Non-Profit Organization Analysis- Unicef
Mission and Purpose
UNICEF was created in 1946 to protect the rights of young adults all over the world. UNICEF operates over 190 nations and regions to save the lives of teenagers, to defend their privileges and enable them to accomplish their capability during their early juvenile (Skelton, 2007). UNICEF has been the driving force that helps in building the political systems to ensure that the rights of every child are recognized. It has been mandated by the UN General assembly to support the rights of children and to help ensure that their basic rights are meet and increase their opportunities to gain full potential. Thus, UNICEF’s mission is to defend the privileges of children as well as meet their basic needs as well as expand their opportunities (UNICEF, 2009). UNICEF has insisted on the defense, existence, and progress of children as well as building capacity through the formation of appropriate policies that will deliver services and ensure human progress within their families.
Advocate and Serves
UNICEF has mobilized material assets and governments to help nations especially the developing nations to establish the rights of children as ensuring international standards and ethical principles towards children. They respond to emergencies to protect children’s rights. They have made their unique facilities available for responses to let go of the distress of children and their people.
UNICEF has focused on changes in macro-level policies that direct the legislative form, national frameworks, and budgetary allocation influencing families and children. A network of officers and social policy advisors in UNICEF has worked to strengthen and develop important partnerships at national, regional and local levels to facilitate changes in the socio-economic policies (UNICEF, 2007). They have influenced national policy approaches by implementing a mix of policies that are aimed at supporting changes across regions. Considerably, Social and economic policy issues have had an impact on children. UNICEF has found that increased violence and exploitation of children has been one of the major political issues in most countries all over the world. Issues such as child labor, unregistered births, sexual exploitation, child marriage, and other human rights are among the violations and prime issues that have been insufficiently addressed.
Purpose and Intent
Through changes in the national policies, UNICEF hopes that they will be able to generate preventive measures and responses that will counter these violations of children’s rights. UNICEF also advocates for sufficient education for children. Education has been considered as the most basic human right and is the cornerstone of societal and personal development. Through implementing the national, local and international partners, UNICEF has worked to guarantee that every child gets a quality education regardless of their ethnicity, gender, personal circumstances or socio-economic background (UNICEF, 2009). UNICEF has approached educational problems through a right based attitude with the hope that they will improve and lower inequalities.
The goal of UNICEF is to ensure that Children’s rights are protected. They have focused on ensuring that Governments make sure that children are protected and that places and people responsible for looking after children are doing it appropriately. They have relied on the convention of children’s rights which is an agreed set of obligations and non-negotiable standards. While advocating to protect the rights of children, UNICEF has helped to change the policy and legal framework of nations and improve the understanding and implementation of the convention.
Intended Impact
There is a need in society to protect children’s rights and ensure that they have their basic needs. Children have faced violations of their rights all over the world including discrimination, violence, and poverty (Archard, 2014). Millions of children have suffered a violation of their rights after they are denied adequate nutrition, healthcare, protection from violence and education. Childhoods have increasingly cut short when they are forced to do hazardous work, school dropouts or participate in wars. Children need the right to protection from neglect, abuse, discrimination as well as exploitation. Considerably, the need to protect children from violence, abuse and exploitation are among the fundamental roles of UNICEF. There is a need for special protection of children in society. Investing in children has been considered essential in promoting an equitable and inclusive society allowing people to participate effectively in their development. UNICEF has called together actors that will work to create conditions that will facilitate children’s rights to enable young people to have long-term sustainable development.
The political changes have facilitated new policy approaches that have benefited children. UNICEF has involved the government in creating a protective environment for children. The policy changes have solved problems and improved the lives of children since they have played a great role in initiating interventions that have protected the rights and lives of vulnerable children. They have paid attention to the policy interventions to ascertain and provide emergency care as well as child protection.
Children’s rights and politics have been understood in various ways such as the influence of politics on children, the status of children and rights. For instance, the involvement of convention rights has had a great force on the rights of children. The changes in political processes and decisions have advocated for the rights. Ideally, politics have an impact on children whether they participate or understand it, they cannot escape its influence. The governing systems have facilitated changes such as social justice, economic security as well as environmental care necessary in recognizing the rights of children. The progressive policies have improved the lives of children and as well as their rights.
Outcomes
UNICEF has improved children’s lives worldwide through boosting their rights and expanding the opportunities (Invernizzi, 2016). Through facilitating changes in the policies and approaches by governments UNICEF has been able to track its success in facilitating children’s rights. For instance, tools such as digital community mapping have already been seen making a difference in community advocacy, education planning, health systems, and humanitarian responses. The partnership between UNICEF and political systems that have demonstrated changes that have a positive influence on children’s rights. Effective analysis has helped in understanding the forces and circumstances that influence their well-being in the world. For instance, through the analysis, the lack of legal protection can be adequately addressed and in turn offer new policy action and approaches to improve the results of social, economic and governance programs for children.
Policy changes and approaches have changed due to political changes that provided solutions to children’s rights and well-being of children. Considerably, construction of the sound policy, to ensure that the needs of the most marginalized and vulnerable children are met. UNICEF has facilitated the change of policy and legal framework to improve the understanding and considerations of children’s rights. They have enabled children’s right protection, meet their basic needs as well as increase their opportunities to reach full potential.
The actions of the government in policy-making have impacted changes in providing solutions and improved the status of children. Indicators that have been used to measure specific changes include improved productivity, essential health, improved nutritional and educational requirements among children. Considerably, improved results in the above indicators have been used to show the effectiveness of the changes in actions and policy approaches for children’s rights.
References
Archard, D. (2014). Children: Rights and childhood. Routledge.
Invernizzi, A. (2016). The human rights of children: From visions to implementation. Routledge.
Skelton, T. (2007). Children, young people, UNICEF, and participation. Children’s Geographies, 5(1-2), 165-181.
UNICEF. (2007). The state of the world’s children 2008: Child survival (Vol. 8). Unicef.
UNICEF. (2009). State of the world’s children: Celebrating 20 years of the convention on the rights of the child. Unicef.
UNICEF. (2009). UNICEF at a Glance. Unicef.