On February 14, women, men and children everywhere were rising up in opposition to violence against women. We were part of a campaign called One Billion Rising, which grew out of the fact that 1 in 3 women around the world will be raped or abused in her lifetime. That’s more than one billion women and girls.
UNICEF works around the world to protect women and girls from violence. In 2007, UNICEF and V-Day launched the creation of a safe space in Bakavu, DRC, for survivors of sexual violence, called City of Joy. This is just one example of how UNICEF and partners are working to end violence against women and children.

Giorgio Armani Fragrances has returned to help children around the world get clean, safe water, as the National Sponsor of the UNICEF Tap Project. On March 1, for the fourth consecutive year, Giorgio Armani Fragrances launches its month-long “Acqua for Life” campaign. The campaign provides a number of ways for people across the country to join the company in raising funds to support UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene programs for children.

UNICEF and children around the world thank you for your purchase last year of Inspired Gifts! These gifts are actual lifesaving items that you can buy in someone’s honor and that go where they are needed most. They include things like bicycles to help transport vaccines, mosquito nets that protect families against malaria, school supplies, and oral rehydration salts that save children from deadly dehydration.

On February 23, Montblanc launched its global “Signature for Good” initiative in Los Angeles. This marks the fourth global collaboration between Montblanc and UNICEF, which has raised more than $5 million since 2004 through various initiatives to support UNICEF’s education programs for children. In this new collaboration, Montblanc will donate 10% of the retail sales price for each item purchased in the “Signature for Good” collection. It is part of a yearlong charity initiative to support UNICEF’s education programs in the company’s efforts to ensure that children have access to a quality education.

Last September, I eagerly entered the hallways of Cesar Chavez Middle School on Chicago’s southwest side, ready to meet 25 new Citizen Schools students. The students I was about to meet had chosen “UNICEF: Be the Change” as their ten-week Citizen Schools apprenticeship. As a U.S. Fund for UNICEF Global Citizenship Fellow, I had volunteered to be a Citizen Teacher to teach students about UNICEF’s work and empower them to take action for children.

We are in the Chiaquelane camp near Chokwe, the city in Mozambique that was devastated by the flooding of the Limpopo River. Most of the city’s 70,000 residents escaped with whatever they could grab, as violent waters engulfed their homes.
Arsenia is 15 years old, and the day the waters came, Arsenia fled her home with three aunts and 12 cousins, most of them under the age of ten.
With no tent for shelter, Arsenia and her family spend long days at Chiaquelane exposed to the elements, come hellish heat or rain. But things are getting better at the camp. Even morning classes have started, a relief for Arsenia, who says she misses school and her schoolbooks.

Actor and UNICEF Ambassador Ewan McGregor was on the Ellen show last Friday, talking not only about his latest movie, but also about UNICEF. He specifically urged viewers to donate to help the children of Syria, who are not only dealing with the violence in their country, but are now facing a bitterly cold winter.

As you may know from our advocacy alert, the United States has yet to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The U.S. did, however, ratify two optional protocols, which help ensure that children never serve as soldiers, and which prohibit child prostitution, child pornography and the sale of children. In January, the United States presented a report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on its implementation of both protocols. The Committee noted that the U.S. has made significant progress since ratifying the treaties a decade ago, but it also highlighted some areas where the U.S. Government might make improvements.

Many of us see Jamaica as an island paradise, the birthplace of Reggae music, and home to world class athletes. But Jamaica is not perfect: The country is home to one of the world’s greatest wealth disparities and has one of the highest homicide rates. These harsh realities create a difficult environment for children. I recently had the privilege of hearing UNICEF Jamaica Representative Robert Fuderich speak about UNICEF’s programs in Jamaica, and attending this event further deepened my appreciation for UNICEF’s work.

For most families, choosing to leave Syria is not a difficult decision. I spoke to several men and women at Za’atari refugee camp whose houses were destroyed by shells or bombs in the conflict. None of these people wanted to move to a refugee camp, but to escape the violence, they literally had nowhere else to go. Most families cross into Jordan illegally. They are picked up on the other side of the border and are taken to Za’atari.