Is UNICEF educating children or sexually grooming them?

In July, the Center for Family & Human Rights (C-Fam) released its analysis of dozens of international sex education programs created and distributed by the United Nations Children's Fund (originally the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund; UNICEF), claiming that the programs “sexually groom children.”

Key Takeaways: 

• UNICEF was originally created to help displaced women and children with emergency needs after World War II, but today it promotes abortion, gender ideology, and comprehensive sex education.

• The type of comprehensive sex education promoted by UNICEF is sexually explicit and pro-abortion, as it partners with groups like Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Youth, and the Guttmacher Institute.

• UNICEF even recommended the sexually exploitative Pornhub in promoting digital media to access sex ed for children, both inside and outside the classroom.

• Over 40 years, UNICEF went from demanding education for children to demanding 'reproductive rights' for children.

• This year, the Trump administration made cuts to United States funding for UNICEF; prior to this, the U.S. had been one of the largest global funders of UNICEF.

Background:

Originally, UNICEF was created to serve the emergency needs of displaced women and children after World War II. However, C-Fam argues that UNICEF has long strayed from its original intent, pointing to its extensive history of coordination with contentious groups and continued promotion of “controversial programs, including pro-abortion advocacy, CSE (comprehensive sex education), and promotion of gender ideology.” 

In 2021, C-Fam reported that UNICEF had updated its ‘Strategic Plan’ from 2022-2025, which included school-based access to abortion for children, “sexual and reproductive health and rights” and a focus on “sexual orientation and gender identity” – receiving support under the Biden administration. 

The Details:

Promoting Sexually Explicit Materials

UNICEF claims to promote CSE curricula that is “age-appropriate” – but based upon a recent examination of the curricula presented to children and minors, C-Fam concluded that UNICEF continues to encourage children to “... question their sexuality, embrace a non-binary understanding of gender, and exposes them to information on sexual pleasure, including masturbation, Foreplay [sic], and sexual fantasies.”

Notably, since C-Fam’s reporting, UNICEF has purged its website of sexually explicit curricula it was using to target children in war-torn Ukraine.

UNICEF is a permanent member and co-sponsor of the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research (SRH) coalition, which also includes the UN Population Fund, UN Development Programme, World Health Organization (WHO), and International Planned Parenthood Federation. 

Given UNICEF’s partnership with groups like Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Youth (AFY), and the Guttmacher Institute, it is not surprising that C-Fam has continued to find its use of curricula and materials that are sexually graphic and promote transgender ideology and abortion to vulnerable and often impoverished children globally. 

AFY, Planned Parenthood, and the Guttmacher Institute all hold to the disturbing ideology that children are “sexual from birth.” This idea comes from heavily-scrutinized Freudian and Kinseyan theories; Kinsey’s disturbing ‘data’ was gathered by coached pedophiles from child (and even infant) victims.

Even in its effort to promote the use of digital media for easy access to CSE-aligned ‘sexuality education’ information in and outside the classroom, UNICEF suggests sites like Amaze, Scarleteen and even Pornhub (pp. 23-24).

UNICEF also promotes things like...

• an app for ages 3+ which openly promotes contraception and dating.

• a game app intended for ages 12+ in which earth-invading ‘alien organisms’ can only be stopped through the use of condoms.

• other apps, which are self-reported as containing sexual content, sexual innuendos, and nudity. 

From Children's Educational Rights to "Reproductive Rights"

Over the course of about 40 years, UNICEF moved from the idea that children had a right to education to the idea that children have “reproductive rights.” Below is a timeline:

History of Sex-Ed as a focus for UNICEF 

• 1959: The UN drafts the “Rights of the Child,” which included the child’s right to education. 

• 1961: UNICEF officially includes education as an organizational focus. 

• 1972: The creation of the Human Reproduction Special Programme (HRP), which later became part of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research (SRH) for the development of fertility control. This was due in part to Malthusian-based concerns of mass starvation from population growth, and to ease concerns of contraception safety and informed consent. UNICEF later joins the WHO, United Nations Development Programme, UN Population Fund, and the World Bank as a co-sponsoring organization of the HRP.  

• 1989: The UN's first Convention on the Rights of the Child produces a “constitution” with pro-life messaging recognizing and reaffirming the 1924 & 1959 Geneva General Assemblies’ ‘Declaration of Rights for the Child,’ which enumerated the fundamental right to life and "appropriate legal protection [of children], before as well as after birth” (emphasis added).

• 1990: The UN hosts the World Summit for Children and adopts the “World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children,” which includes an action plan for implementation around the globe. 

• 2000: UNICEF partners with the World Health Organization (WHO); United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and the World Bank as part of the new “Focus Resources on Effective School Health” (FRESH) Initiative focusing on ‘reproductive health’ for children in schools. 

• 2002: New York hosts a 10-year review of the 1990 UN plan. The George W. Bush administration attempts to promote Sexual Risk Avoidance programs and to remove the promotion of abortion but fails. The document produced by the UN review, “A World Fit for Children,” includes several references to sexual education. 

• 2002: UNESCO establishes the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report to monitor the implementation and progression of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). During the 2015 World Economic Forum, the GEM Report was tasked to ensure the implementation of SDG 4 goal to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” The GEM Report is funded by several countries, UNESCO, and several pro-abortion organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Open Society Foundation (p. 558). 

• 2021: As part of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development established in 2015, UNESCO helps to frame Education 2030 initiatives and launches the Global Partnership Forum on Comprehensive Sexuality Education in collaboration with UNICEF, Advocates for Youth (AFY), the Guttmacher Institute, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and several other pro-abortion advocacy groups. 

Why It Matters: 

The United States Government, funded by taxpayer dollars, has remained one of the largest – if not the number one – financial contributors to UNICEF over the years. 

In June, the Trump administration admonished UNICEF, echoing the call for UNICEF to return to its original intentions:

We encourage UNICEF to focus on its core mandate. We are strongly opposed to the current draft of the strategic plan due to references to concepts like diversity, equity, and Inclusion [sic], gender ideology, and abortion. The United States understands the vital role the family plays in a child’s life and development. President Trump believes that parents, both mothers and fathers, know how to best raise their children and create a thriving society. We firmly believe that harmful gender ideology, including comprehensive sexuality education, is detrimental to the well-being and development of children, especially usurping basic parental authority. We believe that parental authority is the key component of health education.

Under the Trump Administration, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called “transition” of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures. We call on UNICEF to protect the most vulnerable human beings – children – from such horrid procedures. The Trump Administration is committed to supporting families, promoting women’s health, and protecting children at all stages of life and reaffirms there is no international right to abortion.

In July, Congress passed the Trump administration’s proposed rescission package, which included a $142 million cut to UNICEF’s overhead. UNICEF USA President and CEO Michael Nyenhuis called it “deeply disappointing.”

Other accounts like the Contribution to International Organizations (CIO), which provided funding to the U.N. and U.N- affiliated groups, UNESCO, and a regional arm of the WHO, have seen recent cuts of $512 million included in the recent pocket rescission package from the Trump administration, aiming to eliminate “woke, weaponized, and wasteful spending.”