United Nations Children's Fund

Professional services

A United Nations agency that protects children's rights and delivers humanitarian and development assistance to children and families worldwide.

Last updated October 7, 2026

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Overview

UNICEF, formally the United Nations Children's Fund, is a United Nations agency whose work centers on children's rights, survival, development and protection. It was created in December 1946 as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund to provide urgent assistance to children and mothers affected by the aftermath of the Second World War. Although the emergency in its original title later ceased to define the organization, the acronym UNICEF was retained when the agency adopted its present name in 1953. The organization combines humanitarian response with longer-term development work. Its programs commonly cover immunization and primary health care, maternal and newborn health, nutrition, early childhood development, education, adolescent skills, social protection, birth registration, child protection, HIV prevention and treatment, and water, sanitation and hygiene. UNICEF also supports governments and partners with policy advice, procurement, data collection and measurement, communications, and public advocacy. It places particular emphasis on children affected by poverty, conflict, displacement, disasters, disease outbreaks, disability, discrimination and other forms of exclusion. UNICEF works through national governments, United Nations partners, civil-society organizations, communities, businesses and donors. Its field presence extends across more than 190 countries and territories, with operations frequently concentrated in fragile, least-developed and conflict-affected settings. The organization is widely associated with the procurement and distribution of vaccines and other essential supplies, but its role is broader: it helps strengthen health, education, water and protection systems while also supplying direct emergency relief when local systems are overwhelmed. The agency is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals. Its public identity is built around the principle that children's rights apply universally, while practical interventions are adapted to local needs. UNICEF is funded by voluntary contributions from governments, intergovernmental institutions, foundations, companies and individual donors rather than by mandatory UN assessments. National committees and country offices support fundraising, advocacy and public engagement in many markets. UNICEF is not a listed commercial brand and does not sell a conventional consumer product portfolio. Its visible brand assets instead include emergency appeals, child-focused research, technical standards, program services, advocacy campaigns and partnerships. It has used sport, entertainment, retail, digital advertising and celebrity participation to broaden awareness and fundraising. At the same time, it has issued guidance urging businesses and governments to respect children's rights in marketing, including restrictions on the promotion of unhealthy food to children and stronger representation and inclusion in advertising. The organization remains active as a global humanitarian and development institution. Its work spans routine services and acute crises, from vaccination and school support to responses for children living through war, forced displacement, epidemics and natural disasters. UNICEF's influence comes from its combination of operational reach, technical expertise, public-sector relationships, procurement capacity and one of the world's most recognizable child-rights identities.

History

UNICEF was established in New York on 11 December 1946 as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. Its initial purpose was postwar relief: food, medicine and other assistance for children and mothers in countries devastated by the Second World War. The organization was created within the emerging United Nations system, with a mandate that reflected the immediate humanitarian conditions of the period. During the late 1940s and 1950s, UNICEF's role broadened beyond temporary European relief. In 1950, its mandate was extended toward the longer-term needs of children and women in developing countries. In 1953, the organization adopted the shorter formal name United Nations Children's Fund while retaining the familiar UNICEF acronym. This change reflected its transition from a narrowly defined emergency fund into a continuing international institution concerned with child welfare and development. Over subsequent decades, UNICEF expanded programs in child health, nutrition, education, water and sanitation, maternal care and protection from exploitation. It became particularly prominent in immunization and primary health initiatives, working with governments and international partners to supply vaccines, strengthen delivery systems and reach children who were difficult to serve through ordinary public services. Its operating model combined technical support and procurement with country-level implementation and public advocacy. The organization increasingly placed children's rights at the center of its work. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations in 1989, became a central reference for UNICEF's policy and programming. The agency's remit consequently came to include not only survival and basic services but also participation, non-discrimination, protection from violence and exploitation, identity, education and the development of supportive social systems. UNICEF also became an important producer and user of global child-related statistics, helping governments and development partners measure mortality, education, nutrition, water access, child labor and other conditions. Humanitarian crises remained a defining part of the institution's history. UNICEF has responded to armed conflicts, refugee and displacement emergencies, disease outbreaks, famine, natural disasters and economic shocks. Its emergency work commonly links immediate supplies and services with longer-term recovery, including temporary learning, child-friendly spaces, mental-health and psychosocial support, family reunification, clean water, sanitation and vaccination. The organization has operated in many of the world's most difficult environments, often through partnerships with national authorities and local organizations. Fundraising and public communications have also shaped UNICEF's modern identity. National committees, individual donors, foundations, governments and corporate partners provide voluntary resources, while campaigns use television, sport, entertainment, retail and digital channels to build awareness and financial support. Examples include the long-running Change for Good association, partnerships connected to FC Barcelona, the 2005 Smurfs public-service advertisement about children affected by war, and later collaborations with WWE and digital advertising partners. These activities have sometimes generated brand-governance questions, particularly when a commercial partner used a UNICEF-associated campaign name or when emotionally intense advertising was used to depict conflict. In the 2020s, UNICEF continued to combine direct services with policy and advocacy. It published guidance on protecting children from harmful food marketing, including marketing delivered through social media, games, apps, sponsorships and other digital formats. It also developed business-facing guidance on diversity and inclusion in advertising and marketing aimed at children. These publications reflect a broader strategy: UNICEF seeks not only to deliver assistance but also to influence the systems, laws, markets and social norms that shape children's lives. Today UNICEF remains an active United Nations agency working in more than 190 countries and territories. It is governed by an Executive Board and financed through voluntary contributions. Its contemporary work covers health, nutrition, education, WASH, social protection, child protection, adolescent development, humanitarian action, data and rights advocacy. The organization retains the postwar relief mission from which it emerged, but its present identity is that of a global child-rights institution serving both emergency and development objectives.

2023
Child-rights-based food-marketing guidance published
[4]A Child Rights-Based Approach to Food Marketingunicef.org
UNICEF publishes guidance calling for stronger protection of children from unhealthy food marketing across traditional and digital channels.
2018
UNICEF USA and WWE begin partnership
[6]UNICEF USA and WWE Team Up to Help Kids in Needadweek.com
The partnership uses WWE's public platform and audience to support children and UNICEF-related humanitarian efforts.
2005
The Smurfs war-awareness advertisement airs in Belgium
[1]UNICEFen.wikipedia.org
A UNICEF public-service advertisement depicts the destruction of the Smurf village to draw attention to children affected by armed conflict.
1989
Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted
[9]Convention on the Rights of the Child adoptedunicef.org
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child becomes a central normative framework for UNICEF's programming and advocacy.
1953
Present formal name adopted
[1]UNICEFen.wikipedia.org
The institution becomes the United Nations Children's Fund while preserving the UNICEF acronym.
1950
Mandate expands beyond postwar relief
[1]UNICEFen.wikipedia.org
The organization receives a broader mandate addressing the longer-term needs of children and women, particularly in developing countries.
1946
UNICEF is established
[1]UNICEFen.wikipedia.org
The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund is created on 11 December to provide relief to children and mothers affected by the Second World War.

Products and positioning

A universal child-rights organization combining humanitarian response, development assistance, technical expertise, public advocacy and large-scale procurement.

Health services
Immunization and child health
UNICEF supports governments and partners with vaccine procurement, cold-chain and delivery assistance, primary health care, maternal and newborn services, and disease-prevention programs. The work is especially important in low-resource and crisis settings, where supply, logistics and access barriers can prevent children from receiving routine or emergency care.
Nutrition
Nutrition programs
Nutrition work includes prevention and treatment of child undernutrition, support for infant and young-child feeding, micronutrient interventions and policy advocacy. UNICEF also addresses the wider food environment and has argued for child-rights-based limits on marketing that promotes foods high in sugar, salt or unhealthy fats.
WASH
Water, sanitation and hygiene
UNICEF's WASH programs improve access to safe drinking water, sanitation facilities and hygiene information in homes, schools, health centers and emergency settings. The organization combines infrastructure and supplies with behavior-change work, institutional support and rapid response during outbreaks, disasters and displacement crises.
Education
Education and adolescent skills
Education assistance ranges from early childhood development and basic learning to adolescent skills and support for children whose schooling is interrupted by conflict, poverty or displacement. UNICEF works with public authorities and partners on access, quality, inclusion, learning continuity and safe education environments.
Protection services
Child protection
Child-protection programs address violence, exploitation, abuse, harmful practices, child labor, separation from caregivers, lack of legal identity and exclusion. Activities may include social-work systems, birth registration, referral services, family tracing, psychosocial support and policy reform designed to make institutions safer and more inclusive.
Humanitarian aid
Humanitarian emergency response
In wars, disasters, disease outbreaks and displacement emergencies, UNICEF supplies essential goods and supports services such as clean water, vaccination, nutrition, education, protection and psychosocial care. Emergency operations are generally designed to connect immediate relief with recovery and the rebuilding of public systems.

Marketing campaigns

2024Das Leben ist kein Spiel
Switzerland and Liechtenstein
The campaign portrayed the fear and anxiety experienced by children living through war, using actor Anatole Taubman in dramatized advertising to make the effects of conflict visible to the public.
Outcome. The campaign sought to increase awareness and donations for UNICEF programs supporting children affected by armed conflict.
Source
2022Ukraine digital fundraising campaign
International
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, UNICEF worked with DELVE and Amazon Marketing Cloud tools to identify potential donors and tailor digital fundraising toward support for children affected by the crisis.
Outcome. The case study reports improved fundraising efficiency and a strategy intended to encourage one-time donors to give again.
Source
2018UNICEF USA and WWE partnership
United States and international digital audiences
UNICEF USA and WWE developed a partnership focused on children in need, using WWE's entertainment platform and talent to promote empowerment, inclusion and humanitarian support.
Outcome. The partnership continued to be presented as a vehicle for public engagement and charitable support for children.
Source
2009Change for Good trademark dispute with Tesco
United Kingdom
Tesco used the phrase "Change for Good" in a commercial retail promotion. UNICEF regarded the phrase as closely associated with its charitable fundraising campaign and objected to what it considered commercial appropriation.
Outcome. The episode highlighted the tension between UNICEF's fundraising trademarks and commercial uses that could confuse audiences or divert attention from charitable giving.
Source
2005The Smurfs anti-war public-service advertisement
Belgium
UNICEF broadcast an advertisement in which the Smurf village is destroyed by warplanes, using a familiar fictional world to communicate the psychological shock and devastation that war causes children.
Outcome. The advertisement generated awareness for UNICEF's work with children affected by conflict and was scheduled after the evening watershed because of its disturbing imagery.
Source

Brand decisions

2023
Advocate for stronger controls on food marketing to childrenStrategy
Background
UNICEF identified widespread promotion of foods high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats through television, digital media, games, apps, sponsorships and other integrated marketing channels.
Action taken
It published a child-rights-based framework calling on governments to adopt stronger, mandatory protections rather than relying solely on voluntary industry commitments.
Aftermath
The guidance reinforced UNICEF's role in shaping policy and business practice around children's rights and commercial influence.
Source
2021
Publish a playbook for diversity and inclusion in child-focused marketingStrategy
Background
UNICEF argued that products, entertainment and marketing directed at children can reinforce stereotypes or alternatively promote more equal and representative social norms.
Action taken
Its Gender Equality team produced guidance for companies involved in toys, gaming, publishing, film, television, clothing and other children's sectors.
Aftermath
The publication extended UNICEF's business engagement from child protection and responsible marketing into representation, inclusion and gender equality.
Source
1953
Retain UNICEF acronym while adopting a permanent child-welfare identityStrategy
Background
The organization had originally been created as an emergency fund for children affected by the Second World War, but its work was becoming a continuing global undertaking.
Action taken
It adopted the formal name United Nations Children's Fund while retaining the established UNICEF acronym.
Aftermath
The name allowed UNICEF to move beyond its postwar emergency origins without abandoning a highly recognizable international identity.
Source

Recent events

2026.10.23
Reported2026.10.23
Bharat Biotech agrees to reduce Mosqivac price[10]Bharat Biotech 同意下调 Mosqivac 疫苗价格timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Bharat Biotech said it reached an equitable pricing agreement with Gavi and UNICEF to reduce the price of its Mosqivac malaria vaccine by about 40%, to €5.50 per dose from early 2027.
2021.09.22
Reported2021.09.22
Valentino launches Vaccinated hoodie[11]Valentino推出“Vaccinated”连帽衫dailymail.com
Valentino launched a limited-edition black and red hoodie featuring its signature logo and the word “Vaccinated.” The article says all profits from the sweatshirts will be donated to UNICEF in support of the vaccination campaign.
2021.04.26
Reported2021.04.26
Google announces Rs 135 crore in funding for India’s COVID-19 response[12]Google宣布为印度抗疫提供13.5亿卢比资金businesstoday.in
Google announced Rs 135 crore in new funding for India, including grants, Ad Grants and donations from Google employees, to support COVID-19 relief and public-health information efforts.
2020.12.10
Reported2020.12.10
Finnair announces virtual-reality Christmas flights[13]芬兰航空宣布推出圣诞虚拟现实航班thenationalnews.com
Finnair announced plans to operate eight browser-based virtual-reality flights to Santa's home town of Rovaniemi, with tickets costing $10 and profits going to Unicef.
2020.12.03
Reported2020.12.03
Primero X upgrade unveiled[14]Primero X 升级版发布itechpost.com
Microsoft and UNICEF unveiled Primero X, an upgraded version of the open-source case management web application for social service providers supporting vulnerable children.
2020.12.02
Reported2020.12.02
H&M Australia launches in-store fundraising campaign with UNICEF[15]H&M澳大利亚与联合国儿童基金会推出店内募捐活动ragtrader.com.au
H&M Australia launched its first in-store fundraising campaign across the country in partnership with UNICEF. During December, customers could add a $2 donation to a purchase to support UNICEF's immunisation program in Papua New Guinea.
2020.11.20
Reported2020.11.20
Pandora and UNICEF host a World Children’s Day creative workshop[16]Pandora与联合国儿童基金会举办世界儿童日创意工作坊iol.co.za
Pandora and UNICEF hosted a creative workshop for World Children’s Day 2020 and created a video with Millie Bobby Brown encouraging children to express their creativity and imagine their futures.
2020.10.01
Reported2020.10.01
UNICEF Philippines launches Basket of Hope 2020[17]联合国儿童基金会菲律宾办事处推出“希望篮子2020”sunstar.com.ph
UNICEF Philippines launched the Basket of Hope 2020 fundraising campaign to support Filipino children with access to vaccines, education, nutrition, hygiene, and other support.
Unconfirmed
Reported2020.08.26
Ericsson and UNICEF partner on school connectivity mapping[18]Ericsson与联合国儿童基金会合作绘制学校网络连接图thehindubusinessline.com
Ericsson entered a global partnership with UNICEF to help map internet connectivity in schools across 35 countries by the end of 2023.
2020.07.30
Reported2020.07.30
Bybit pledges WSOT prize-fund donation to UNICEF[19]Bybit 承诺将 WSOT 奖金捐赠给 UNICEFfinanznachrichten.de
Bybit announced that it would donate up to 10 BTC to UNICEF from its World Series of Trading prize fund. The donation arrangement was made through a partnership with UNICEF's New Zealand branch.

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