The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre is based in Florence, Italy and is the main research arm of UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. It was established in 1998 to strengthen the research capabilities of UNICEF and to support its advocacy for children’s rights worldwide. With its strong focus on children’s rights, the Centre helps to carry out research on current and future areas of Unicef’s work. Since its creation it has provided solid data on children issues in developing and industrialized nations as well as countries in transition. One of the main aims of the Centre’s research is to foster the effective implementation of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in every country. Among the Centre’s research activities are the problems of equity for the most marginalized groups, the impact of socioeconomic policies on children and economic affordability of social programmes to benefit them.