2003

In the beginning of the year 2003, representatives from Geneva visited Iceland for the first time to discuss the possibility of opening a new National Committee in this small northern island. A board was formed in Iceland and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with UNICEF in June. Karin Sham Poo, who was then the Vice Executive Director of UNICEF, visited the new National Committe and by the end of the year UNICEF Iceland was registered as a legal entity in Iceland.

2004

On March 12th, the office of UNICEF Iceland was formally opened and three days later the Committee signed a corporate agreement with four major companies in Iceland to sponsor the running cost of the Committe for the next two years. One of those companies, Baugur Group, also signed an agreement to sponsor an Early Childhood Development project in Guinea-Bissau.

The Global Parent fundraising programme kicked off in May and Ms. Vigdis Finnbogadottir, the former President of Iceland, became the patron of this new programme.

In April, Carol Bellamy, then Executive Director of UNICEF, signed a two year provisional agreement with UNICEF Iceland.

Many good guests visited UNICEF Iceland in 2004. Cream Wright, Head of Education Programmes within UNICEF, visited Iceland by the end of the summer and held lectures around the country. In October a group of young people from all over Scandinavia came together for a One Minute Video workshop. In November Harry Belafonte, Goodwill Ambassador, visited Iceland to highlight the Global Parent campaign.

2005

UNICEF Iceland was one of five aid organizations in Iceland who took part in a major fundraising TV show in the beginning of 2005, for the victims of the tsunami .

The Icelandic singer Björk donated the proceeds from her fan-made Army of Me re-mix album to UNICEF's emergency programmes. The album was released in May 2005.

July was the time of Live8 and the Make Poverty History campaign. UNICEF Iceland joined the new TV channel, Sirkus, during the broadcasting of the concerts. Although the message of the concert was not to raise money, but awareness, a lot of people became Global Parents during the broadcast in Iceland.

UNICEF Iceland also joined another private TV channel, Skjar 1, when the channel dedicated a popular two hour long talkshow to Global Parents in September. The TV host, Sirry, went to Kenya and told stories of UNICEF programmes in the show.

In the fall, UNICEF reiceived its first major donor contribution from Petur Bjornsson. He donated 5 million ISK to an iodized salt project in Guinea-Bissau. Another interesting collaboration started for Guinea-Bissau in 2005. UNICEF Iceland and the Women's Association in Iceland joined forces to make and sell dolls for a girls' education project in the small West African country.

UNICEF Iceland sent out 2.5 million ISK to UNICEF emergency programmes after the earthquake in Pakistan in October.

In December, UNICEF Iceland signed the largest corporate agreement for a single overseas development project in Icelandic history. It was Baugur Group, FL Group and Fons who signed a 135 million ISK agreement to sponsor an education programme in Guinea-Bissau 2006-2009. UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador Sir Roger Moore visited Iceland on that occasion. These same companies held a fundraising gala dinner for the distribution of mosquito nets in Guinea-Bissau which raised over 80 million ISK.

2006

Björk visited UNICEF projects in Banda Aceh only a year after the tsunami hit the region. Björk was able to witness UNICEF's emergency relief programmes first hand during her trip.

In April, two major donors, Ingibjörg Kristjánsdóttir and Ólafur Ólafsson, donated 36 million ISK to education programmes in Sierra Leone. The project's duration is three years and will give over 5,000 children a chance to go to school.

Companies and individuals in Iceland sponsored a polio campaign in Nigeria with over 20 million ISK.

Ann M. Veneman, the Executive Director of UNICEF, visited Iceland and signed a future cooperation agreement with the National Committe. This event marked the end of the start-up of the National Committee and a new step was taken in the development of UNICEF in Iceland.

A new fundraising project for small and medium size businesses, Guardians, was launched in the fall.

In October, the youth council of UNICEF Iceland was formally founded.

The Icelandic band Sigur Rós went to visit HIV-projects in Swaziland and documented the journey through their photographs. This was developed into a beautiful exhibition where the photos were auctioned in support of UNICEF in Swaziland.

On December 1st, the first Red Nose Day was held in Iceland. The event was organized by UNICEF and the aim was to recruit more Global Parents. Many actors, musicians, entertainers and artists were involved, as well as companies and media. To kick start the Red Nose Day campaign, four companies, Baugur Group, FL Group, Fons, Glitnir bank and Samskip, signed an agreement with UNICEF Iceland to sponsor the running cost of the Committe for the next three years. By the end of the campaign, UNICEF Iceland had doubled the number of Global Parents.

2007

UNICEF Iceland had very early on made a leaflet about the Convention on the Rights Child (CRC) and distributed it to all 11 year old schoolchildren in the country. In the beginning of 2007, the next step was taken and teaching material on the web was launched. It was developed from UNICEF Education for Development material but designed specifically for Icelandic children. Both of these projects were done in collaboration with the National Centre for Education Material.

In May, the UNICEF-movathon began in three primary schools. This project is a mix of education for development and fundraising, with a focus on child participation.

UNICEF Iceland held a conference to celebrate the CRC turning 18 years old. A member of the Committee on Rights of the Child, Lucy Smith, visited Iceland for the conference.

2008

The Stainsson project was released to support UNICEF's education programmes in Sierra Leone.

In April, UNICEF and Reykjavik Energy started the Waterweek in Iceland. Restaurants offered their guests to pay for the tap water, which is normally free in Iceland, and Reykjavik Energy doupled the donations that came from individuals through these efforts. The main goal was also to raise awareness around water and sanitation in the world through advertisements and a special webpage. This campaign was payed for by Reykjavik Energy.

One of the most popular artists in Iceland, Tolli, painted cardboard houses for Guardians, small and medium enterprise donors. The first 100 Guardians receive a house painted by Tolli.