Fieldnotes: Blogging on UNICEF's child survival work in the field

Iodine is probably not something many of us routinely think about.

This natural chemical element enables the thyroid gland to produce hormones and is essential to human development. In much of the world, iodine is found in soil. It is absorbed by crops and then consumed by livestock and humans.

But in some parts of the world, the soil—and thus the food supply—lacks iodine. The results are devastating. Iodine deficiency is the world’s leading cause of preventable mental retardation and brain damage and also increases the risk of infant mortality, miscarriage and stillbirth.

A new UNICEF report, released this week, shows tremendous progress in the effort to protect children and mothers from the cruel consequences of iodine deficiency.

Two decades ago, only 20 percent of households received adequate levels of iodine. Now—thanks to a huge worldwide campaign including UNICEF and partners like Kiwanis International—70 percent are getting sufficient iodine through iodized salt.

Anyone who's been following the news these days is aware of the political turmoil in Zimbabwe. In the weeks leading up to today's highly contested runoff vote, many Zimbabweans who support the opposition party have been beaten or even killed. Tens of thousands have fled the country.

Even worse, in early June the government banned all aid work on the ground in Zimbabwe—threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of children who need help from organizations like UNICEF to survive. Because the situation is so volatile and is changing so quickly, we wanted to give you some additional insight into what families and children in Zimbabwe are facing, and how UNICEF is trying to help them.

© UNICEF/ HQ06-0405/Giacomo Pirozzi

Belinda Makutya, 11, and her classmates read together at a UNICEF-supported primary school. Belinda’s mother is HIV-positive and her father died of AIDS.

© UNICEF/ HQ03-0012/Shehzad Noorani

For a year, in 2003 and 2004, I lived in Iraq working as a journalist. Annette Apitz's recent post about children's lives in that country brought up a lot of memories for me. While I lived there, I saw some devastating things: families squatting dismally in an abandoned soccer stadium because their neighborhoods were no longer safe; hospitals full of wounded with almost no medicine to treat them; the aftermath of bombings that left cars, houses and humans in wrecked pieces.

But worst of all was seeing children purposely targeted for violence and—shockingly common—for kidnapping. UNICEF is very concerned about an increase in kidnappings of children in several countries including Iraq, Haiti and the Central African Republic, and is calling on governments to enact and enforce measures that provide a protective environment for children.

You may have heard, UNICEF Ambassador Clay Aiken was in Somalia, meeting lots of children and learning about the catastrophic conditions under which they struggle to survive every day.

Once Clay is back in the U.S., he'll be blogging right here about his experience, so please stay tuned. In the meantime, click here to learn more about UNICEF in Somalia. Or, to support our work to help save and protect the lives of children in this war-torn country, click here.

In this last year, everyone who has joined Microsoft’s I’m Initiative has helped raise more than $255,000 for UNICEF’s lifesaving work for children. THANK YOU!

Now everyone, whether you use instant messenger or not, can join in. Recently, Microsoft expanded the I’m Initiative to Hotmail users. So if you have Hotmail and you choose UNICEF as your cause, all of those emails you send will start adding up to even more help for the world’s children. If you don't have Hotmail, why not get it? It's free.

To help promote the I'm Initiative, a guy named Parker is doing something he calls a "talkathon," 30 days of e-mailing and IM-ing for the common good. Check it out at www.imtalkathon.com, and watch for his conversation with Caryl Stern, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF's president and CEO.

Four rising high school juniors from California, their teacher, and Rachael Swanson from the U.S. Fund for UNICEF are preparing this week to travel to Japan to participate in the Junior 8 Summit. Held at the same time as the G8 summit, J8 participants meet together to share their ideas and experiences, research and discuss the three J8 Summit themes based on the G8 agenda and learn about their shared priorities and goals. Along with cultural activities—and some fun, too—representatives from each country will meet with world leaders to present their ideas!

© Kristi Burnham

Children in Iraq have spent their whole childhood under the threat of violence. It can be hard for us to get our minds around this: that Iraqi children have never experienced a time of peace and safety. For two decades now—their entire lives—these children have known only hardship. Sanctions, political insecurity, wars, and the exodus of professionals have had a devastating impact in Iraq and its children.

Basics like water, sanitation and medical care have become scarce. According to a UNICEF Humanitarian Update that was just published, only 40 percent of all children have access to clean water, and less than half are immunized. This year, Iraq experienced a measles outbreak. In response, UNICEF vaccinated over 240,000 children against measles, mumps and rubella.

© UNICEF/ HQ03-0108/Nasih Othman

Over 2 million children are refugees in Iraq, like this boy in an IDP camp, housed in a former primary school.

There’s been a lot written about the global food crisis on this blog. And it definitely warrants more attention.

Soaring food costs are pushing a lot of families around the world into poverty. In some parts of the world, food prices have doubled. A UNICEF colleague recently reported that many families are coping with the price hikes by having only one meal a day. For young children, this is especially dangerous.

Not getting enough food or the proper nutrition can stunt a child’s growth, weaken her immune system and, in extreme cases, lead to death. Actually, malnutrition plays a significant role in half of the 9.7 million child deaths each year, which is why the food crisis is such a critical threat to children around the world.

© UNICEF/HQ06-2763/Bruno Brioni

Two-year-old Ilias of Cote d'Ivoire drinks UNICEF-supplied fortified milk to help him recover from malnutrition. These therapeutic food supplements have saved millions of children's lives. And with the current food crisis, UNICEF is distributing these lifesaving foods to children around the world.

While world leaders work to find a solution, UNICEF is responding with a life-saving basket of therapeutic foods that prevent malnutrition and help affected children recover quickly.

High-protein biscuits, therapeutic milk and Plumpy’nut have been described as “magic” foods by aid workers who have witnessed their quick turnaround success.

	© Adam Fifield
	The 2008 U.S. Fund for UNICEF Annual Meeting

Hundreds of UNICEF supporters—including donors, volunteers, corporate partners, NGO representatives and UNICEF staff—came to Atlanta, GA this week for the U.S. Fund’s annual meeting.

The rousing session inside the city’s Woodruff Arts Center on Thursday, June 19 was punctuated by vigorous applause and standing ovations. The audience heard about the remarkable successes of the last year, including the announcement that for the first time ever, the number of children under age five dying each year had dropped below 10 million. But several speakers noted that 26,000 children are still dying every day from preventable causes.

In an appeal for continued vigilance on behalf of the world’s children, U.S. Fund President and CEO Caryl M. Stern told the crowd that she believed that number could be reduced to zero.

“I believe in zero.” Stern said. “Zero does not mean nothing. In this case, zero means everything.”

Zero, Stern said, means a commitment to keep fighting as long as any child is dying of a preventable cause.

Addressing a packed hearing room of Congressional aides today, UNICEF Chief of Health Pete Salama brought encouraging news of UNICEF’s child survival successes in Africa and called for stepped up action to save even more children from dying from preventable diseases.

© UNICEF/HQ07-0964/Olivier Asselin

A boy collects rainwater in his bowl during a downpour in the village of Nyologu, in the Savelugu-Nanton District, Northern Ghana.

Ambassador Amina Salum Ali of the African Union joined with Pete to discuss the successful health interventions that are saving children and how African governments are joining with UNICEF and non-governmental organizations to improve maternal health and newborn and child survival. The event marked the observance of The Day of the African Child and was cosponsored by the Global Health Council, the Congressional Global Health Caucus and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

When UNICEF experts like Pete Salama come to Washington to make the case for child survival, it makes an impact. But to produce the needed policies and funding, our legislators also need to hear from concerned constituents who seek action on legislation.

To send your message, please visit: unicefusa.org/advocate

Those fun, fashion-forward folks at Bravo TV have come up with a unique celebrity dress auction benefitting UNICEF. Right now, when you buy a dress at Bravo TV's online charity auction, you'll be helping UNICEF's relief efforts in Myanmar.

Imagine owning a dress that was worn by a celebrity on Bravo's "A-List Awards" show, which aired on June 12. The dresses were all designed by contestants on Bravo's hit show "Project Runway."

All proceeds from the auction will go to UNICEF's relief work in Myanmar. So you'll not only get a fashion original, you'll be helping save children's lives as well.

Go to http://bravo.auction.seenon.com to start bidding. But hurry! The auction ends on June 19.

What does the word "Jamaica" conjure up in your mind? Long, glittery beaches? Azure-colored water? Fancy resorts? Those are some of the images I would have thought of until recently. But, as I've learned, they're only part of Jamaica's very complicated reality.

© UNICEF/ HQ08-0267/Susan Markisz

You see, for years now, Jamaica—that small vacation paradise about the size of Connecticut—has had one of the highest murder rates on the planet. In fact, it's often referred to as "the murder capital of the world." In 2007, more than 1,500 people, out of a population of only 2.7 million, were murdered. That equals more than four people a day, and includes an estimated 100 children. This year over 700 persons have already been killed.

UNICEF Ambassador Mia Farrow just returned from a week-long trip to the Central African Republic. She brought back some pictures that we wanted to share with you below. She also brought back some sobering news, describing the people of the Central African Republic as, "without question, the most abandoned people on the earth."

© UNICEF/ HQ08-0580/Pierre Holtz

Mia Farrow takes notes during a visit to a "bush school" in the northwestern province of Ouham-Pendé. Working with the Italian NGO COOPI, UNICEF reopened 104 schools in 2007, serving some 32,000 primary school students. More than half of the schools are located in the bush where families have taken refuge, afraid to return to their villages following attacks by armed groups.

The Central African Republic (CAR) has been ravaged by civil war for a decade now, in addition to being affected by the conflict in neighboring Sudan. What's even worse, the people of CAR are terrorized by gangs of bandits who loot property and kidnap children. As a result, many families with children hide in the bush where they are threatened by disease and rape, have little to eat or drink, and have no school for their children to attend. More than 300,000 people are now refugees in their own country, and almost a million people have been affected by the ongoing violence.

Have you noticed from our recent efforts in China and Myanmar that UNICEF goes to extreme lengths to make sure children always have access to education, even in emergency situations?

© UNICEF/HQ07-1110/Shehzad Noorani

Education is like a magic wand for children—it can provide them with a secure, happy and safe place to spend time (ping!); it can turn a scary future into one filled with possibility (swoosh!); it can even make a child healthier (tadaaa!).

Yes, education enables children to lead healthier lives, and to make improved choices for themselves and their future families. A recent study actually shows that better education leads to longer life expectancy. It is, as much as anything, a child survival issue. And achieving universal primary education by 2015 is one of the UN's Millennium Development Goals.

Last week I blogged about Key Club members coming to New York. This week, I’d like to tell you about another four high school students in California who are getting ready for an amazing opportunity.

As background, Avani, Jamie, Magnone, and Mathais, from Amador Valley High School, formed a team last winter called Volens et Potens (from the Latin phrase meaning "willing and able") and submitted the winning essay in the J8 essay contest. (You might have seen the announcement of the contest earlier this year on this blog.)

I was 16 when I got my first summer job.

It was at a McDonald’s in my Texas hometown, and my responsibilities included flipping burgers and making fries. Most of the money I earned went towards buying trendy clothes and records, and hanging out with my friends at the mall.

But for a lot of kids around the world, a job isn’t a teenage rite of passage or the means to get some extra spending cash. It’s grueling, full-time work done to help their families buy basic necessities like food and shelter. And in the poorest countries, kids as young as five toil in some of the toughest and most dangerous forms of labor out there—mining, construction and mechanical work.

© UNICEF/ HQ97-0097/Donna DeCesare

Four-year-old Norma and her six-year-old cousin, Tonio, work 12 hours a day filling bags with charcoal to help their family in El Salvador. The two cousins are not enrolled in school and suffer from respiratory ailments.

These jobs aren’t only extremely hazardous; they keep millions of children out of school and stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty. UNICEF estimates that there are 158 million children working today—that’s one in six children worldwide.

UNICEF’s first ever comprehensive report assessing the status of Africa’s children cited major challenges and some significant gains in the effort to cut that continent’s stubbornly high child mortality rates.

The State of Africa’s Children 2008: Child Survival, released late last month, noted that among the nearly 10 million children who die each year before they reach age five, half of these deaths occur in Africa.

	© UNICEF

We just wanted to pass on the great news that we've raised over $1 million for UNICEF's new pilot program to help disabled children in Vietnam. (For more on this initiative, see our recent blog post.) We'd like to take this opportunity to give a big thank you to everyone who donated and supported the program! And it gets even better—the Ford Foundation has matched every dollar raised, so that an additional $1 million will be going towards helping disabled children live full lives in Vietnam. We—and the children of Vietnam—thank you!

And, if you'd still like to support our work on behalf of disabled children in Vietnam, it's not too late. Donate today: www.unicefusa.org/vietnam

File this one under "GoodNews." UNICEF will be featured on GoodSearch.com and GoodShop.com this Wednesday, June 11.

When you use GoodSearch.com and designate the U.S. Fund for UNICEF as the cause you support, we receive a penny every time you do a search.

And, don't forget GoodShop.com, where a percentage of each order is donated to us, as well (you don’t pay anything extra). Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, eBay, Macy's, Barnes & Noble and others have teamed up with GoodShop.

Of course, you can use GoodSearch and GoodShop every day, but be sure to check us out on their homepages on Wednesday.

© UNICEF/HQ08-0563/Win Naing

While the school year is ending here in the U.S., in Myanmar the new school session is, despite all obstacles, getting under way. It's only been a month since the violent hurricane there left as many as 135,000 people dead or missing. And more than 4,000 basic education schools—affecting approximately 1.1 million children—were either damaged or totally destroyed.

But UNICEF believes it's essential to help children get back to school, and we're putting tremendous effort into seeing it happen. As Ramesh Shrestha, UNICEF Representative in Myanmar, recently said, "In any disaster affecting entire communities, the opening of local schools is an important step in the recovery process. Children rely on their daily routines for a sense of security, including the routine of attending school."