News coverage of the Haiti earthquake and the fight to help survivors is steadily dropping off three weeks after the disaster. As many other stories vie for a spot in the ever-accelerating news cycle, reporting on Haiti is becoming more sporadic and less prominent. News organizations like CNN and The Voice of America deserve credit for keeping the story in play and for spotlighting the acute need for further assistance.
The sobering truth is that in the wake of a calamity as devastating as last month’s earthquake, it is usually weeks or months after the initial crisis
A call to help Haiti’s children and families resonated far and wide from the heart of New York City’s Times Square last week.
On Wednesday, U.S. Fund for UNICEF President and CEO Caryl M. Stern and Chief Financial Officer Ed Lloyd joined several key U.S. Fund partners to ring the closing bell at the NASDAQ Stock Market in Times Square.
“Last week, we witnessed one of the most devastating emergencies ever,” Stern told the audience, referring to the colossal 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12. “In the midst of all the sadness and desolation, the American people
Please check out the latest issue of Every Child, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s magazine. Featuring powerful photos and timely articles on child survival and other key issues, the publication offers a bird’s-eye view of UNICEF’s crucial work
The box is full of goodies that would elicit squeals of delight from any toddler. UNICEF’s new Early Childhood Development Kit contains 37 different items
UNICEF is always looking for new ways to save and improve children’s lives.
Some of the pioneering technologies and products used by UNICEF to combat malnutrition and disease were showcased at last week’s Innovation Fair in Geneva. Organized by the High-Level Segment of the UN Economic and Social Council, the fair was an opportunity for UNICEF, its partners and other organizations to display “innovative projects and practices” that improve global public health.
As a former journalist, I’ve been to a lot of meetings. School boards, planning commissions, city councils, all manner of community gatherings. Some were contentious, some productive, but the majority fell into one or all of these three categories: tedious, forgettable, and decidedly unremarkable.
Which is why I’m so delighted to report that the U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s annual meeting earlier this month at New York’s Desmond Tutu Center didn’t really feel like a meeting at all. The extraordinary event
More than 50 years ago, this crippling, potentially deadly disease afflicted scores of people around the world, including countless victims in the United States. Polio preyed upon young and old, cutting short lives and withering limbs and futures. In 1955, a vaccine developed by Jonas Salk and his team of scientists at the University of Pittsburgh was approved for widespread use, and polio rates in the U.S. soon plummeted.
The Americas were certified polio-free by the World Health Organization in 1994, and in many parts of the world this fierce, highly infectious viral disease was seemingly banished to the yellowing pages of history.
But in numerous developing countries, where not everyone had access to the vaccine, polio continued to exact its vicious toll. In 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)
At first glance, Ana Bessy Zelaya looks like a typical teenager. She wears blue jeans and sneakers, and her hair is tied back with a barrette. She’s quiet and occasionally flashes a quick, shy smile. But her eyes carry a weariness that exceeds her 18 years.
The power of technological innovation to produce positive change in the developing world was the focus of the fifth annual Web4Dev conference, hosted last week by UNICEF. The gathering of experts from the UN system, academia, and the private sector, explored how new and existing mobile and online technologies can be used to tackle poverty and disease and help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
UNICEF executive director Ann M. Veneman called upon participants to put innovation at the service of humanity. Ms. Veneman cited an example of a remarkable joint initiative between UNICEF and Columbia University in which health workers in developing countries are using mobile phones and SMS text messages to track the nutritional status of children in remote communities. To learn more about this amazing project, read this earlier post by my colleague Jen Banbury.
Thirty years ago, only one out of five children were immunized against killer diseases like measles and polio. Throughout the developing world, millions of children were dying of illnesses that had all but disappeared in the world’s wealthier countries. Since then, a near miracle has taken place. Now, four out of five children are protected by vaccines. Polio is on the verge of elimination. Measles and tetanus deaths have been reduced dramatically. This miracle did not happen by itself.
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