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The new, worldwide recognition accorded to children's rights and the
widespread acceptance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child have
presented great opportunities for the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) and have revitalized its work. The UNICEF Mission Statement
agreed on by the Executive Board in 1996 formally acknowledges that the
pursuit of the rights of children and women is a fundamental purpose of
UNICEF. The Mission Statement also makes clear that UNICEF's work for the
overall protection of childhood is guided by the principles and standards
established by the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as by the
Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. When women's
rights are respected in a society, then it follows that children's rights
will also be better protected.
A rights-based approach to programming
Since its foundation in the aftermath of World War II as the United
Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, UNICEF has been strongly
committed to protecting the rights of children in times of peace and war,
by encouraging action and advocating in favour of the most disadvantaged
and forgotten. Following the widespread ratification in the 1990s of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF has become an essential
actor in the field of human rights, incorporating the principles of the
Convention and of other human rights treaties into its programmes. See
A Human Rights
Conceptual Framework for UNICEF (PDF, 2.69 MB--you will need
the Acrobat Reader to view this document) for more information
on UNICEF's role in promoting and respecting human rights.
Since its foundation in the aftermath of World War II as the United
Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, UNICEF has been strongly
committed to protecting the rights of children in times of peace and war,
by encouraging action and advocating in favour of the most disadvantaged
and forgotten. In the 1990s, following adoption of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, UNICEF has become an essential actor in the field of
human rights, incorporating the principles of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child and of other human rights treaties into its programmes. The
Convention's guiding principles – non-discrimination,
the best interests
of the child, child survival and
development and the participation of
children – frame UNICEF's human rights approach to development. UNICEF
country programming is based on and tested against, its fulfilment of the
promise of these principles.
UNICEF offices throughout the developing world are working with
national partners and other UN agencies in an increasingly systematic way
to identify rights-based approaches to such complex problems affecting the
realization of children's rights as HIV/AIDS, child labour, malnutrition,
lack of access to basic education and armed conflict. In all regions, this
human rights perspective has led to new opportunities for collaboration
that go beyond well-established partnerships at the national level. UNICEF
has forged many new alliances – with development banks, specialized
agencies, professional and media groups and community and civil society
organizations – to better reach the most marginalized and exploited
children, whose rights are often least respected.
Click here for examples of recent UNICEF-supported programmes that
incorporate an emphasis on promoting and protecting children's rights, in
the areas of:
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