UNICEF

AN INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATION

UNICEF is a leading
humanitarian and development
agency working globally for the
rights of every child. Child rights
begin with safe shelter, nutrition,
protection from disaster and
conflict and traverse the life
cycle:

pre-natal care for healthy

births, clean water and
sanitation, health care and
education.

UNICEF has spent nearly 70

years working to improve the
lives of children and their
families. Working with and for
children through adolescence
and into adulthood requires a
global presence whose

goal is to produce results and

monitor their effects. UNICEF
also lobbies and partners with
leaders, thinkers and policy
makers to help all children
realize their rightsespecially
the most disadvantaged.

UNICEFS VISION IS:

A world where the rights of every child
are realized.

In everything we do, we work

to achieve a world where all
children, especially the most
vulnerable and disadvantaged,
have equal opportunities to
survive and thrive.

WHAT UNICEF DOES AND FOR WHOM

1. UNICEF is mandated by the United

Nations General Assembly to advocate
for the protection of childrens rights, to
help meet their basic needs and to
expand their opportunities to reach
their full potential
2. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on
the Rights of the Child and strives to
establish childrens rights as enduring
ethical principles and international
standards of behavior towards children

3. UNICEF insists that the survival,

protection and development of children
are universal development imperatives
that are integral to human progress

UNICEFS SCOPE OF WORK AND COMMITMENT

1. UNICEF mobilizes political will and

material resources to help countries,
particularly developing countries, ensure
a first call for children and to build
their capacity to form appropriate
policies and deliver services for children
and their families
2. UNICEF is committed to ensuring special
protection for the most disadvantaged
children victims of war, disasters,
extreme poverty, all forms of violence
and exploitation and those with
disabilities

3. UNICEF responds in emergencies

to protect the rights of children. In
coordination with United Nations
partners and humanitarian agencies,
UNICEF makes its unique facilities for
rapid response available to its
partners to relieve the suffering of
children and those who provide their
care

UNICEFS PRINCIPLES, AIMS AND GOALS

1. UNICEF is non-partisan and its

cooperation is free of discrimination. In
everything it does, the most
disadvantaged children and the
countries in greatest need have priority
2. UNICEF aims, through its country
programmes, to promote the equal
rights of women and girls and to
support their full participation in the
political, social, and economic
development of their communities

3. UNICEF works with all its partners

towards the attainment of the
sustainable human development
goals adopted by the world
community and the realization of the
vision of peace and social progress
enshrined in the Charter of the United
Nations

UNICEFS PURPOSE
UNICEF promotes the rights of every child,
emphasizing the most disadvantaged,
excluded and vulnerable children
UNICEF and its partners work to provide all
children with opportunities to survive,
develop and reach their full potential to the
benefit of the sustained growth and
stability of countries and a global standard
of human rights for all

HEADQUARTERS
Headquarters, New York, USA
Regional Office for Europe, Geneva,
Switzerland
Supply Division, Copenhagen, Denmark
Innocenti Research Centre, Florence, Italy
Brussels Office, Belgium
Office for Japan, Tokyo, Japan

UNICEF

BELIEVES . . .

All children have a right

to survive, thrive and
fulfill their potential - to
the benefit of a better
world.

UNICEF

BELIEVES . . .

That means equal access to

services and care that can
make all the difference in
childrens lives. It means
working to achieve gender
fairness and equality.

UNICEF

BELIEVES

...

It means working with

children and
adolescents and amplifying
their concerns.

PROGRAMME:

Maternal and
newborn health

MATERNAL
MORTALITY

In 2015, it is estimated that

about 800 girls and women
died every day as a result of
pregnancy and child birthrelated
complications.
Maternal deaths are now
increasingly concentrated in
sub-Saharan
Africa,

where high fertility rates

combine with inadequate
access to quality antenatal
care and skilled attendance
at birth to substantially
elevate the risk of death in
this region.

NEONATAL MORTALITY

While the world has achieved

impressive reductions in
mortality of children aged under
five since 1990, the survival of
newborns (young infants in the
first month of life) has lagged
behind. It is estimated that in
2015, about 1 million newborns
died, equivalent

to 2,740 per day A child born in

2015 was approximately 500
times more likely to die on the
first day of life that at one month
of age. The high burden of still
births is also an increasingly
recognized problem, with 2.6
million estimated still births in
2015.

LIFESAVING
SOLUTIONS

 Availability and accessibility of

skilled birth attendants, basic and
comprehensive emergency
obstetric care, around the time of
birth.
A large proportion of newborn
illnesses and deaths can also be
prevented using simple, low-cost

interventions during delivery and during

the week following birth partum,
provided both in the facility and at home
(where currently 50 per cent of newborn
deaths occur).

Regular visits by community

health workers at the time of
delivery and following birth can be
instrumental in preventing
complications and post-natal
mortality.

 Empowering women,
families and communities by
supporting their involvement
and proactive care-seeking
for pregnancy care, nutrition,
birth preparedness, use of a
skilled attendant at birth,

recognition of maternal and

newborn danger signs,
early initiation and
exclusive breastfeeding,
postnatal care and support
for optimal birth spacing is
important.

 Identification of pregnant
women by community health
workers and continued followup and support during
antenatal and postnatal period
can promote healthy practices
and timely care-seeking in
case of complications

UNICEF programming around

maternal and newborn health
seeks to reduce inequities of
care, strengthen health
systems, incorporate
resilience and risk-informed
planning, and focus attention
on reduction of adolescent
pregnancies.

UNICEF promotes a
holistic, rights-based
approach of maternal and
child health. To this end,
UNICEF seeks to enhance
the role of women, prevent
child marriage, increase
girls education,

educate, and eliminate

female genital
mutilation/cutting (FGM/C),
and support the
development of adolescent
life skills.

REFERENCES:
http://www.unicef.org/publicpartnerships/files/UNICEF_Missio
n(1).
pdf
http://www.unicef.org/health/index_maternalhealth.html