unicef.org.uk
Our Mission
UNICEF works in the UK to champion children’s rights, win support and raise money for our work with children everywhere. For over 60 years UNICEF has been the world’s leading organisation for children, working to help them survive and thrive from early childhood through adolescence.
Throughout our work, UNICEF is guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which sets out the rights of all children to be free from exploitation, violence and abuse. UNICEF is the largest global organisation working specifically for children and their rights.
UNICEF works with families, communities and governments in more than 190 countries worldwide to help every child reach their full potential through long-term and emergency work on health care, education and protection for children at risk.
Values and beliefs
Our work is underpinned by a shared commitment to UNICEF’s vision, mission and beliefs, and to our organisational values. These are to be child focused, effective, cooperative, challenging, rights based and to act with integrity.
We believe that every child has the right to the best possible start in life. It is wrong for children to die needlessly; it is imperative to prevent their unnecessary deaths. Every child has the right to the highest standards of health and education. It is imperative to work to attain these standards.
Every child possesses rights inherent equal to every other child’s. It is imperative to defend all children from violence, exploitation and discrimination. To protect the rights of every child, and invest in her or his well-being, is the surest way to end poverty and to build peace and security in the world.
It is possible to give every child a good start in life. The world can, if it chooses, ensure that every child grows and develops to their full, human potential. Children are citizens of the communities and the societies that they live in. Their voices should be heard and their opinions heeded by all.
What We Do
UNICEF works with families, communities and governments in more than 190 countries worldwide to protect and promote the rights of all children.
We help governments to build schools, train teachers and provide textbooks so that every child can get an education.
We support families and communities to care for children and protect them against exploitation and abuse, fulfilling their right to a childhood. We work with partners to ensure that every child has the opportunity to take part in sport and play.
We support governments to build and equip health systems, train health workers and provide food and clean water, so every child can be as healthy as possible. UNICEF is also the world’s largest distributer of vaccines to the developing world. In 2008, we supplied vaccines for 56 per cent of the world’s children, protecting them against death from preventable diseases.
We aim to involve children at every level of decision-making, from school councils to international summits, upholding their right to be heard. Working at the highest levels of government and through local staff and partners on the ground, we work to address poverty and discrimination so that every child is treated fairly.
UNICEF recognises that children are uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of HIV and AIDS and climate change. In 2005, we launched our global campaign, Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS, to bring about real and lasting change for children affected by HIV and AIDS. In 2010, we launched Carbon Positive, a tool that allows individuals and businesses to calculate their carbon footprint and support climate change adaptation programmes.
