 42 countries that account for 90% of child deaths".[76]
A $27 million UNICEF program in West Africa in 2001–2005 which was meant to decrease child deaths from disease has been deemed a failure, according to a study that found higher survival rates of children in some regions that weren't included in that program.[77]
Critics argue that UNICEF's focus on rights rather than safety and survival is idealistic, and that by focusing on politicized children's rights instead of mere child survival, UNICEF has contributed indirectly to the child mortality crisis.[78]
Mismanagement and abuse of funding[edit]
In 1995, in what was called "the worst scandal in its history", UNICEF disclosed that 24 employees in its Kenya office stole or squandered $10-million; this fraud consumed more than a quarter of the UNICEF's $37-million two-year budget for Kenya.[79]
In Germany, in the late 2000s, UNICEF was accused of mismanagement, abuse and waste of funds.[80] This has resulted in 5,000 of UNICEF regular donors abandoning their support from the charity, and politicians and public figures, including Angela Merkel, demanding explanations, and the chairwoman of UNICEF Germany resigning in 2008.[81]
In 2012, UNICEF confirmed fraud in a Pakistan school rehabilitation project, where an estimated US$4 million was lost when funds were misappropriated.[82][83]