What does UNICEF do? The United Nations children’s fund, working in more than 190 countries and territories. Mission, structure, and what it does.
Last updated: October 2026
UNICEF — the United Nations Children’s Fund — is the UN agency for children. The General Assembly created it on 11 December 1946 to deliver emergency food and health care to children in war-devastated Europe; in 1953 it became a permanent UN fund, keeping the acronym it is known by.
UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories, from its headquarters in New York. Its mandate is the survival, development and protection of children, guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), the most widely ratified human-rights treaty in history.
UNICEF is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from governments, companies, foundations and millions of individual donors. It received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965.
A 36-member Executive Board, elected by the UN Economic and Social Council, sets policy and approves programmes. An Executive Director runs the organization: Catherine Russell has held the post since 2022.
Seven regional offices and a global Supply Division in Copenhagen — the world’s largest humanitarian warehouse — back country offices that deliver programmes with governments and local partners.
UNICEF vaccinates children, treats malnutrition, gets children into school, builds water and sanitation systems, and protects children in war, displacement and disaster. It also publishes the annual State of the World’s Children report and advocates for child rights in every forum where budgets and laws are made.
In emergencies it is often among the first responders on the ground — and among the last to leave.
UNICEF is the United Nations fund for children, working in more than 190 countries and territories. It delivers vaccines, nutrition, schooling, clean water and protection, and it answers to a 36-member Executive Board. It is funded entirely by voluntary contributions.
UNICEF is the United Nations fund for children, created in 1946 to protect children’s survival, development and rights.
UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories, through country offices run with governments and local partners.
UNICEF is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from governments, companies, foundations and individual donors.
A 36-member Executive Board elected by the UN Economic and Social Council sets policy, and an Executive Director runs the organization.
