Tuesday, September 4, 2007

UNICEF - India.

UNICEF has been working in India since 1949. The largest UN organisation in the country, it is currently implementing a $400 million programme from 2003 to 2007.

UNICEF is fully committed to working with the Government of India to ensure that each child born in this vast and complex country gets the best start in life, thrives and develops to his or her full potential.

The challenge is enormous but UNICEF is well placed to meet it. The organisation uses quality research and data to understand issues, implements new and innovative interventions that address the situation of children, and works with partners to bring those innovations to fruitition.

UNICEF uses its community-level knowledge to develop innovative interventions to ensure that women and children are able to access basic services such as clean water, health visitors and educational facilities, and that these services are of high quality. At the same time, UNICEF reaches out directly to families to help them to understand what they must do to ensure their children thrive.

UNICEF also wants them to feel a sense of ownership of these services. That same knowledge and interface with communities enables the organisation to tackle issues that would otherwise be difficult to address: the complex factors that result in children working, or the growing threat that HIV/AIDS poses to children.

UNICEF knows that key to addressing these challenges are its partnerships with sister UN agencies, voluntary organisations active at the community level, women’s groups and donors.

The organisation also works with an array of celebrities, including members of the Indian cricket team and leading actors from the Indian film industry, as well as hundreds of thousands of unnamed volunteers who tirelessly give their time and influence to ensure that, together, they are able to help every child realise his or her full potential.

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