Most of its work is in the field, with a network that includes 150 country offices, headquarters and other facilities, and 34 "national committees" that carry out its mission through programs developed with host governments.
As its first chairman, Rajchman chose Maurice Pate of the Commission for Relief in Belgium to direct the agency and "to think about organizing an action, a fund for the benefit of children, war victims chiefly.
"[14] Rajchman, as head of a special UN subcommittee and with the support of La Guardia, Herbert Hoover and Maurice Pate, presented the resolution to the General assembly.
[19] National committees collectively account for about one-third of the agency's annual income, including from corporations, civil society organizations, around six million individual donors worldwide.
[20] UNICEF is present in 191 countries and territories around the world, but not involved in nine others (Bahamas, Brunei, Cyprus, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Singapore, and Taiwan).
These non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are primarily responsible for fundraising, selling UNICEF greeting cards and products, creating private and public partnerships, advocating for children's rights, and providing other support.
[22] On 19 April 2007, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg was appointed UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children,[23] in which role she has visited Brazil (2007),[24] China (2008),[25] and Burundi (2009).
This prompted the agency to say, "it is the first time in Unicef's history that a commercial entity has purposely set out to capitalize on one of our campaigns and subsequently damage an income stream which several of our programs for children are dependent on".
[27][28] "Change for Good" is also supported by Australian airline Qantas, relying on passengers to fundraise via a given envelope since 1991, and has raised over $36 million, with over 19,500 kg of coins every year.
As part of the agreement, FC Barcelona would wear the UNICEF logo on the front of their uniforms in yellow (as seen in the picture on the right of Lionel Messi).
From 2022 onwards, Barcelona has made a partnership with Swedish company Spotify and has since put the UNHCR logo in gold at the bottom of the back of their jerseys.
The points then unlock funding from partners, which is then used by UNICEF to deliver lifesaving packets of therapeutic food to severely malnourished children around the world.
Since 1950, when a group of children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, donated $17 which they received on Halloween to help post-World War II victims, the Trick-or-Treat UNICEF box has become a tradition in North America during the fall.
To raise money to support its Education and Literacy Programs, UNICEF collaborates with companies worldwide – international as well as small- and medium-sized businesses.
[47] According to Vaccine News Daily, Merck & Co. partnered with UNICEF in June 2013 to decrease maternal mortality, HIV and tuberculosis prevalence in South Africa.
[49] UNICEF works directly with companies to improve their business practices, bringing them in line with obligations under international law, and ensuring that they respect children's rights in the realms of the marketplace, workplace, and the community.
UNICEF works with companies seeking to improve their social sustainability by guiding them through a due diligence process where issues throughout their supply chain, such as child labour, can be identified and actions to ratify them are put in place.
They have selected professions from the most conventional such as teaching and nursing to the most unconventional like archery, bee-keeping, scrap management[clarification needed], often entering what has traditionally been a man's domain.
U-Report is a free SMS social monitoring tool and real-time information system for community participation, designed to strengthen community-led development, citizen engagement, and positive change.
Issues polled include among others health, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, youth unemployment, HIV/ AIDS, disease outbreaks; social welfare sectors.
[53][54] The announcement was made at Mansion House, London[55] as part of a launch event for the Rugby League World Cup legacy program called 'Inspired by RLWC2021'.
The program reaffirms the centre's academic freedom and the focus of IRC's research on knowledge gaps, emerging questions and sensitive issues which are relevant to the realization of children's rights, in developing and industrialized countries.
It capitalizes on IRC's role as an interface between UNICEF field experience, international experts, research networks and policy makers and is designed to strengthen the centre's institutional collaboration with regional academic and policy institutions, pursuing the following goals: Three interrelated strategies guide the achievement of these goals: UNICEF's programmatic objectives include the promotion of safe abortions[61] and education in family planning and in the use of contraception.
In 2013, together with WHO, it published an integrated plan of guidelines for the prevention of infant mortality caused by pneumonia and diarrhea, including, among the recommended strategies for promoting the health of women and children, access to safe abortion.
The World Health Organization described the alleged actions as reprehensible and a UNICEF spokesperson acknowledged that such sexual assault cases are underreported in the region.
The group was coordinated by Michel Felu, a UNICEF employee who installed a photo lab in the cellar of the office to develop pictures of children engaged in obscene acts.
[92] UNICEF has also admitted to shortcomings in its humanitarian support of children who said that they were raped and sexually abused by French peacekeepers in Central African Republic.
"[96][97] In December 2020, UNICEF made funding available to feed children in the UK for the first time as part of its Food Power for Generation COVID initiative.
Chris Forster, from Transforming Plymouth Together, one of the Devon charities to benefit from UNICEF donations, said, "We had one family as part of the deliveries last week literally in tears with gratitude because their cupboard was bare."
Scottish National Party MP, Tommy Sheppard said, "It is astonishing that these comments are coming from the same government that had to be publicly shamed into following Scotland's lead and providing free school meals for children over the holidays."