UNICEF

THE UNITED NATIONS International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is an international relief organization created as part of the United Nations in December 1946 to provide relief specifically for children around the world. It is currently active in 157 countries and territories around the world.

Its mission is to “defend children's rights, help meet their basic needs, ensure their survival and increase their opportunities to flourish; rally political will to invest in the well being of children; respond to emergencies and strengthen the ability of children and their families to handle crises, including armed conflict, natural disasters and HIV/AIDS; assist countries in transition to protect the rights of young people and to provide vital services to children and their families; advance equal rights for boys and girls and encourage their full participation in the development of their communities; and work toward the human development goals adopted by the world community and the peace, justice and social progress enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.”

This mission statement has broadened considerably as UNICEF has matured as an organization and come to a richer appreciation of the needs of children and of ways to uphold their rights.

The early years of UNICEF's existence were primarily devoted to providing relief for children in Europe; so much of the continent had been destroyed or damaged during World War II (1939–45). This relief included food, clothing, and healthcare. In 1953, the success of the early operations persuaded the United Nations (UN) to extend UNICEF's mandate indefinitely so that it could become a permanent part of the UN. At the same time, UNICEF started a global campaign against yaws, a disease then affecting millions of children, but which can be treated with penicillin.

UNICEF provides food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare for children such as the young war refugee above.

The following year, the movie star Danny Kaye became UNICEF's first ambassador at large, traveling the world to promote its message and assist in facilitating its work. The popularity of celebrities from different fields makes them well qualified to raise the profile of issues that UNICEF might wish to promote. Dozens of prominent celebrities have subsequently been appointed ambassadors at the international, regional, and [Page 1095]local levels. Whoopi Goldberg, Sir Roger Moore, David Beckham, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, and Manchester United Football Club are all among the diverse list of individuals and organizations who have been enlisted as UNICEF ambassadors. The position is held to be very prestigious and entails considerable responsibility for public behavior and image.

UNICEF was instrumental in framing and promulgating the 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which built on the 1924 Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child. This is based on 10 separate principles, which are justified because “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth,” and because “mankind owes to the child the best it has to give.”

The principles include the right to a name and a nationality, the right to social welfare, the right to compulsory free education at least at the elementary level, the right to freedom from trafficking, and the right to be the first to receive relief. Enshrining human rights in this way lays a responsibility upon governments to ensure not only that they are upholding these rights for their own children but also that they do what they can to ensure rights are upheld. The responsibility also lies upon individual people, when they have the ability to choose their government, to choose a government that is able and willing to deliver appropriate social services and welfare to all children, irrespective of race, color, creed, status or any other demographic criterion.

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