When Carol Bellamy toured the globe as head of UNICEF, she would wield the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. As the world's leading advocate for children, Ms. Bellamy demanded from the 192 signatories of the convention the right for children to grow up "in health, dignity, and peace"; free of conflict, HIV/AIDS, and poverty; and protected from violence, exploitation, and abuse.

Her approach highlighted a new holistic focus on children's health that she brought to the agency during 10 years at the helm. Originally, UNICEF was geared just toward child survival; now, immunization and nutrition are but one facet of its game plan. Women's rights, including broadening reproductive options, have become part of the organization's purpose.

"The rights-based approach means we expect [countries] to meet their obligations, not to ask them to be charitable toward children," Bellamy told the Monitor this week, the last one in her tenure after serving the maximum of two five-year terms at the 59-year-old organization.

As Bellamy moves on, observers note her success in helping reduce child-mortality rates and opening access to education, especially for girls. But the shift in focus has earned the departing UNICEF chief her share of critics: from medical professionals who charge that UNICEF has "lost its way" to religious conservatives who brand Bellamy as a "radical feminist" with a pro-abortion agenda. It's even likely that the next chief, a former member of President Bush's cabinet, will return UNICEF to its more traditional roots.

Bellamy's approach jibes with contemporary international-development theory, advanced by the UN and others, which suggests that providing women and girls with access to better healthcare and education may drive economies toward prosperity.

"There's no way children will survive and thrive if their mothers are not healthy and literate," says Charles MacCormack, president of Save the Children, an international health group. "Carol was a pioneer in drawing attention to this very crucial reality."

Bellamy, a Clinton appointee and former New York politician, Wall Street lawyer and banker, and director of the Peace Corps, will be replaced by Ann Veneman, secretary of Agriculture during Mr. Bush's first term. (Washington, as the single-largest donor to UNICEF, enjoys the right to nominate an American to lead the agency.)

At a press conference in February, Ms. Veneman was asked if she would continue to emphasize primary and secondary education for girls. "I don't come with any broad agenda with regard to those or any other social issue," she said. "I don't believe these issues are relevant to the mission of UNICEF."

This stance is likely to please Bellamy critics who assert that while children's rights are important, her advocacy has detracted from its core function.

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