72 PROMOTING AND PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS CHAPTER VIII THE UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND Summary: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works to secure the rights of minority children and women by undertaking a wide range of activities in five focus areas: young child survival and development; basic education and gender equality; children and HIV/AIDS; child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse; and policy advocacy and partnerships for children’s rights. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It was established in 1946, initially to provide short-term relief to children after the Second World War in Europe. Its mission is to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. Its work, carried out in 190 countries, helps children survive and thrive from early childhood through adolescence. UNICEF supports child health (it is the world’s largest provider of vaccines in developing countries) and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and Governments. UNICEF carries out its work primarily in the field, integrating with other United Nations activities within a country. Each UNICEF country office pursues the agency’s mission through a unique programme of cooperation developed with the host Government and with input from a range of stakeholders. This programme focuses on practical ways to realize the rights of children and women within the country. Needs are analysed in a situation report produced during the fiveyear programme cycle. Regional offices guide this work and provide technical assistance to country offices as needed.80 Many people in industrialized countries first hear about the work of UNICEF through the activities of its 36 national committees. These NGOs promote children’s rights, raise funds, sell UNICEF greeting cards and other products, create key partnerships and provide other invaluable support. They raise one third of the agency’s resources. A 36-member Executive Board made up of Government representatives guides and monitors all of the agency’s work. Overall management and administration is determined at the New York headquarters where global policy on children is shaped. Specialized offices include the Supply Division, based in Copenhagen, which provides such essential items as life-saving vaccines for children in developing countries. UNICEF also operates the Innocenti Research Centre in Florence, Italy, and has offices in Japan and Brussels which assist in fundraising and liaison with policymakers. The work of UNICEF is guided by the provisions and principles of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified international human rights instrument in history. Because it is in force in virtually the entire community of nations, the Convention provides a common ethical and legal framework to develop an agenda for children and, in addition, constitutes a common reference against which progress may be assessed. The Convention and the Committee on the Rights of the Child are discussed in chapter V. See www.unicef.org/about/structure/index_worldcontact.html (accessed 2 December 2012). 80