The United Nations Children’s Fund (or UNICEF) was formed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1947, to give the emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been overwhelmed by World War II. In 1953, UNICEF became an enduring part of the United Nations System and its name was shortened from the original United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund but it has continued to be known by the popular short form based on this old name. It was located in New York City; UNICEF provides enduring caring and developmental help to children and mothers in developing countries. A voluntarily funded agency, UNICEF relies on contributions from governments and private donors. Its programs underline services at Community level developing to support the health and the comfort of the children.
The UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 and Prince of Asturias Award of Concord in 2006. In the United States, Canada and some other countries, the UNICEF is known for its “Trick-Or-Treat for UNICEF” in which the children collect the money for the UNICEF of the houses that they Trick-Or-Treat the Halloween night, sometimes instead of candy. Following the reaching of term limits by Executive Director of UNICEF Carol Bellamy, previous United States Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman took control of the organization in May 2005 with a program to increase the organization’s focus on the Millennium Development Goals. Total income to UNICEF for 2006 was $2,781,000,000. UNICEF is present in 190 countries and territories around the world. UNICEF is at present focused on five main priorities: Child Survival and Development, Basic Education and Gender Equality (including girls’ education), Child protection from violence, exploitation, and abuse, HIV/AIDS and children, and Policy advocacy and partnerships for children’s rights. Related areas of UNICEF action include early childhood development, adolescence development and participation; life skills based education and child rights all over the world. UNICEF works to get better the status of their priorities through 14 methods ranging from direct and legal interventions to education and beyond to research and census data collection.