Essay On UNICEF

The core mission of UNICEF is to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, help meet their basic needs, and expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. Currently, UNICEF’s five program focus areas include the following:

1) Young child survival and development

2) Basic education and gender equality

3) HIV/AIDS

4) Child protection from violence, exploitation, and abuse

5) Policy advocacy and partnerships for children’s rights

Coordination in the current UNICEF model involves many different groups and partners. Within the focus area of “young child survival and development,” UNICEF is involved with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), which was launched in 1988 and spearheaded by the World Health Organization, Rotary International, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF. UNICEF’s specific role in this initiative is to procure and deliver vaccines in addition to mobilizing communication strategies around the epidemic. Within this initiative, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, United Nations Foundation, the European Commission, and multiple corporate sponsors and private foundations contribute to this mission. UNICEF funding is also purely donor-based and comprises of donations from the following stakeholders: country governments, non-government program global partnerships, national committees, and intergovernmental organizations.

Some of the current activities that UNICEF is involved with around the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) include coordination of national immunization days, mobilization of workers to immunize children, and promotion of activities around child health. UNICEF also utilizes its supply division for vaccine delivery. However, given the cu...

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...main regions, we propose an emergency fund specifically allocated for emergencies such as for the current emerging polio crisis. In the current UNICEF model, only a small percentage of the fund is allocated for emergency situations. In order to improve funding for the program focus area of “young child survival and development,” and the other four program focus areas, we propose to allocate 30% of the total fund aside from the regular allocation process explained earlier for emergency programs. The emergency fund will utilize a fast deployment response of funds from UN headquarters. The Executive director will direct this emergency fund and the executive board will approve emergency requests based on recommendations from the emergency operations office. The emergency operations office will request emergency funds based on reports from the regional office director.