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

Elizabeth Kiem is the online producer for unicefusa.org.

In this country, International Women's Day (IWD) is looked at as, well, international. Four out of five American calendars (including the one on my desk that arrived compliments of my accountant) fail to even make a note of March 8th. It's one of those "foreign" holidays—like, say, Boxing Day.

In other parts of the world, March 8th is celebrated not so much as a Day for Women's Empowerment, as it is a Night to Go Out. Originally organized as a political event by the Socialist party, IWD was at its strongest in the 20th century behind the Iron Curtain, where marches, rallies and speeches by proletarian women were a must of the day. That, too, has changed. If tonight is anything like the 8th of March I used to experience as an expat in the late 90's, Moscow's restaurants will be packed and the sidewalks littered with cellophane roses. But not all of those feted women will experience enhanced respect.

And what about the situation beyond the U.S. and outside of the post-Soviet habits? What of International Women's Day in the world's largest, fastest growing populations and in the regions where the original human-rights-based focus of the United Nations-sanctioned holiday is still a valuable tool for women's struggles?

	© The Economist

A new report from the United Nations Development Program tells a truly disturbing story, one that is examined closely in this unflinching cover story of The Economist. In those parts of the world where boys are valued more highly than girls (particularly China and India), "females cannot take survival for granted," says the UNDP report.

In these regions, sex-selective abortion, infanticide and discriminatory health care are responsible for the "disappearance" of some 100 million women and girls, according to the report. It is a trend that will have enormous social impact in years to come, not to mention the immediate suffering and grief it causes mothers today.

UNICEF's child protection work saves lives all over the world. We are fighting trafficking and exploitation, abuse and sexual violence. With our vigilance, we can reduce the burden on women and girls by promoting education over labor; by improving access to female healthcare; by urging tough accountability for exploiters and recruiters of child soldiers; by warning of the dangers of child marriage; and by championing the Convention on the Rights of the Child as an unbreakable promise for girls as well as boys.

These are the means of attaining gender equality, a Millennium Development Goal. But no advance in gender equality can be considered a victory as long as the battle begins in utero.

Posted by Elizabeth Kiem, UNICEF USA on March 8, 2010 4:57 PM
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Jenner Pascua is a production officer for unicefusa.org.

It’s been almost two months since the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Although it seems like there’s less urgency with the news coverage on the quake, there are long-term effects of the disaster. This past weekend, the New York Times took a lengthy look at how the earthquake left not only the city in ruins, but the education system as well.

Hundreds of teachers and thousands of students lost their lives in the quake. A great number of teachers-in-training are also lost. Many schools and colleges have been destroyed, or are considered too dangerous to resume classes. With fewer schools and less facilities to properly train more teachers, the education of Haiti's children is in "limbo".

© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-0200/Shehzad Noorani

Children file into a UNICEF tent school, on the first day of classes in the remote village of Jacquot Merlin, above Port-au-Prince, the capital. UNICEF is also providing the children with educational supplies via a newly delivered school-in-a box kit, containing teaching and learning materials for 80 students.

This week’s Monday photo shows a UNICEF tent school, providing much needed education support. UNICEF is also providing educational materials for students and teachers.

UNICEF is there before, during, and after an emergency. UNICEF is the lead coordinating agency for education, child protection, nutrition and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and is working with the Government, other UN agencies, international and local NGOs and private partners across these and other sectors.

To support UNICEF’s continued efforts in Haiti, please visit www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake.

Posted by Jenner Pascua, UNICEF USA on March 8, 2010 2:27 PM
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Last fall, David Donaldson, Director of Education at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, and Kristi Burnham, Director of Volunteer and Community Partnerships, traveled to Kyrgyzstan for a field visit on Education Programs. Here is an excerpt of their recent presentation to the U.S. Fund staff on the need for funding in the region.

In this Central Asian country of over 5 million, where 98% of the population is literate and has access to television, UNICEF is developing innovative ways to reach populations affected by a depressed economy, poverty and a primarily agrarian society.

© Donaldson for U.S. Fund for UNICEF/2009

Children attending an Early Child Development Center that uses the pre-school shift model in the remote regions of Kyrgyzstan.

UNICEF's role is to address children’s rights, work with Parliament on the adoption and development of the Code of the Kyrgyz Republic on Children and the inclusion of social protection in its curriculum, while helping to implement policies and political programs. Specific to education, UNICEF is working to make schools more child-friendly, by providing teacher trainings, creating community-based projects, and providing education.

Currently 12% of children in Kyrgyzstan attend preschool, while in rural areas only 4% have access to preschools.

UNICEF Kyrgyzstan and its partners have been implementing a shift model for preschool institutions based on duration rather than intensity of attendance (period in preschool in years, vs hours per day in class) and has also proposed to the Government to make this gradual transition.

This model reaches double the number of children, especially the most poor and vulnerable. It is also much cheaper, as children do not sleep in preschools and attend not for 9 hours, as has been usual practice in the country, but rather for just a few hours. This simplifies maintenance and preserves the educational component.

Posted by Kristi Burnham, UNICEF USA on March 8, 2010 8:51 AM
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Elizabeth Kiem is the online producer for unicefusa.org.

Some years ago, when my husband decided to go to law school and my son opted for preschool, we determined that moving "back home" would best accomplish these ambitions. And so we found ourselves an hour from my hometown, in Charlottesville, Virginia—horse country, Jefferson country, and in September 2002, drought country. The reservoir was frighteningly low. Water rationing was mandated. Dave Matthews was making appeals. And the restaurants were using paper plates.

Apparently I wasn't the only one impressed by the level of social consciousness exhibited by the Charlottesville community during the dry spell. Gwen Goodkin was also a newcomer that summer. Today she is a Tap volunteer, signing up dozens of restaurants and mounting Tap billboards from Monticello to Walton Mountain.

She's also gotten her son Jacob involved. He's made the Tap Project his upcoming "mitzvah" and also, the subject of this super PSA that he produced with a local youth filmmaking brigade, Light House Studio.

Last year the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation matched every dollar raised by the Tap Project in Charlottesville and donated it to a local conservation group, making Tap both global and local!

That's a glass more than full! Thanks Gwen, Jacob, and Light House!

Posted by Elizabeth Kiem, UNICEF USA on March 5, 2010 12:56 PM
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In Haiti, the rainy season is setting in, making rivers in the rubble. Last week, flooding south of the capital killed more than a dozen people. With more than a million people homeless and exposed to the elements, the support of the international community is just as crucial today as it was on January 12th.

This week's Thursday video reminds you of the stories we've told you since the quake. Stories of kids like Rodrigue, who lost both his parents and Anne, whose school was destroyed along with her home—the Foye Zanmi orphanage. But there have been happy outcomes too—children who have been reunited with UNICEF’s aid or have gone back to school under UNICEF’s tents.

U.S. Fund President Caryl Stern visited Port-au-Prince last week, playing her part in UNICEF’s efforts on the ground there. A presence in Haiti since well before the earthquake, UNICEF is the lead agency in coordinating water and sanitation services to the displaced camps, providing health and nutrition interventions for women and children in need, and keeping vigil over children who have lost their own protectors.

» Read More

Posted by Elizabeth Kiem, UNICEF USA on March 4, 2010 11:34 AM
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The UNICEF Tap Project now has nearly 3,500 volunteers working nationally to recruit restaurants and host fundraising events. The volunteer program is in full swing. Please volunteer at tapproject.org/volunteer now, to either help recruit restaurants or host UNICEF Tap Project events. Here is a snapshot of the campaign.

EVENT HOSTING

• Check out the Events Map at tapproject.org volunteers are starting to register their public events here. After you register your event, we will ship out a kit containing UNICEF Tap Project stickers, buttons, pins, posters and give-away cards.


• If you are planning an event, make sure to register your event so you can receive this kit. Please register your event by March 14^th, so you can receive your kit prior to World Water Week.


• Please encourage your family and friends to attend events that might occur in your area during World Water Week - or create your own!


• Create fundraising page for your event here. Even if friends or family can't attend your event, they can still support it via this online fundraising program.


• The UNICEF Tap Project Inspired Gifts program is an excellent way to engage event attendees - make sure to print out donation forms for your event.

Register your event in the Volunteer Center at tapproject.org and your event will appear on our nationwide map.

RESTAURANT RECRUITMENT & SUPPORT

• Even though World Water Week, March 21 – 27, may seem far away - it is not. Volunteers have less than two weeks - until March 14 - to recruit restaurants to the campaign.
  
• Don't forget to Target those restaurants you would like to recruit, so as not to double up with other volunteers.


• Articulate the incentives to participation in your conversations with restaurants:
  
  • More customers through promotion at Zagat.com, Yelp! and OpenTable
  • Last year the campaign generated more than 1.5 BILLION media impressions -and we aim to have even more this year
  • Participation in a lifesaving campaign with just $1 UNICEF can provide a child with forty days worth of clean water
  
  
• Aim to recruit between one and three restaurants. We would prefer you recruit one restaurant and support it before, during and after World Water Week, than recruit ten and provide little support. Think quality over quantity!

Check the Volunteer Center at tapproject.org for more information about both event hosting and restaurant recruitment. Our next conference call is March 16 at 7:00 pm EST to register for the call, email volunteer@unicefusa.org.

Keep up the good work!

Posted by Kristi Burnham, UNICEF USA on March 4, 2010 11:07 AM
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Elizabeth Kiem is the online producer for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF

Many years ago I visited Valparaiso, Chile as a member of a wedding party. I was impressed with the food, with the sea and with all the salsa dancing. But what I remember in particular was how the beautiful seaside city had reversed what I think of as a fairly common socioeconomic terrain: here, the wealthier families lived low to the coast among city lights and landscaped boulevards; the poor lived high in the mountains above, along narrow dirt roads that went dark after sunset. I was hosted by the groom's family, who lived in a modest house with electricity and plumbing halfway up the mountain. From their yard I looked down on the wealth of a nation that has leapt over poverty and dictatorship to become a hemisphere leader. I looked up at the reaches where that prosperity was still felt as a gap.

©Creative Commons/Ana Maj Michelson

Valparaiso before the quake.

Valparaiso, a city of 280,00, was hit hard by last weekend's earthquake - a measure of just how huge the quake was, since the city is at the far north reach of the quake zone. It's one of six regions that have been declared a catastrophe zone. Current figures put the death toll above 700, with some 500,000 homes destroyed, leaving 2 million displaced.

It's been widely noted that the damage in Chile, particularly in human costs, has not approached that seen in Haiti following the January 12th quake. And it has been widely agreed that poverty is largely the cause of the gap.

Chile is light years ahead of Haiti in individual wealth, government resources, municipal infrastructure, and virtually every social development indicator imaginable. Experience with past disasters, including the a monster 9.9 quake in 1960, has taught many lessons in preparedness and disaster response. UNICEF is working with the government to assess the needs of children affected by the earthquake and stands ready to provide its expertise in emergency water and sanitation, protection and education sectors. It is encouraging that the need for such services has not yet proved overwhelming.

Authorities say the Valparaiso port "resisted the seismic event reasonably well," and I'm sure that Chile's kids have too. Those who are on the streets tonight out of fear of aftershocks (more than 70 of them) are less likely to have had occasion to sleep rough than many of their peers in South America. Interestingly, it appears that these young survivors are more vulnerable to unrest in the wake of the quake than was the case in Haiti, where looting and violence was minimal.

As we wait for a full assesment of how this latest natural disaster will impact children in the long run, I keep thinking of the divide I saw half way up a mountain in Valpariso. It was a narrow and not insurmountable gap between the haves and the have lesses. Chile's ability to cope with this natural disaster is a sign of the economic progress it has enjoyed over decades. But the inequities are still there. The earth's upheaval must not be allowed to make the gap wider.

Posted by Elizabeth Kiem, UNICEF USA on March 3, 2010 1:28 PM
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The continued passion, dedication and enthusiasm surrounding the Change for Good® program on American Airlines has really made the program "take off."

The numbers speak for themselves! In 2009, more than $1.2 million in spare foreign and domestic currency was collected by dedicated flight attendants onboard select international AA flights and at Admirals Club locations worldwide from generous AA customers – funds that will go to help UNICEF provide lifesaving services and supplies to some of the world's most vulnerable children. In fact, more donations were collected in 2009 than in any other year of the 15-year history of Change for Good on American Airlines, greatly exceeding the 2009 goal. Read more about AA's milestone achievement.

Champions for Children volunteers witness first-hand the impact their funds are having in the lives of children in Honduras during a 2009 UNICEF field visit.

Adding to this impressive achievement, all funds collected through Change for Good on AA in January and February will be directed to UNICEF's relief, recovery, and rebuilding work for children in Haiti.

The force – and success – behind this incredible employee-led grassroots program lies within the dedicated, passionate employees at American Airlines – primarily flight attendants and Admirals Club agents – who actively choose to help UNICEF save children's lives by volunteering for UNICEF's Change for Good program on AA. These "Champions for Children" who number nearly 2,000, volunteer their time while on the job to help UNICEF make a difference in the lives of the world's most vulnerable children.

Airline Ambassadors International (AAI), a humanitarian organization founded by American Airlines flight attendants, is a proud supporter of Change for Good on AA and leads the effort to recruit the Champions for Children who make the program happen by encouraging AA customers to get involved.

Terrell Lee, a Nashville Admirals Club representative, Craig Jordan, an AA Flight Services representative, and Norma Kaehler with AA Government Affairs attended February 24, 2010, PR News’ CSR Awards Luncheon in Washington, D.C.

In fact, American Airlines and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF were selected as finalists for the 2009 PR News' Corporate Social Responsibility Awards. Champions for Children representatives attended the awards luncheon in Washington, DC, on February 24^th where the Change for Good program received Honorable Recognition in the Employee Relations category.

Hooray, Change for Good on American Airlines! And here's to an even more successful year in 2010!

Want more info? Visit www.unicefusa.org/changeforgood, www.aa.com/unicef and www.airlineamb.org.

Posted by Krista Schmidt, UNICEF USA on March 3, 2010 10:55 AM
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U.S. Fund for UNICEF President and CEO Caryl Stern visited Haiti last week. These are her notes from the field.

I woke up with the sun again and checked my watch—5:03am. A peek through my tent flap told me it was already too late to join the shower cue, which was too long to consider since the promised second shower stall had still not arrived. Instead I waited on line to share one sink with five others and decided not to even look in the mirror for fear I'd scare myself!

We packed a few bottles of water in our bags and off we went to the tent city in Port-au-Prince's huge soccer stadium. The first thing you notice when you arrive is how tightly the tents are packed in there. We came here to visit the UNICEF Baby Tents—special tents for Moms of newborns and infants less than one year old to get counseling, nutrition checks, lactation assistance/advice, and other natal care. Many of the babies had been born since the quake—right here in the stadium.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-0189/Noorani

Sofia feeds her five-month-old daughter a cup of ready-to-use infant formula, in a baby-friendly tent set up in the Champs-de-Mars Plaza in Port-au-Prince.

Mom after Mom told me similar stories of surviving the quake, trying to protect their unborn child, the juxtaposition of giving birth in a dirty camp as opposed to what they had envisioned before the quake, nutritional challenges as they themselves are under nourished and trying to breastfeed, the usual difficulties of being a new mom while also just fighting to survive. Yet they all expressed hope. They see their babies as signs of hope—of possibilities for a future in Haiti that is better than what exists now. They talked of their difficulties but not of anger or helplessness.

We went to look at the water situation for these people. We were led to the spigot outside by a 4-year-old with her mother who was going to brush her teeth. There were at least 30 people there doing laundry in buckets—kids running naked as their moms dumped water on them and even some adults stripping down to bathe. Privacy and modesty are privileges that the quake survivors have had to forego. It was as if they felt that if they did not look at us, we were not there. Just about 20 feet from the water was the trash pile filled with rubbish and plastic bags that serve as make shift latrines inside the camp. Children kept wandering over to the trash, only to be pulled back by half naked adults.

As we drove from place to place we looked upon utterly devastating destruction: rubble everywhere; people, whole families, living in the streets or in tents alongside the rubble; a destroyed church with half its steeple in tact and people praying outside of it; long lines at water distribution site; teams of people trying to clean up by hand—removing one piece of stone at a time and walking them to the few dump trucks trying to cart the stuff away.

Imagine trying to dismantle your home by hand and you begin to understand what they are up against. Then imagine every one of your neighbors facing this same challenge simultaneously and then collectively trying to disassemble all that exists in your community—stores, offices, schools, and government buildings without cranes, trucks, dumpsters, tools, or sufficient manpower—all in excruciating heat and humidity and with no water or AC to seek refuge in. Add to that what you and your neighbors may (actually, more than likely not "may" but "will") find in the rubble.

I experienced this first-hand in my final moments on the ground there. We were filming all my "thank you messages"—brief tapes that give a shout out to donors—in the center of Port- au-Prince. I looked down and realised that where I was standing, there was a leg sticking out of the rubble. Evidently the rest of the body was buried underneath. Most of the flesh was gone. A man came over and told me it had been a young girl—he then pointed her boyfriend out to me as he sat off to the side, on the sidewalk, openly sobbing. It is a hard reality to balance the life around you with that limb sticking out of the rubble.

» Read More

Posted by Caryl M. Stern, UNICEF USA President and CEO on March 2, 2010 4:12 PM
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U.S. Fund for UNICEF President and CEO Caryl Stern visited Haiti last week. These are her notes from the field.

Pitching our tents the first night in Port-au-Prince was not nearly as difficult as I feared it would be. They go up a whole lot easier today than they did when I last went camping 25 years ago! After a quick dinner we turned in, and believe it or not, despite the heat and mosquitoes, I was out cold with just one shot of Nyquil!

Our first stop the next morning was an orphanage. The children we met were amazing. Their school building completely collapsed, they're living in tents, food is in short supply, and yet they're still kids. I taught them to play "duck, duck, goose" and "Simon Sez" and they taught me a game as well. This was all accomplished through gestures and smiles as they spoke little to no English and I know perhaps six words in creole. We played for over an hour and then using an interpreter, I took some time to talk to a few, one one one. Their stories of the day the earthquake struck were heart-wrenching.

They spoke of fear - one girl said she thought she was flying when the shifting earth lifted her up. They told me they held onto one another and watched their school crumble in front of all of them. Then they prayed.

If you saw these little children and pictured them huddled together, praying for their survival ... I know you would shed the same tears I did. I asked how life is now. They miss school - they're hungry for it to start again, even if it is held under a tree instead of in a building. They thanked me for the food and water and other supplies UNICEF is providing them.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF 2010

Caryl Stern with children of Port-au-Prince.

When I asked if they had a message for the children in New York, one little girl said that she had heard life in NYC was tough and so she will pray for our children. Another told me to tell our children to stay in school - that you really do not know how good it is until it is gone.

» Read More

Posted by Caryl M. Stern, UNICEF USA President and CEO on March 2, 2010 11:12 AM
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If you subscribe to our email updates you may already know that we started a photo petition for the children of Haiti.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF

Stand with Haiti or view more photos on our flickr page.

Haiti is still in crisis, and with 40% of the population under the age of 14, this is a children’s emergency. We want to show the children and the relief workers on the ground that they have our support!

Take a picture now holding a sign that says "I stand with Haiti" and submit it to our photo petition, and we'll compile the images and package them with an upcoming aid shipment.

Click here and follow three easy steps to add your photo to an upcoming aid shipment.

Thank you so much to those who already participated! We’re getting amazing images from all of you. Make sure to spread the word and ask your friends to visit www.unicefusa.org/standwithhaiti. You can check out all of the submissions so far on our Flickr page.

Posted by Jenner Pascua, UNICEF USA on March 1, 2010 3:04 PM
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U.S. Fund for UNICEF President and CEO Caryl Stern visited Haiti last week. These are her notes from the field.

Flying in, you first see the beautiful rock mountains and for a minute you are a bit awed by them. But then the tent cities come into view, literally lining the runways one after another. And the helicopters! Eight to 10 taking off and landing right next to us as we taxi in.

David Cook's song "this is the time in my life" is playing as we land, and as the Haitians look out the windows longingly, all of us have tears in our eyes. Most of the passengers are Haitians -- coming to look for family or to find what is left of the life they left behind here. The rest appear to be volunteers -- USAid, CompassionCare, all sorts of people.

We see the cracks in the building as we pull up to the gate. Everyone is friendly and there seems to be a camaraderie amongst the volunteers as we wait to clear passport control. But the airport is complete chaos. Luggage is being unloaded everywhere in the main hall and you just have to follow the crowd until you find yours.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF/2010

U.S. Fund's Caryl Stern arriving in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Outside the airport is a crowd of hundreds: some waiting for friends and family, many asking to carry our bags in exchange for money, and others just asking for money. We find our UNICEF colleagues and our jeep and are immediately surrounded by teens clinging to the vehicle with their hands out. For quite sometime it is impossible to drive -- the crowd is thick, the road is jammed, and the scene gives new meaning to the word gridlock. Only the scooters are moving as they weave between us all.

Along the road we pass lots where houses once stood and where now there is rubble or half a house and a tent, sometimes two.

» Read More

Posted by Caryl M. Stern, UNICEF USA President and CEO on March 1, 2010 1:43 PM
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Kristi Burnham is Director of Community & Volunteer Partnerships at the U.S. Fund.

I recently accompanied a Key Club and a Kiwanis representative to Swaziland. Swaziland is a small country in southern Africa, with a population of one million, but with the highest HIV infection rate in the world. This was our second trip to Swaziland; in 2007, after Key Club’s youth led board voted to fund programs there, I accompanied four Key Club members to Swaziland to learn more. In June 2007, we visited several neighborhood care points (NCPs), which were community-based locations where trained volunteers would provide informal education, warm meals and basic health care services to children who were orphaned or made vulnerable from HIV and AIDS. The neighborhood care points, supported by UNICEF, were trying to reach as many kids as possible, but needed financial support to reach more children.

U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Burnham/2010

Prior to Key Club funding, neighborhood care points were constructed in the same fashion as many homes in Swaziland, with sticks and mud, making them unstable and many times unsafe.

Through Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, Key Club members have donated $1.5 million to Swaziland over the last two and a half years, and our trip last month was to observe revisit the NCPS.

What a difference! Since our last visit, a standard template has been developed to construct concrete buildings, providing classroom materials, a place to prepare meals, as well as permanent and sanitary latrines. More than 81,000 children have been serviced through the creation of new and improvement of existing NCPs, and more than 7,000 caregivers have been trained. UNICEF Swaziland has also leveraged the funds sent by Key Club for other donations from the World Food Program, the Global Fund, and more. The change was visible not only in the structures, but in the eyes of the care givers, volunteers, and the children.

U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Burnham/2010

Key Club funding to UNICEF helped streamline the construction and development of neighborhood care points, resulting in more stable and consistent structures, educational materials within, and the training of care givers.

However, there is still much work to be done. Key Club has recently donated another $500,000 to Swaziland, fulfilling its commitment to continue supporting these programs, but there are 150,000 orphans and vulnerable children in Swaziland, HIV transmission is a challenge, particularly among young people, and poverty is prevalent. While UNICEF and its partners are making great strides in Swaziland, we can’t lose momentum and rest until every child has access to the basic necessities. Take time to learn more about Key Club’s efforts to support Swaziland.

Posted by Kristi Burnham, UNICEF USA on March 1, 2010 12:20 PM
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CNN is reporting that a major 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile overnight.

Children are the most vulnerable population in any natural disaster, and we will keep you posted on UNICEF's response to this emergency as news comes in.

In the meantime, if you would like to to support UNICEF's relief efforts for children caught in emergencies like this one, please click here to donate now.

Posted by Alisa Aydin, UNICEF USA on February 27, 2010 9:23 AM
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Warning - you will be humming this melody all day long.

No, really - they're still humming it in space, where Lullaby, the new UNICEF anthem, was broadcast late last year,and where sound is notoriously long-lived but hard to hear.

You may have caught Lullaby earlier, on UNICEF's YouTube channel.

This week's Thursday video brings you the Lullaby reprise. A stunning montage soundtracked with the same swelling theme composed by UNICEF Ambassador Steve Barakatt, "For Every Child" goes out to the children of THIS world - and to the very grounded governments and changemakers who are charged with ensuring the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Enjoy, and feel free to hum along.

Posted by Elizabeth Kiem, UNICEF USA on February 25, 2010 4:13 PM
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For the past 25 years, kids around the United States have been invited to submit their drawings to be selected as an official UNICEF holiday greeting card to be sold at Pier 1 Imports stores nationwide. The best part? 100% of the proceeds from the sale of these cards go to the United States Fund for UNICEF!

The contest is running now until March 5, so get your creative juices flowing, download an entry form, and draw a picture of what “Joy to the World” means to you.

2009 Grand Prize Winner (left) by Julie Hermann and People's Choice Winner (right) by Joe Peterson.

The winner, who will be announced in April, will receive a $5,000 scholarship, as well as $500 worth of art supplies for their school. Additionally, 2010 marks the second annual “People’s Choice Award,” in which visitors to the Pier 1 website can vote on their favorite design from April 1st to April 15th. The “People’s Choice” winner will also receive $500 worth of art supplies.

Enter the Pier 1/UNICEF Greeting Card Contest today, and join us in creating a better world.

Posted by Andrea Carricato, UNICEF USA on February 24, 2010 5:05 PM
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This week's Monday photo comes from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.

It's a photo from Al-Tanf refugee camp, which has closed - we hope - for good. Established in 2006, when hundreds of Palestinian refugees fleeing persecution in Iraq were prevented from crossing into Syria, the border camp was never meant to be a home. But that's what the strip of desert sandwiched between a busy highway and a wall became.

This month, the United Nations refugee agency transferred the last 60 people from Al-Tanf, ending their long exile in a bleak no-man's land.

© UNHCR/B.Diab

A young boy helps pack up the last of the belongings of the Al-Tanf refugees.

UNICEF supported the children of Al-Tanf camp with recreational materials and counselling. The residents of Al-Tanf join about 2,000 other Palestinian refugees in camps inside Syria and in Iraq, according to UNHCR.

Posted by Jenner Pascua, UNICEF USA on February 22, 2010 3:30 PM
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On behalf of the children of Haiti, UNICEF child protection expert Nadine Perrault shares a thank you in a video interview to the volunteers and supporters of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Perrault, who is normally based at UNICEF's Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office in Panama, was deployed to Haiti to support UNICEF's work on the ground, including efforts to identify and protect unaccompanied children. During her time there, she witnessed the life saving work of UNICEF and its partners.

To support UNICEF's continued efforts in Haiti, please visit www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake.

Posted by Elizabeth Merola, UNICEF USA on February 22, 2010 11:55 AM
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Jennifer Bakody is an emergency communications specialist in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.She recently visited the Dario Contreras Hospital, which UNICEF is helping to support with doctors and supplies for Haitian children being treated for injuries after last month's earthquake.

The moment I arrived at the children's ward of Dario Contreras Hospital, I heard cries from the wounded. About a dozen injured young people lay in one room, some crammed two to a bed. Some had a parent by their side, some were alone. Amputated arms or legs were common, and it looked like almost everyone was in a cast. Blood-stained bandages were wrapped tightly around some heads. Other children were hooked to IV drips with medicines. One little boy had lost an eye.

© UNICEF Dominican Republic/2010/Camposano

From his hospital bed in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 12-year-old Maximillien Francois reads to UNICEF Communications Specialist Jennifer Bakody.

This is where I met 12-year-old Maximillien Francois, whose mother brought him here for treatment about three weeks ago.

Max is in the 7th grade in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Delmas. On the day of the earthquake, he was playing outside his school when a wall collapsed, crushing his leg. His only brother, his father, and a close cousin were all killed when another building collapsed on them.

Most of the hospitals that could have treated Max near his home were destroyed in the quake, but his mother managed to get space for them on a convoy leaving for neighbouring Dominican Republic. Doctors at the border said they didn't have the equipment to save Max's leg, and sent them on to the better medical facilities in the capital city, Santo Domingo.

Max's bed stands out from others nearby because it is covered with piles of books. He goes through about a dozen a day, and has read many twice or more. His favourites are detective books and Disney ones. He feels sad, he said, but reading and writing are helping him to relax. His intelligence and expressiveness seem beyond his 12 years.

"I feel demoralized," he told me.

Here's a child who just lost several close family members. He's badly injured, homeless and not in school. Demoralized is probably the perfect word for the situation – but it's one I would expect to hear from an adult.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kiem, UNICEF USA on February 22, 2010 9:36 AM
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Casey Rotter is a development officer at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. She is in Guatamala on a week-long field trip with members of UNICEF’s Next Generation.

We learned that most children at this shelter had left home to look for work in Mexico. The economic situation is so bad in Guatemala that often parents send their kids across the border to work and send money home. Other children leave to join their parents, who are already in Mexico (or the U.S.) for work. And then there are those who flee because their life at home in Guatemala was filled with abuse or empty with abandonment.

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Posted by Casey Rotter, UNICEF USA on February 19, 2010 12:15 PM
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