Nurs-fpx 4060 Assessment 2 Community Resources

The non-profit organization United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a global organization “that works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their full potential” (UNICEF, n.d.). This organization was put in place to help children around the world, especially those most vulnerable. In this paper, we are going to review how the missions and vision of UNICEF contribute to public health and safety through the work the organization has done. Next, we will evaluate the organization’s ability to promote equal opportunity and improve quality of life within communities and the implications of barriers related to social, cultural, economic, and physical within the community. We will assess the impact of funding sources, policy, and legislation on UNICEF’s service delivery. Lastly, an explanation of how the organization’s work impacts the health of the local community and how nurses can become involved with UNICEF.

Contributions to Public Health and Safety Improvements

The mission and vision of UNICEF are “to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help them meet their basic needs and expand their opportunities to reach their full potential” (UNICEF, n.d.). The organization states that survival, protection, and development are imperative to the human process (UNICEF, n.d.). UNICEF mobilizes political will, in particular in developing countries, to create appropriate policies and deliver services for children and families (UNIFEC, n.d.). The organization responds in emergencies to protect children’s rights and is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged (UNICEF, n.d.). They are anti-discriminatory and promote the equal rights of women and girls (UNICEF, n.d). Advocating for the protection of children’s rights to help meet basic needs enables the organization to promote policies that can improve public health and safety, such as access to clean drinking water and food, vaccinations, or preventative health care. Through the goals and work of UNICEF surrounding healthcare initiatives, they aim “to treat diseases and strengthen healthcare systems so that children, adolescents, and women of reproductive age have access to affordable, quality healthcare,” especially those in harder-to-reach and under-developed communities (UNICEF, n.d.). One way we can see this being done is through a collective effort with the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), International Council of Nurses (ICN), International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetricians (FIGO), and International Pediatric Association (IPA) to define competent maternal and newborn health professionals (WHO et al., 2018). This statement was created to improve a previous statement in 2004, “Making pregnancy safe: The critical role of skilled attendants,” which both statements were created to reach the approved goal/agenda of 2030 according to the 17 Sustainable Goals created by these organizations (WHO et al., 2018). The goals were created to reduce maternal and newborn deaths by 2030, and the statements were created to a standard and universal definition of what it entails to be a competent healthcare professional in order to assure appropriate and safe care for women and children in pre-pregnancy, antenatal care, intrapartum care, postpartum and postnatal care, and newborn care in order to improve the care of these individuals with the end goal of decreased deaths to this population (WHO et al., 2018). Through these statements and initiatives, UNICEF is able to improve the quality of care and improve the life expectancy and health of these individuals on a global scale and can be used to benefit the women and children of the world, supporting the organization’s mission and vision and promoting public health safety those it was created for

Nurs-fpx 4060 Assessment 2 Community Resources

Equal Opportunity

As stated earlier and within the mission statement of UNICEF, one of the main objectives of the organization is to promote equal opportunity and gender equality and rights for girls and women through “support of full participation in political, social and economic developments within their communities” (UNICEF, n.d.). This is seen through the Gender Action Plan 2018-2021 to support the sustainable developmental goals created by this organization and the ones mentioned previously (UNICEF, 2019). The main objective is to promote gender equality for boys and girls in care and support with an emphasis on empowerment and well-being for adolescent girls (UNICEF, 2019). The strategic plan promotes and works to improve gender-equitable healthcare and nutrition and quality maternity care, with the improvement of nutrition, pregnancy care, HIV, and HPV prevention (UNICEF, 2019). Gender equality and access to retention and learning, teaching, and education systems through the promotion of girls’ secondary education and skills (UNICEF, 2019). GAP aims to prevent and respond to violence against boys and girls, which includes child marriages and early unions (UNICEF, 2019). Lastly, the plan’s last goal is to respond to water and sanitation systems, including menstrual health and hygiene for girls (UNICEF, 2019). The implication of this action plan for the organization and community can have great effects, especially on those in countries and communities where women are not viewed as equals and do not have the ability to access quality healthcare, safe living environments and/or the economic means to achieve these things.

Impacts of Funding on Policies and Legislation

UNICEF provides an annual report each year, which assesses the year’s goals, priorities, and changes in strategies, and an extensive funding report that shows where all of the money came from; the current report came out in 2020 for the year 2019 (UNICEF, 2020). One of the current goals that the organization is pushing for to implement national, regional, and global policies is on child poverty and trying to halve it by 2030 (UNICEF, n.d.). UNICEF has mobilized actors to address child poverty, worked with the World Bank to gather global statistics to help guide policymakers, and worked with governments and partners to try and integrate policies and programs despite the fact that all these efforts limited amount of governments have set the elimination of childhood poverty as a priority, and still fewer policies have been implemented to end it, mostly due to the fact that this has not been donors’ priority and other focuses have been at the forefront. The implications of funding decisions on policy and legislation for the community are almost directly dictated by the donor; however, UNICEF can influence and provide statistics and information to guide some policies but does not have full control over what policies are implemented.

Nurs-fpx 4060 Assessment 2 Community Resources

Impacts of Health On a Local Community

Although most efforts of UNICEF are done outside of the US and responding to disasters, UNICEF has launched a “UNICEF Power Kids” program, which enables and inspires youth to get active and learn to unlock life-saving food to severely malnourished children across the globe, while simultaneously unlocking Kids Power Coins” that can be used to support local causes (UNICEF, 2014). These causes have helped to aid in food-delivering services, planting trees, etc., improving the quality of life and health within these local communities. As a nurse, you can help by educating your local communities about the program offered by UNICEF, which can also help to aid in health issues within the local community. You can also sign up to volunteer within the field and help respond to disasters as long as you meet the requirements. Overall, UNICEF is a great organization to be involved with to help with the betterment of the youth and the future.

Nurs-fpx 4060 Assessment 2 Community Resources

Conclusion

UNICEF was established to help defend the rights of children and save lives. Throughout this paper, we can see that the organization continues to stay true to its mission and vision statement and how it has improved public health ad safety. We have been able to explore its work on equal opportunity and gender equality and the impacts it has on social, cultural, economic, and physical barriers. We’ve been able to explore how funding sources impact policies and legislation. Lastly, we have been able to explore some local health impacts the organization has provided. In the end, UNICEF has helped many individuals and improved the lives of many children across the globe.

References

UNICEF, (n.d). For every child. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/about-us/mission- statement

UNICEF, (n.d.). Childhood Poverty. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/social- policy/child-poverty

UNICEF, (2014). UNICEF kid power. UNICEF. https://www.unicefusa.org/about/faq#q- what-us-fund-mission

UNICEF, (2019). Annual report on the implementation of the UNICEF gender action plan, 2018-2021. United Nations Digital Library. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3803074?ln=en

UNICEF, (2020). For every child, reimagine UNICEF annual report 2019. UNICEF. http://saruna.mnu.edu.mv/jspui/bitstream/123456789/8114/1/For%20every%20ch ild%2C%20reimagine%20%20UNICEF%20annual%20report%202019.pdf

WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, ICM, ICN, FIGO, & IPA, (2018). Defining competent maternal and newborn health professionals. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/272817/9789241514200-eng.pdf

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Question

Research a selected local, national, or global nonprofit organization or government agency to determine how it contributes to public health and safety improvements, promotes equal opportunity, and improves the quality of life within the community. Submit your findings in a 3-5 page report. As you begin to prepare this assessment, it would be an excellent choice to complete the Nonprofit Organizations and Community Health activity. Complete this activity to gain insight into promoting equal opportunity and improving the quality of life in a community. The information gained from completing this activity will help you succeed with the assessment.