ABSTRACT
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was established in 1946 as the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund, with an initial focus on post-war Europe. In 1953 the General Assembly extended indefinitely UNICEF’s mandate, which had expanded to cover children in developing countries, and revised its name. As UNICEF’s governing body, the Board establishes policy, reviews programmes and approves expenditure. A Bureau is elected by the Board each year, comprising a President and four Vice-Presidents, representing five regional groupings. UNICEF is dedicated to the wellbeing of children, adolescents and women and works for the realization and protection of their rights within the frameworks of the Convention on the Elimin-ation of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF was a lead organization in consultations on the development of the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in September 2015 by UN heads of state and of government, as part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
