Welcome to UNICEF Canada
Creating a better world for every child.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is a children’s organization like no other
Unparalleled reach
UNICEF is the world’s farthest reaching children’s organization. We work in more than 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child.
Unmatched experience
For over 75 years we’ve been working tirelessly in the world’s most complex situations to provide life-saving aid and humanitarian support to children and their families.
Unrivaled Expertise
UNICEF is the world’s leading authority on children’s rights. UNICEF is the only organization named in the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, as the leading source of expert assistance and advice.
Our vision: To create a better world for every child.
UNICEF in Canada
UNICEF Canada was founded in 1955 and is one of the 32 National Committees located in countries around the world. The UNICEF Canada team advances UNICEF’s global mission through fundraising, advocacy and awareness in Canada. We mobilize and empower people across the country to invest in the positive transformation of every child’s future.
We are committed to racial justice and a more equitable world for every child. Through our Strategic Plan 2022-2025, we are working to increase our impact for even more children in Canada and around the world, and to strengthen our role as the leading child rights advocate with governments.
Learn more about UNICEF’s work in Canada.
What we do
For over 75 years UNICEF has been working tirelessly to defend children’s rights and ensure children around the world grow up healthy, educated and safe.
We are there before, during and after emergencies
When an emergency strikes, UNICEF is there to respond and provide children and families with essential humanitarian support. We operate the world's largest humanitarian warehouse, enabling us to deliver life-saving supplies anywhere within 72 hours, and we stay as long as we're needed.
We provide children with essential healthcare and life-saving vaccines
UNICEF helps vaccinate almost half of the world’s children every year and is the single largest procurer of vaccines globally. We work to improve children’s physical and mental well-being and ensure they are protected from preventable diseases.
We ensure children have access to clean water and sanitation
Every child has a right to a clean and safe environment. UNICEF works to help provide access to clean water and reliable sanitation and promote basic hygiene practices that keep children safe from infectious diseases.
We protect every child’s right to an education
Education is a basic human right. UNICEF works to provide quality learning opportunities that prepare children and adolescents with the knowledge and skills they need to reach their full potential.
We are driving transformative, innovative change
UNICEF’s Office of Innovation collaborates with partners to find sustainable, one-of-a-kind solutions to the unique problems facing children around the world. From harnessing renewable energy to reduce climate change risks to using digital technologies to accelerate results for children, we are working to push the boundaries of what is possible.
Learn more
about UNICEF’s work
Your donations change lives every day
While part of the United Nations, UNICEF is 100% donor funded.
Our work is made possible thanks to the generous support of people like you, as well as businesses, foundations and governments. Because of our donors, we are able to reach and help millions of children around the world.
In 2023, thanks to the generosity of our donors:
- 132.9 million children were vaccinated against measles;
- 6 million children were treated for severe acute malnutrition in the 15 most-affected countries;
- Over 7,500 schools and 3,000 healthcare facilities were provided with basic water, sanitation and hygiene services;
- 31.2 million children received learning materials;
- 4.5 million children who experienced violence received healthcare, and help from social work and justice services.
Find out more about UNICEF Canada’s impact in 2023.
Every dollar to UNICEF makes a difference
You can be assured that your donation to UNICEF Canada will be used effectively and efficiently to support the essential needs of children around the world. We work with governments and partners to ensure that funding decisions are data-driven, results-oriented, scalable, and are supported by the communities where we work.
Find out more about how UNICEF uses your donation.
At a vaccine outreach session in Nepal, a health worker administers a vaccine to 3-month-old Rhythm, brought in by his mother, Durga. UNICEF helps vaccinate almost half of the world’s children every year and is the single largest procurer of vaccines globally.
What does the name UNICEF stand for?
The name UNICEF stands for United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF (formerly United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) was established in 1946 to meet the emergency needs of children and young people in the aftermath of World War II.
UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs, and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.
Find out even more at our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Over 75 years of global impact: a brief history of UNICEF
1946: UNICEF is created in the aftermath of World War II to help children and young people affected by the war.
1955: UNICEF Canada was founded by volunteers to advance UNICEF’s global mission through fundraising, advocacy and awareness in Canada.
1965: UNICEF is awarded the 1965 Nobel Peace Prize “for the promotion of brotherhood among nations."
1970s: With the help of the Indian government, UNICEF developed the India Mark II – an inexpensive and easy-to-use water pump. It revolutionized rural water supplies and remains a success to this day.
1979: The United Nations declares 1979 as the International Year of the Child to increase awareness of the conditions facing the world’s children and to spur action on children’s rights.
1980: UNICEF helps eradicate smallpox with a global rollout of immunizations and monitoring. This remains among the most notable and profound public health successes in history.
1989: The Convention on the Rights of the Child is adopted by the UN General Assembly.
1994: UNICEF and UNESCO invent and distribute School-in-a-Box, a global effort to support uninterrupted education for children in humanitarian crises. Each kit contains school supplies and materials for one teacher and 40 students for up to three months.
2007: UNICEF develops U-Report, a digital community for young people, by young people. Across over 101 countries, U-report empowers young people to learn about issues that affect them, take action, and become agents of change.
2020: During the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF played a key role in the United Nations’ global response to the crisis and as part of the global vaccine distribution plan – COVAX. Since 2021, COVAX has delivered 2 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to 146 countries, in the largest-ever vaccine supply rollout.
