AUNICEF club is a student-ledgrassroots club present at high school and college levels of education, formed for the purpose of promoting the values of the parent organization theUnited Nations Children's Fund or UNICEF. The stated goal of the club is "to empower youth with the resources and skills to be effective global citizens" and "to support the world's most vulnerable children" through advocacy, education, community building, and fundraising.[P 1]: 3 These can be created as their own independent club or as a group within a larger club, as long as separate leaders are appointed for it. Once created, board members are expected to host activities which help advocate or fundraise for UNICEF-related causes, such as "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF", the "UNICEF Tap Project", or otherhumanitarian work.
Since the first clubs were founded in 1952, they have received mostly positive reception from the press for their work, with some exceptions. Clubs today can be found in 41 of the 50 states in the United States, and at major universities includingYale andDuke University. Clubs are also present internationally in places like Canada andHong Kong.
The first UNICEF club was created in 1952,[a] shortly after the founding of theUnited Nations in 1946. Little guidelines were implemented for clubs in the beginning: allowing for their creation inmiddle schools among other things.[1] Early causes, such as funding UNICEF-assisted feeding programs,[1] were accomplished through more modest fundraising methods: including running errands, raking leaves, and selling comic books.[1] More effective advocacy and fundraising methods were developed later.[b]
As more clubs began to be established, multiple events have garnered both positive and negative coverage from the press. In 1991, 14 high schools acrossNew Brunswick drafted and submitted a proposal to the Canadian government to allocate funds towards supporting several third world countries needs for healthcare, sanitation, education, etc. after a two day seminar.[2] In 2015, Illinois senatorMark Kirk helped create the UNICEF club atNew Trier High School, in which he was analma mater, to increase awareness of current social issues and to "help and give back", according to Kirk.[3]
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During theCOVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF clubs either worked virtually[4] or were forced to suspend their operations during thepandemic lockdowns.[5] For the clubs that decided to work virtually, online fundraising events were used to help support UNICEF COVID-19 relief efforts.[6]
In response to the start of theGaza war in 2023, some UNICEF clubs in theScottsdale Unified School District in Arizona were accused by thestate superintendentTom Horne of being overlypro-Palestinian, to the point of promoting "one-sided propaganda in favor ofHamas terrorists".[7][8]
To create a UNICEF club, four leaders and one advisor are required as minimum leadership.[P 1]: 5 Advisors must be adults aged 25 years or older, and should not be a staff member for UNICEF.[P 1]: 5 Advisors must also perform abackground check if not a teacher or high-school employee.[P 1]: 7 Once gathered, the club's registration application must be approved by UNICEF to become official.[P 1]: 5 Official clubs are expected to hold registered and approved events by UNICEF focused on advocacy, education, community building, and fundraising for children's rights.[P 1]: 5 Clubs are required to re-register and submit yearly funds at the start of each school year.[P 1]: 6 UNICEF clubs can also be made as a sub-group within a larger, like-minded club, as long as additional leaders are chosen specifically to work on UNICEF-related tasks.[P 2]
There are sixboard member or leadership positions within the club, listed in the table below. Leaders of the club are required to commit to at least five hours per week, host board meetings at least once a week, and host member meetings at most biweekly.[P 3]: 2 Leadership terms are one school-year long before being reassigned.[P 3]: 2
| Position | By whom | Responsibility | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Student | Organize and execute events, coordinate leadership transitions | [P 3]: 1 |
| Vice President | Student | Assists President, assumes control over their roles when absent | |
| Secretary | Student | Records minutes and agenda | |
| Treasurer | Student | Manages club budget and oversees transactions, submits donations to UNICEF | |
| Communication Officer(s) | Student | Manages club social media accounts | |
| Advisor | Adult | Serves as a mentor offering advice, but does not run the club | [P 1]: 7 |
In recent history, two annually-held activities present in many UNICEF clubs are theTrick-or-Treat for UNICEF andUNICEF Tap Project donation collections. Serving as the largest fundraising event for some clubs, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF takes place onHalloween, and is often executed bytrick-or-treating for donations instead of candy.[4][9][10][11] The UNICEF Tap Project takes place duringWorld Water Day on 22 March, and has been executed recently via UNICEF's Tap Project app: where 'for every 10 minutes you don't use your phone, a child is provided 1 day of clean water'.[12]
Hostingbingo[5] andopen mic nights,[13] dances and concerts,[14] elementary and middle school assemblies,[11] "Advocacy Day" events,[15] and golf tournaments, as well as selling support T-shirts[12] baked goods,[14][16] bracelets,[10] and buttons,[11] making tie blankets,[5] and other means of advocacy and fundraising have been performed by UNICEF clubs for causes such as supportingSyrian refuges[9] and affected families of theWar in Darfur[10] and the2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes,[5] as well as bringing awareness tomalnutrition,[5][16] theZika virus, andchild trafficking.[15]
UNICEF clubs are present at a number of US high schools and universities. As of the 2025–26 school year in the US, there are UNICEF clubs present in just colleges in three states, just high schools in 18 states, and both colleges and high schools in a further 20 states, leaving only nine states without any presence of UNICEF clubs. A further three territories: theNorthern Mariana Islands,Puerto Rico, andWashington D.C., have clubs present in just high schools.[P 4] Major private universities, such asDuke University[17] andYale University, host UNICEF clubs of their own.[18]
Clubs are also present internationally, including in Canada since no later than 1965,[19] andHong Kong since 2007.[P 5]
she looks forward to joining the UNICEF club at Yale as well.
