Dec 8, 2006, 18:44 GMT
New York - The UN Children's Fund on Friday celebrated 60 years of work assisting children and their mothers around world.
'If UNICEF didn't exist, the world would have to invent it,' Secretary General Kofi Annan said in an address to the UN General Assembly.
'It is largely thanks to UNICEF that today, we understand better than ever that building a better future begins with children - with ensuring that they are healthy, educated, safe and loved,' he said.
UNICEF, one of the best funded UN agencies, has a worldwide network of affiliates to dispatch emergency aid and medical assistance to victims of natural disasters and diseases.
Among UNICEF's top assignments is combating HIV/AIDS and promoting care and support for orphans and children affected by the deadly disease. A child under 15 dies of AIDS-related illness every minute while another become infected with its virus, the organization said.
'In an ideal world, UNICEF would not need to exist,' the agency said on the occasion of its 60th anniversary.
Looking back at its achievements, UNICEF said, 'It shows that whatever progress is made, whatever advances in development area achieved, there will always be new challenges and new emergencies, new ways in which the cause of children will need a determined advocate.'
UNICEF pledged to bring down child mortality to below 10 per 1,000 live births by 2065 around the world, a rate that now exists only industrialized nations.
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