2. UNICEF Photography Guidelines Promote Child Rights > When to Promote/Restrict Use
http://photos.unicef.org/guidelines-childrights-promote-restrict
• manufacturers or promoters of products whose use UNICEF generally opposes, such as:
armaments, including landmines; infant formula; tobacco; alcohol; war toys;
• manufacturers of pharmaceuticals: this avoids potential conflicts of interest, given UNICEF's
role as a major global purchaser of vaccines and other medical products;
• other UNICEF suppliers: United Nations regulations forbid any supplierto publicize its vendor
relationship with the UN. Therefore, photos showing, for example, pharmaceutics or vehicles
in a UNICEF field operation, cannot be featured in any promotion of those products or their
vendors. This prohibition is also intended to ensure UNICEF neutrality in the marketplace.
(see also: Commercial products...)
Non-UNICEF databases: Inclusion of UNICEF images in the libraries or other long-term storage
systems or databases - hardcopy or digital - of any non-UNICEF entity or individual is expressly
prohibited. (This does not include images that are part of archived publication layouts for which
rights were granted.) This is not intended to curtail legitimate advocacy or information sharing,
particularly with other UN agencies or with government, NGO or major media partners. It is meant
to ensure that use of images created 'for UNICEF' - as subjects are frequently advised upon being
photographed - takes full account of child rights and UNICEF policies. This cannot be taken for
granted with either:
• other development/humanitarian partners that may not be aware of the child rights, copyright
and model release laws governing image reproduction;
• media organizations that may not apply the special protection standards to image use that
UNICEF requires.
For the same reasons, access to high resolution images on UNICEF Photography -
www.photos.unicef.org - is subject to case-by-case authorization by designated communication
staff with administration rights to their respective country collections.
Sub-national web and/or personal requests: Digital communication, especially the Web, has
exponentially increased requests for image use by all entities. This is partly because asking for an
image is only an e-mail away. Given the need to review usage context, and to know the background
of the requester, requests far outstrip response capacity. This requires UNICEF to make strategic
choices in the use of its images to cost-effectively maximize outreach and impact. On this basis,
personal requests for image use are usually denied.
Additionally, the Web and other internet platforms is, by definition, international media. Therefore
requests to use images on the sites of sub-national entities (whether they are NGOs or other
cause-related groups) are discouraged. The preferred option for UNICEF is to suggest that the
requester link to UNICEF's site. There, images and related information are already available in a
context that UNICEF fully endorses. This also saves time spent on meeting the request. Finally,
any third party use of UNICEF images must be weighed against the desirability of reserving images
to support a unique and dynamic UNICEF communication presence globally.