The Origins of UNICEF, 1946–1953 is an important analysis of global organization in the Cold War era. In tracing UNICEF’s evolution from temporary institution to permanent status, Morris shows us not just how international politics, and particularly US  policy, influenced this organization, but how US and Western cultural concepts of the family were packaged with relief work. Morris’ book is a reminder that even the most seemingly apolitical gestures of philanthropy are laden with political and cultural meaning.

- Krista Sigler, University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College,

Jennifer Morris takes us back to the origins of a relief organization dedicated to the noblest of causes: the health of children and their mothers. We see inside UNICEF's creation after World War II. Dr. Morris also has great coverage of the organization's first director, Maurice Pate. It's important we know this history as the struggle for the basic rights of nutrition and health for children and mothers continues to this day.

- William Lambers, expert on the UN and world hunger, and author of Ending World Hunger: School Lunches for Kids Around the World,

The goal of humanitarian organizations is obviously to relieve suffering, but their work is also shaped by politics and other ideological considerations. Morris chronicles the establishment and early years of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the influence of the ideas and practices about aid to children and mothers inherited from its predecessor charities, the Commission for Relief in Belgium and Save the Children, as well as the emergence of the Cold War. The leadership of the first executive director, Maurice Pate; the roles of Dr. Martha Eliot and other personnel; interactions with related agencies, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization; and efforts to support US foreign policy in Europe to secure crucial funding are explored. After achieving success in the immediate postwar period with relief programs, including supplemental feeding, clothing distribution, and vaccinations and other medical care, UNICEF gained permanent status within the UN in 1953 and shifted its focus to international development programs geared to children while continuing to provide aid to them in regions affected by conflict. For 20th-century history and humanitarian studies collections. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

CHOICE