UNICEF Day 2019: Know history and significance of the United Nations agency

Established by the UN General Assembly in 1946, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) completed 73 years of its foundation on December 11, 2019. It was first created as the International Children’s Emergency Fund (ICEF) by the UN Relief Rehabilitation Administration to help children affected by World War II, but later the General Assembly adopted a resolution to bring UNICEF into being.

In the following year, UNICEF received its first private contribution and the first UNICEF National Committee was established in the United States as a supportive network of independent charities. In 1953, it became a permanent agency of the UN and the words ‘International’ and ‘Emergency’ were dropped from the official name. However, the acronym ‘UNICEF’ was retained. Six years later, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child to mark international consensus on the fundamental principles of children’s rights.

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Nobel Peace Prize

While it began with a focus on healthcare, shelter and good nutrition, the UN agency started emphasising on children’s education as well and provided aid for education programmes globally. In 1965, UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the "promotion of brotherhood among nations", recognising work for children as work for peace. It helped to mobilise several organisations to provide, food, shelter, sanitation supplies and water to millions of refugees who fled to India from Bangladesh.

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The United Nations declared 1979 as the International Year of the Child to increase awareness about the conditions faced by children around the world and to stimulate action on their rights. UNICEF works with partners around the world to promote policies and expand access to services that protect all children. The UN agency works for social inclusion, gender equality, child protection, adolescent development, and environment and climate change among others. 

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories and in the world's toughest places to reach the children and young people in need. In 1989, record 159 UN member states adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has become the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.

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