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

The doses are financed by Gavi, but procured and delivered to countries by UNICEF.

From Barron's • Feb. 4, 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

Another was UNICEF, whose director Joanna Rea said the new government "must immediately prioritise support for its youngest and most vulnerable citizens, starting with ending the two-child limit policy and removing the benefit cap".

From BBC • Jul. 17, 2024

UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, said the extreme weather has all of the hallmarks of an intensifying climate crisis, with some of the affected areas having experienced drought last year.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 2, 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