UNICEF Day 2021nicef day todau: Its history, significance, campaigns, quotes, and more

Today is UNICEF Day, we will see the relevance of this day and how UNICEF was formed.

UNICEF( United Nations Children's Fund) was formally established by the United Nations that provides humanitarian and relief aid to children globally. The agency is among the most celebrated and recognizable social welfare organizations in the whole world, with a current presence in almost 192 countries and territories. UNICEF's relief and aiding activities include providing disease prevention and proper immunization, administering treatment for children and mothers with HIV disease,  enhancing childhood and giving maternal nutrition, improving sanitation and hygiene, promoting education, and providing emergency relief support in response to disasters or wars.

The history and significance of UNICEF 

UNICEF was created by the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 1946 to provide supplies and assistance to children who suffered the aftermath of World War II. Originally known as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF starts as a temporary relief fund by the United Nations. It has the entitlement to use the UN logo.

History of UNICEF logos and UNICEF campaigns 

Growth and campaigns of UNICEF

In October 1953, the United Nations General Assembly extends UNICEF’s mandate to help vulnerable children. Under the recognition of the United Nations, UNICEF developed its own distinct identity. 

• Providing milk to children: UNICEF’s first logo featured a child drinking a cup of milk, which reflects the organization's main motto at that time which was to provide milk to deprived children. This logo retains some features of the UN logo, on which it is based, such as the olive branches and globe in the background. ‘A child drinking milk’ subsequently became the symbol of UNICEF.

• Nurturing mother and child: In 1960, UNICEF’s focus expanded to include the wider needs of children as well as mothers, the organization’s logo also changed. In the 1960s,” a child drinking milk’ was redesigned as ‘a mother lifting up a child’. This is also symbolic of the UN’s adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959. It defined children’s rights to get protection, education, healthcare, shelter, and nutrition. The universal gesture of a mother lifting up a child symbolizes hope, security, and joy. This gesture evokes parents’ energy, compassion, and enthusiasm. 

• In 1975, a standard global logo was taken, which retained the ‘mother and child’ emblem as the dot on the ‘i’ of ‘unicef’. This was the first version of the logo to be registered and recognized with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

• In 1986, on UNICEF’s 40th anniversary, the logo was changed. The typeface becomes Futura bold and the colour goes from black to PMS Reflex Blue.  

• In 2001, the UNICEF logo as we know it today was introduced. The colour was changed from PMS Reflex Blue to PMS Process Cyan. The vibrant colours of the new UNICEF brand colour palette (cyan, yellow, pink and violet) were meant to evoke the vibrancy and enthusiasm of children. The logo was simplified. 

• In 2008, UNICEF’s tagline became ‘unite for children’. Previously, this call to action had been used for UNICEF’s campaigns, in addition to ‘unite against AIDS’ and ‘unite for peace’.

• In 2016, ‘for every child’ was adopted as the brand strategy and it became part of the logo. ‘For every child’ echoes UNICEF’s universal mandate to protect the rights of children. It embodied the organization’s mission to give the greatest priority to the most disadvantaged children.

Quotes on UNICEF Day 2021

• "I can testify to what UNICEF means to children because I was among those who received food and medical relief right after World War II." -Audrey Hepburn

• “Around the world, children are showing us their strength and leadership advocating for a more sustainable world for all. Let us build on advances and re-commit to putting children first. ” - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

• "Hunger is not a problem. It is an obscenity. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." -Anne Frank

• “I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. Just one, one, one.”- Mother Teresa

• "Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow." -A. P. J. Abdul Kalam