"The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), originally known as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children and mothers in countries that had been devastated by World War II"
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children's lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence
According to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UNICEF has a mandate to safeguard the rights of all children, everywhere, which sets out universal and indivisible rights that apply to every child, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in 2015, which apply to every country.
According to UNICEF, in West and Central Africa, childhood immunization, one of the most important health and life-saving advances in public health, has stagnated.
In West and Central Africa, UNICEF works with partners across the region like local governments and other stakeholders to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, basically geared to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
It has since extended its service to other regions of the world. One of the main agendas is to keep the child safe from diseases, physical and any other form of abuse.
UNICEF Agenda include:
No Poverty
Half the proportion of men, women, and children of all ages living in poverty.
Peace, justice, and strong institutions
End abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and all forms of violence against and torture of children.
Zero hunger
End hunger and ensure access by all people, including infants, to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food.
End all forms of malnutrition, including achieving internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under five years of age by 2025.
Decent work and economic growth
Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labor in all its forms.
Gender equality
End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls
Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation.
Good health and well-being
End preventable deaths of newborns and children under five.
Quality education
Ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.
Ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.
Some regions report a slow improvement in the situation on the ground. This can be associated with many factors like political instability and poor facilities, death of young children is still high with one in 30 babies dying in the neonatal period. The likelihood of a pregnant woman or new mother dying has decreased, but pregnancy is still the leading cause of death among teenage mothers.
The Development Goals adopted by world leaders in 2015 apply to all countries and every citizen within them. The goals aim to ensure equity, with everyone having the same safeguards and life opportunities within every country.
The disclaimer is that even with all this effort being put in every day the death toll among children in West and Central Africa has not reduced significantly. It's unfortunate but Africa alone accounts for a third of child deaths in the world. The saddest part is lives being claimed by easily preventable causes such as malaria etc.
The organization still works towards ensuring that even the local governments are wholly joined in this fight for the rights of children.
TAKEAWAY
UNICEF has done recommendable work across the world and they have changed the lives of countless children.
