International Organization Making a Difference
UNICEF
Topic: International Organizations Making a Difference
Question/Prompt: The assignment this module/week is to research an international group, NGO, or other
similarly situated group and explain how this group is helping to engage an international audience. If this
is an area of interest or passion for you that should also be noted.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a leading advocate for children and
women’s rights formed in the year 1946 in response and destruction brought by World War II. It
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began its operations in few countries and is currently active in 157 countries across all the
continents (Murray & Newby, 2012). The organization is committed in achieving results in five
areas: protection against violence, discrimination, abuse and violence, stopping the spread of
HIV/AIDS and improving ways of protecting the already infected persons. Moreover, UNICEF
ensures that education and immunization rights are given to all children irrespective of their
location. Like most organizations, UNICEF has a mission which is to remain focused on the five
priorities even in the midst of chaos. The world health organization (WHO) has been working
closely with UNICEF on a strategy to fight vaccine preventable diseases which kill a high
number of people yearly, with most of them being children. While taking into account ethics that
involve culture and religious beliefs of people who don’t acknowledge immunization, UNICEF
and WHO assists governments in financing, designing, and implementing national immunization
programs to minimize health related complications. The excellence of the UNICEF internal
management and operations together with information, advocacy and communication helps to
enhance the success of their goals. Through planning, reporting, monitoring and evaluation,
UNICEF management has been able to change the world by the use of its five goals for the better
interest of the child to enjoy an ordinary childhood and a future filled with hope (Murray &
Newby, 2014). Statistics have shown that UNICEF has provided practical solutions, which are
extraordinarily effective by having held tireless crusades against diseases, suffering and
advocating for quality health status in children. A generation ago, 70,000 children died each day
and this number has been able to reduce by half since UNICEF has been able to provide
sanitation, good water, nutrition and good health for children to help them survive. Today, has
managed to reduce the infant mortality rate, which used to be a serious problem several decades
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ago (Jolly, 2014). Therefore, children are able to thrive from early childhood through
adolescence since they are protected from violence, exploitation, and other deadly diseases.
References
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Jolly, R. (2014). UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund): Global Governance That Works
(Global Institutions). Routledge, 1st edition
Murray, C & Newby, H. (2012). Data Resource Profile: United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF). International Journal of Epidemiology. Vol. 41 Issue 6, p1595-1601
