UNICEF

UNICEF works in 190+ countries to save children's lives and defend their rights.

The United Nations Children's Fund was established by UN General Assembly Resolution 57 (I) on 11 December 1946 to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries devastated by the Second World War. The 'International' and 'Emergency' were later dropped from its name, but the acronym UNICEF stuck.

UNICEF is unusual among UN agencies in being funded entirely by voluntary contributions — from governments, intergovernmental bodies, the private sector and individual donors — rather than by assessed dues. It is governed by a 36-member Executive Board and operates in more than 190 countries and territories, with country offices that work directly with national ministries of health, education and social welfare.

The Supply Division in Copenhagen procures roughly forty per cent of the world's childhood vaccines each year, alongside therapeutic food, water and sanitation kits, and educational materials, and ships them to more than a hundred countries. UNICEF is also the lead humanitarian agency for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), nutrition and child protection in most large-scale emergencies, coordinating those clusters on behalf of the wider humanitarian system.