UNICEF

CONTEXT:

North Korea has rejected around three million doses of a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine, suggesting they should be given to countries in greater need, UNICEF said.

North Korea’s Public Health Ministry “has communicated that the 2.97 million Sinovac doses being offered to DPR Korea may be relocated to severely affected countries in view of the limited supply and surge in some countries,” a UNICEF spokesperson said.

IMPORTANT POINTERS:

About UNICEF

• Formerly known as United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund is special program of UN devoted to aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children.
• It was created in 1946 to provide relief to children in countries devastated by World War II.
• It is headquartered in New York City.
• After 1950, it directed its efforts toward general programs for improvement of children’s welfare, particularly in less-developed countries and various emergency situations.
• Its broader mission was reflected in present name adopted in 1953.
• It was awarded Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965.
• Its activities are financed by both government and private contributions.
• It supports immunization programs for childhood diseases and programs to prevent spread of HIV/AIDS.
• It also provides funding for health services, educational facilities and other welfare services.
• It is headed by an Executive Director.
• UNICEF’s governing body is its Executive Board.

• It comprises 36 member countries each for a three-year term. They are elected by the ECOSOC.

• It has more than 30 ‘National Committees’ that implements its mission via programs that are developed in tandem with the host country’s government.
• The five core values of UNICEF are:

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability

UNICEF and India

• UNICEF’s partnership with India began in 1949. Its first office was established in New Delhi in 1952.
• The nodal agency in India for interacting with UNICEF is the GOI’s Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• Currently, UNICEF works in 17 states with more than 400 staff members.
• UNICEF has been very active in India in the past many decades.
• Most of their work in the country is by partnering with the government in the implementation of the various governmental schemes.
• Though initially, the organisation focused on providing medicines, equipment and supplies, currently, it contributes in many broad areas such as providing low-cost, nutritionally balanced food products from locally available food sources; giving training to personnel engaged in child-care projects, sanitation, water supply, health and family planning; and evolving simplified basic-educational kits, specially in the field of science and technology.
• UNICEF’s priority in India is children in the age group 0 – 5 years since most deaths happen within this group. For this, UNICEF seeks to work with mothers and ensure they have access to adequate nutrition and healthcare.
• A second area of priority is to focus on vulnerable areas like slums, backward remote areas, drought or flood-prone areas, etc.
• Another noteworthy point is that India is among the top donors to UNICEF.
• A problem encountered in the functioning of UNICEF in the country is that since it works in tandem with government schemes, the execution is sluggish in pace.

Sources

• The Hindu
• The Indian Express
• UNICEF website