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UNICEF enjoys the unique privilege of maintaining a global research centre for children based at the nearly 600-year-old Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence, Italy. Established in 1419 by the influential Silk workers Guild, Innocenti can be viewed as one of the earliest efforts by secular authorities to elevate the concerns of the most vulnerable children to the level of civic priority.
While UNICEF is a very recent arrival at Innocenti, in many ways leading innovations in care, protection and the rights of children can be seen as emanating from this institution beginning in the Renaissance and continuing till today.