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UNICEF

American  
[yoo-nuh-sef] / ˈju nəˌsɛf /

noun

  1. United Nations Children's Fund: an agency, created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1946, concerned with improving the health and nutrition of children and mothers throughout the world; Nobel Peace Prize 1965.


UNICEF British  
/ ˈjuːnɪˌsɛf /

acronym

  1. United Nations Children's Fund (formerly, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund): an agency of the United Nations that administers programmes to aid education and child and maternal health in developing countries

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of UNICEF

U(nited) N(ations) I(nternational) C(hildren's) E(mergency) F(und) (an earlier official name)


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

They came together after Yamal’s mother, Sheila, won a raffle run by a local newspaper and Barcelona’s shirt sponsor, the children’s charity UNICEF.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

Yamal’s family had entered a charity raffle organized by the Spanish newspaper Diario Sport and the United Nations Children’s Fund, known as UNICEF, and they won a spot in a promotional photo shoot with Messi.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

More than 4.5 million children in the country of 40 million have been denied schooling, according to UNICEF.

From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025

At last the WHO, UNICEF, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency were able to start vaccinating children.

From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2024

The visitors from the European Commission, the UN, UNICEF, and several NGOs arrived at the center in a convoy of cars one afternoon.

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah

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