UNICEF USA Advocacy: How We Work

Advocating for children can make a difference

Advocacy means, literally, to speak up on behalf of someone in need. For UNICEF, it means speaking up on behalf of and with children to support their rights, ensure safe and healthy childhoods in safe and inclusive communities, and build strong futures with opportunity and hope.

To build that future, UNICEF USA's Advocacy team, based in Washington, D.C., urges decision-makers in all sectors – governments, corporations, schools, communities — to implement policies and budgets that support and empower children, using a child rights framework that prioritizes the best interests of children. UNICEF USA educates and mobilizes supporters across the United States to press for these policies.

When we advocate, we create new understanding, chip away at the systemic challenges that hurt children, and create sustainable positive impacts for children at home and abroad.

UNICEF USA’s Advocacy Priorities

UNICEF USA believes every child should be healthy, educated, protected and respected around the world and here in the United States. We advance the global mission of UNICEF by rallying the American public to ensure every child can survive and thrive.

As an advocacy organization, we champion policies at the federal, state and local levels that address child poverty, support child protection, foster international partnership and elevate youth voice in governance and decision-making processes. This includes:

Child Poverty

• Emphasizing the importance of U.S. leadership in foreign assistance, global development and humanitarian funding
• Tackling the global learning crisis by increasing equitable access to education for children in low- and middle-income countries
• Calling for prioritization of programs that help break the cycle of poverty for children and families, including those that increase access to healthy foods and affordable early care and education opportunities for children

Child Protection

• Calling for greater investment in mental health services to support the well-being of children and adolescents globally and in the U.S
• Encouraging governments at all levels to protect newly arrived and immigrant children and ensure they have access to essential services and programs

International Partnership

• Advancing human dignity through a coordinated alliance with international organizations and governments supporting UNICEF’s work to ensure every child is healthy, educated, protected and respected

Youth Voice

• Ensuring young people are included in policymaking through child-centered governance

How UNICEF USA advocates for children

In keeping with UNICEF’s global mission, our focus is on results for children. We advocate for policies and budgets that support UNICEF’s mission to protect child rights, and help children survive and thrive. We do so in a nonpartisan spirit, guided by the belief that “a child in need knows no politics.” Our consistent focus on results for children has helped UNICEF enjoy strong bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress and across the country.

Our advocate campaigns are built on three principles:

• We are child focused and connected to UNICEF: Our advocacy efforts are consistent with UNICEF’s global priorities and messaging, and take advantage of UNICEF’s experience and expertise. Protecting children’s lives and rights is the primary purpose of any position we mobilize to support.
• We are nonpartisan: UNICEF USA is a strictly nonpartisan organization, both in our mission and as mandated by our 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. All messaging is strictly nonpartisan and child-centric. That does not mean we avoid positions that might be controversial; it means that our narrative focuses on the problem and a policy solution, not on political parties and politicians.
• We are results oriented: We support policy and budget priorities that we believe will have tangible results for children.

Learn more about our latest advocacy achievements — and stay tuned for updates.