UNICEF

American  

[yoo-nuh-sef] / ˈyu 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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of UNICEF

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

Example Sentences

All children in the Gaza Strip need psychological support after more than two years of war, according to UNICEF.

From Barron's • Jan. 16, 2026

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

From Slate • Oct. 22, 2024

“People are educated — they know their children can get sick very easily,” said Jonathan Crick, a Jerusalem-based spokesman for UNICEF, the world body’s agency for children.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 10, 2024

The campaign will be administered by "the Palestinian Ministry of Health, in collaboration with WHO, UNICEF, UNRWA".

From BBC • Aug. 29, 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