UN Children's Fund
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) provides developmental assistance to children and their families by focusing on the following areas: Child Survival and Development, Basic Education and Gender Equality, HIV/AIDS, Child Protection and Policy Advocacy and Partnerships.
Since the late 1980's, World Scouting and UNICEF have collaborated on a multitude projects specializing in child development all over the globe. Their mutual interest in the subject was formalized with a special agreement of cooperation on Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) in 1994 and a Memorandum of Understanding in 2005.
The majority of World Scouting-UNICEF projects have been health based. Oftentimes, the Scouts lead the social mobilization of these joint initiatives, acting as advocates to parents and the community at large, encouraging them to participate in a specific health intervention. UNICEF, on the other hand, provides the technical and logistical support. Some examples of how the two organizations work together can be found in their long running child immunization campaign in Africa and their clean water and sanitation project in Sudan and Africa from 1990-2002.
A child's right to protection from all forms of violence was the catalyst for the launch of the United Nations Secretary General's Study on Violence Against Children. In 2000 and 2001, the Committee for the Rights of the Child discussed the issue of violence against children and recommended that the General Assembly request that the Secretary-General conduct a comprehensive, international study on this theme.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed jointly by Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, UNICEF and Dr. Eduardo Missoni, Secretary General of WOSM on 8 April 2005, in Geneva at the UNICEF Headquarters for Regional Office for Europe.
World Scouting and UNICEF has had a long history of collaboration. As early as 1979, the Scouts and UNICEF began their work together, focusing on child health. World Scouting's involvement with UNICEF in the field of child health increased in 1985 when the Scouts were asked to participate in UNICEF's “Child Survival and Development Revolution” campaign.
