United Nations Children's Fund

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The United Nations Children's Fund (or UNICEF) General Assembly was created on December 11, 1946. In 1953, its name was shortened from United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, but is  still known by the popular acronym based on this old name. Headquartered in New York City, UNICEF provides long-term humanitarian and  developmental assistance to children and  mothers in developing countries.

A voluntarily funded agency, UNICEF relies on contributions from governments and  private donors. Its programmes emphasize developing community-level services to promote the health and  well-being of children. UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 and  Prince of Asturias Award of Concord in 2006. In the United States, Canada 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 at, sometimes instead of candy.

Following the reaching of term limits by Executive Director of UNICEF Carol Bellamy, former United States Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman took control of the organization in May 2005 with an  agenda to increase the organization's focus on the Millennium Development Goals.

Contents 1 Priorities 1.1 Education 1.2 Immunization plus 1.3 Child protection 1.4 HIV/AIDS 1.5 Early childhood 2 Public perception 2.1 Employment policy 2.2 Sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona 2.3 Trick-or-Treat UNICEF box 2.4 Art in All of Us 3 See also 4 External links 5 References and  notes

[edit] Priorities

UNICEF mainly helps out in the poorer regions of Africa although it  has done charity work all over the world.

UNICEF is  currently focused on 5 primary priorities: Child Survival and  Development, Basic Education and  Gender Equality (including Girls Education), Child protection from violence, exploitation and  abuse, HIV/AIDS, and  children, and  Policy advocacy and  partnerships for children’s rights. Related areas of UNICEF action include early childhood development, adolescence development and  participation, life skills based education.

UNICEF work to improve the status of their priorities through 14 methods {?} ranging from direct and  legal interventions to education and  beyond to research and  census data collection.

[edit] Education

Education is  a proven intervention for improving the lives of all people, including children. Educating young women yields spectacular benefits for the current and  future generations, and  specifically affects a range of UNICEF priorities including child survival, children in family, immunization, and  child protection.

UNICEF’s aim is  to get more  girls into school, ensure that they stay in school and  that they are  equipped with the basic tools they need to succeed in later life. As part of its on-going efforts to ensure every girl and  boy their right to an  education, UNICEF’s acceleration strategy is  speeding progress in girls’ enrollment in 25 selected countries during the 2002–2005 period. Period. ^[1]

[edit] Immunization plus

Immunization is  a direct intervention method which has made great improvements in the health of children world-wide over the past 20 years. But every year, more  than 2 million children die from diseases that could have  been prevented by inexpensive vaccines.

The plus in the programme is  the additional immunizations made possible during interventions. Ranging from client education to nutritional supplements to insecticide-treated mosquito netting, these life-saving services make immunization programmes a powerful tool for child health. ^[2]

[edit] Child protection

UNICEF uses the term ‘child protection’ to refer to preventing and  responding to violence, exploitation and  abuse against children – including commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labour and  harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation/cutting and  child marriage. UNICEF’s child protection programmes also target children who are  uniquely vulnerable to these abuses, such as when living without parental care, in conflict with the law and  in armed conflict. Violations of the child’s right to protection take place in every country and  are massive, under-recognized and  under-reported barriers to child survival and  development, in addition to being human rights violations. Children subjected to violence, exploitation, abuse and  neglect are  at risk of death, poor physical and  mental health, HIV/AIDS infection, educational problems, displacement, homelessness, vagrancy and  poor parenting skills later in life. ^[3] Among many other programmes, UNICEF supports the international Child Rights Information Network.

[edit] HIV/AIDS

15 million children are  now orphaned due to AIDS. it  is estimated that by the year 2010 in sub-Saharan Africa alone, more  than 18 million children, will have  lost at least one parent to AIDS. Half of all new infections are  people under the age of 25, with girls being hit harder and  younger than boys. Working to protect and  support orphaned children, to prevent parent-child transmission, and  to give young people gender-sensitive and  youth-friendly services, UNICEF also advocates for a protective familial, social and  legal environment. UNICEF is  also running several programmes dedicated to controlling both online and  offline child pornography. ^[4]

[edit] Early childhood

Every child must be ensured the best start in life – their future, and  indeed the future of their communities, nations and  the whole world depends on it. ^[5]

UNICEF applies a holistic, evidence-based approach to Early childhood, including the following principles:

• Preventive and  curative health care including immunization, adequate nutrition, and  safe water and  basic sanitation must be provided for children, their caregivers, and  their communities.
• Children must have  birth registration, protection from abuse and  neglect, and  be provided with love and  psycho-social care as well as support for early education.
• Girls and  women, especially, should have  good nutrition and  health care, education, family support, and  their rights must be respected. They need to be informed of the health and  survival risks, to themselves and  their babies, regarding early repeat pregnancy, as well as breast feeding. The health and  survival of mothers is  directly related to the health and  survival of their children.

[edit] Public perception

UNICEF is  the world's leading children's organization. Over the 60 years of its history it  has become a primary reference for governments and  Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), collecting and  disseminating more  research on children than any other organization, writing position papers on various aspects of the health and  environments of children. UNICEF has also organised world-wide fundraising drives, to fund interventions which directly benefit children.

But many groups, governments, and  individuals have  criticised UNICEF over the years for failing to meet the needs of their particular group or  interest. Recent examples include criticism of its perceived failure to hold the Government of Sudan adequately accountable for the practice of slavery in southern Sudan, its policy against the marketing of breast-milk substitutes in developing world hospitals, and  its adherence to the 1990 Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by every member state in the United Nations except for the United States (which is  a signatory to the convention) and  Somalia.

Unlike NGOs, UNICEF is  an inter-governmental organisation and  thus is  accountable to governments. This gives it  unique reach and  access in every country in the world, but also sometimes hampers its ability to speak out on rights violations.

UNICEF has also been criticised for having political bias; while UNICEF aims to fund only non-political organisations, NGO Monitor (published by former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dore Gold) criticises the UNICEF-funded " and  Rights Activation">Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and  Rights Activation" (PYALARA), a student-run Palestinian NGO, for what NGO Monitor alleges is  its covert political agenda justifying suicide bombings and  demonising Israel. ^[6]

The Catholic Church has also been critical of UNICEF, with the Vatican even withdrawing donations, because of reports by the American Life League that parts of the funding pay for sterilizations, abortions, and  contraceptives. For more  on American Life League's view of Unicef, see http://www.all.org/article.php?id=10105&search=unicef

[edit] Employment policy

In recent years UNICEF HQ in New York City has ceased hiring full time employees, preferring instead to hire disposable contractors. These contractors work full time without any legal benefits, while UNICEF staff receive medical benefits, paid vacation, sick time, and  access to assorted UN benefits such as a living stipend, an  education stipend, paid travel and  full access to the UN Secretariat grounds. In order to get around fair labor laws, so-called consultants, many of whom in reality work full time, are  required to take one month off unpaid for every eleven worked. This cycle is  permitted for four years before the consultant must either incorporate and  'hire her or  himself' or  discontinue their consultancy with UNICEF.

[edit] Sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona

On 7 September 2006, an  agreement between UNICEF and  the Catalan club FC Barcelona was reached whereby the club would donate 0.7% of its total yearly revenue to the organization for five years. As part of the agreement, FC Barcelona will wear the UNICEF logo on the front of their shirts, which will be the first time the organization would have  such a sponsorship deal with a sports club. Despite popular misconception, this is  not the first time in club history that the logo of another organization (except for the logos of the athletic manufacturers of the shirts) will be present on the Barcelona shirt, as in fact the logo of TV3 has been visible on the sleeve of the team's kit for two years now. ^[7]

[edit] Trick-or-Treat UNICEF box

Since 1950 when a group of children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania donated $17 they got on Halloween to help post-World War II victims, the Trick-or-Treat UNICEF box has become a tradition in North America during the haunting season. These small orange boxes are  handed to children at schools and  at various locations (such as Hallmark Gold Crown Stores) prior to October 31. To date, the box has collected approximately $91 million dollars (CAD) in Canada and  over $132 million (US) in the USA.

[edit] Art in All of Us

UNICEF sponsors the Art in All of Us [[1]] initiative founded and  organised by Anthony Asael (Belgium) and  Stephanie Rabemiafara (Madagascar). The mission of Art in All of Us is  to promote creative cultural exchange throughout the UN listed countries, using universal art elements such as photography and  poetry. The AiA World Art Book Program of Art in All of Us will present in one book each and  every of the 192 UN-listed countries through a single portrait of a resident, a drawing and  a poetry done by a local child.

[edit] See also

• Afghan New Beginnings Programme
• Facts for Life
• List of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
• Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, stastical monitoring program of UNICEF
• Music for UNICEF Concert
• Street children

[edit] External links

• UNICEF
• Identity Foundation- Working for deprived children in Pune, India
• Pune Street Children Project by Identity Foundation- Global volunteering initiative on Nabuur.com
• UNICEF Snowflake Lighting with Clay Aiken

[ and  notes">edit] References and  notes

1. ^ http://www.unicef.org/media/media_21851.html
2. ^ www.unicef.org/immunization
3. ^ http://www.unicef.org/protection
4. ^ www.unicef.org/aids
5. ^ www.unicef.org/earlychildhood
6. ^ ngo-monitor.org/editions/v1n05/v1n05-1.htm
7. ^ UNICEF, Futbol Club Barcelona kick off partnership for kids in developing world