UNICEF
United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
What are the Aims of UNICEF?
The Overall aim of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund is to protect the rights fo the child and “ to meet children’s basic needs and expand their opportunities to reach their full potential”.
The 2006-2013 aims are:
Child Mortality rates to reach the 2015 Millenium development goal
Prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS, specifically Mother to Child transmission. Treatment, Protection and Support for those at risk or infected, especially with the foundation Children Affected by Aids
Protection of Children from violence, abuse and exploitation
Basic education and gender equality
Monitoring of Policies (both social and economic) specifically regarding Children and Women
Over 30 million children – across 35 countries with developed economies – live in poverty.
Millennium Development Goals
The key goals of Humanitarian Work laid out by the Nations at the 2000 Summit to achieve by 2015
Clean water is the key
One of the most fundamental needs for a healthy community and children is access to clean water
UNICEF Child Mortality Rates
1960- 2005 demonstrates the positive progress of in achieving the 2015 Child Mortality goal
UNICEF immunises 100 million infants each year through the E.P.I program, saving 2-3 million lives annually
How do they intend to achieve these aims?
i) Goal: Child Mortality Rates
Targets by 2015: To reduce child mortality rates by two thirds, from 93 children of every 1,000 dying before age five in 1990 to 31 of every 1,000 in 2015.
Steps to achieving this goal:
-Providing high-impact health and nutrition interventions
-Improving family care practises
-Increasing access to improved water and sanitation
-Responding rapidly to emergencies
ii) Goal: Prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS
Targets by 2015: Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Steps to achieving this goal:
-Unicef has organised campaigns on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment
-Increase access to youth-friendly, gender based health services that provide testing and counselling
-Works in conjunction with UNAIDS
iii) Goal: Protection of children from violence
Steps to achieving this goal:
-Strengthening national child protection systems, including the set of laws, policies, regulations and services needed across all social sectors — especially social welfare, education, health, security and justice — to support prevention and response to protection related risks
-Supporting social change
-Strengthening child protection in armed conflict and natural disasters
-Building evidence, managing knowledge and convening and catalyzing agents of change as priority cross-cutting areas.
iv) Goal: Monitoring children rights policies
Steps to achieving this goal:
-Unicef works to maintain and monitor all policies surrounding children right’s policies.
Current Unicef Campaigns
Current campaign's of Unicef which are actively working towards achieving these goals include:
-Speak up for children
-Unicef 'Tap Project'
-'Elimination Project'
-'Unite against AIDS/HIV'
Challenges, Obstacles and Criticisms
The challenges and obstacles that UNICEF faces for fulfilling their goals, targets and aims include:
-Its capacity to effectively lead humanitarian clusters on the ground.
-Its limited role in wealth creation and climate change.
-Its struggles to aggregate development results to an organisational level.
-Limited funds for specific countries in priority.
-Limited man power and ability to address every issue.
Unicef’s actions in Haiti highlighted some probable criticisms which included:
1. Achieving results in the first three months
2. Organisational factors affecting results
3. Performance improvement – organisational culture and learning
Evaluation UNICEF's Effectiveness
- UNICEF operates on a range of different levels and addresses many different themes regarding child welfare across the world.
- UNICEF constantly update medium term goals to address current and urgent issues.
- Play a huge role in achieving the 2015 Millenium Development goals, with many of these goals appearing in UNICEF’s own medium term plan and focus.
-66% of UNICEF expenditure was directed to the development and assistance of developing nations
Reducing Child Mortality:
-Family care initiatives promoting breastfeeding, maternal and infant care and education about the importance of nutrition.
-Work beyond the Domestic Level: Preventing diseases (such as cholera) and improving sanitation for developing nations.
- Immunisation can prevent millions of deaths yearly
-quarter of a million lives can be saved through vitamin A supplementation.
40% reduction in child deaths from 1990 to 2002.
Universal Education:
- 90 million girls worldwide excluded from education as compared to around 25 million boys.
-UNGEI (United Nations Girls Education Initiative) has played a significant role in improving these statistics, the quality of the education available and the elimination of discrimination at an official level.
-2011 Aid Review of UNICEF states:" [there is] scope to do more"
-Research supports education is the ticket to a better life and a more prosperous future for even the most remote communities.
-SEE (Simulations in Equitable Education) program, one that assists countries in making universal education more affordable for families and more profitable for developing nations.
- 66% of the world's countries have as many girls are now enrolled in primary school as boys.
Bibliography
Unknown. "Protection of Children from Violence, Abuse and Exploitation." UNICEF ROSA. UNICEF, 17 Feb. 2007. Web. 26 May 2013.
Unknown. "Unicef in Action: Strategy and Priorities." UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa. UNICEF, 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 21 May 2013. <http://www.unicef.org/esaro/5482_HIV_AIDS_strategy.html>.
Author Unknown. "Evaluation Database." Independent Review of UNICEF's Operational Response to the January 2010 Earthquake in Haiti. UNICEF, 28 July 2011. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/index_60396.html>.
Unknown. "Millenium Development Goals." UNICEF. Unicef, n.d. Web. 25 May 2013. <Unknown. "Unicef in Action: Strategy and Priorities." UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa. UNICEF, 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 21 May 2013. .>.
Unknown. "Multilateral Aid Review of UNICEF." Assessment of United Nations Children's Emergency Fund. Government UK, Feb. 2011. Web. 26 May 2013. <https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/67629/unicef.pdf%20>.
Unknown. "Unicef." United Nations Children's Emergency Fund. United Nations, 2013. Web.24 May 2013 <http://www.unicef.org/>.
World Health Organisation. World Health Statistics 2013. -: World Health Organisation, 2013. World Health Statistics. United Nations, 10 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/82058/1/WHO_HIS_HSI_13.1_eng.pdf>.
Unknown. "Under-Five Mortality Rate." Under-Five Mortality Rate. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://kff.org/global-indicator/under-five-mortality-rate/>.