An Expanding Mandate

The 1946 resolution of the UN General Assembly which created UNICEF denned its beneficiaries as ‘children and adolescents of countries which were victims of aggression’ and of countries receiving assistance from UNRRA. The assistance of the new institution would consist of the provision of supplies, material, services and technical assistance on a nondiscrimination basis. Its mandate would include the rehabilitation of children and child health generally. The 1950 resolution, which extended UNICEF’s life for three years, approved the geographic expansion of its programmes ‘outside Europe7 and placed the Fund in the category of the UN development agencies: it was to support national programmes designed to aid children within the framework of existing UN activities for promoting the economic and social development of underdeveloped areas. In addition to emergency work and the provision of supplies, UNICEF was to provide training and advice, meet the long-range needs of children particularly in underdeveloped countries and strengthen the permanent child health and child welfare programmes of the countries receiving assistance. The 1953 resolution, which made UNICEF permanent, also linked its activities to the long-range economic and social programmes of the UN.