UNICEF

/yooh"neuh sef'/, n.

United Nations Children's Fund: an agency, created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1946, concerned with improving the health and nutrition of children and mothers throughout the world; Nobel Peace Prize 1965.

[U(nited) N(ations) I(nternational) C(hildren's) E(mergency) F(und) (an earlier official name)]

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in full United Nations Children's Fund formerly (1946–53) United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

Special United Nations program for aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children.

Its original purpose was to provide relief to children in countries devastated by World War II. After 1950 it turned to general programs for the improvement of children's welfare. It was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965. UNICEF has focused its efforts on areas in which relatively small expenditures can have a significant impact on the lives of the most disadvantaged children, such as the prevention and treatment of disease. UNICEF also provides funding for health services, educational facilities, and other welfare services. It is headquartered in New York City.

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▪ international organization

acronym of  United Nations Children's Fund , formerly (1946–53)  United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund 

 special program of the United Nations (UN), devoted to aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children.

      UNICEF was created in 1946 to provide relief to children in countries devastated by World War II. After 1950 the fund directed its efforts toward general programs for the improvement of children's welfare, particularly in less-developed countries and in various emergency situations. The organization's broader mission was reflected in the name it adopted in 1953, the United Nations Children's Fund. UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965. It is headquartered in New York City.

 UNICEF has concentrated much of its effort in areas in which relatively small expenditures can have a significant impact on the lives of the most disadvantaged children, such as the prevention and treatment of disease. In keeping with this strategy, UNICEF supports immunization programs for childhood diseases and programs to prevent the spread of HIV/ AIDS; it also provides funding for health services, educational facilities, and other welfare services. Since 1996 UNICEF programs have been guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which affirms the right of all children to “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health.” UNICEF's activities are financed by both government and private contributions.

Karen Mingst

 

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