L’image de l’enfant dans la stratégie de communication de l’Unicef

The image of childhood is a fundamental element of Unicef communication. The purpose of the article is to examine whether Unicef is adopting a differentiated representation of childhood in its campaigns for poor children over time and across countries. Several results stand out. Certainly, this representation evolves over time. In fact, the professionalization of Unicef communication has resulted in a greater emphasis on the emotional dimension of the communications being deployed. Admittedly, Unicef has also decided to concentrate its communication efforts more strongly in the northern countries than in the Southern countries. However, the comparison between countries shows that the arguments used by the organization does not depending on the countries. Contrary to the original hypothesis, the empirical study has shown that, with respect to the arguments used (hope versus guilt, mobilization versus compassion), Unicef does not change its visual argumentation according to the target audience. Thus, and it is a contribution of this study to researchs on humanitarian communication, the new emphasis on the emotional dimension of humanitarian communications does not imply – in the case of Unicef – to search different reactions on the part of the publics (encouraging or guilty). And this, despite the different situations and living standards of the target populations