UNICEF Birthday Date in the current year: December 11, 2024

UNICEF is a UN agency that provides humanitarian and developmental aid to children around the globe. The person responsible for its creation was Polish physician and bacteriologist Ludwik Rajchman. During World War II, Rajchman helped Polish refugees and worked on humanitarian issues. Towards the end of the war, he was commissioned by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) to write a report on how to deal with urgent healthcare problems once Europe would be freed.

After the end of the war, Rajchman represented Poland in UNRRA. When it was announced at a United Nations meeting that UNRRA would be putting an end to its relief efforts, Rajchman suggested that its residual funds be used to establish a program to help children worldwide. His suggestion was met with support, and the UN General Assembly officially established the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on December 11, 1946 with Rajchman as its first chairman.

Like UNRRA, UNICEF started as a temporary emergency relief agency, but it became a permanent United Nations agency in 1953, extending its efforts toward general programs focusing on child welfare throughout the world. The agency’s name was subsequently shortened to United Nations Children’s Fund, but the acronym UNICEF was kept.

Today, UNICEF saves the lives of children and improves children’s health and well-being around the globe and maintains a presence in 192 countries and territories. It provides immunizations and works to prevent diseases, administers treatment to HIV-positive children and mothers, enhances childhood and maternal nutrition, improves sanitation, promotes education, and responds to humanitarian emergencies.

UNICEF is headquartered in New York City. It has seven regional offices (in Panama, Switzerland, Thailand, Kenya, Jordan, Nepal, and Senegal) and National Committees in 34 countries worldwide, each established as an independent local NGO. UNICEF is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from governments, corporations, civil society organizations, and individual donors.

In 1965, UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for its effort to enhance solidarity between nations and reduce the difference between rich and poor states.” It was also awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize in 1989 and the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord in 2006.

The founding anniversary of UNICEF is not on the list of UN international days, but it is still widely observed around the globe. The best way to celebrate the UNICEF birthday is to support the organization’s cause. You can donate to UNICEF or any other charitable organization that helps children in need, volunteer at your local orphanage (if your country has orphanages), consider fostering, organize a fundraiser for children in need, and spread the word about UNICEF and its mission on social media.