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

Ephrem Lemango, global chief of immunisation at UNICEF, said social media algorithms "tend to reward outrage over accuracy, and there is so much anti-vaccine content" that it has it own "economy behind it".

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 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

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

From BBC • Aug. 29, 2024

Among at least 240 people dead are 51 children, according to UNICEF, one of several international aid groups that are sending relief teams, medicines, blankets and other supplies.

From Seattle Times • May 12, 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