A group of us traveled to Haiti to visit a UNICEF-supported project called Art in a Bag. This program provides art supplies and training to 92 organizations and community-based partners that UNICEF works with, and is being used in child-friendly spaces and community centers around the country. Over 500 child-friendly spaces will benefit from the Art in a Bag program, reaching over 120,000 children. The project, which was generously funded by The Charles Engelhard Foundation, uses art as a means of therapy to enable children to express themselves, engage positively with their communities, and cope with the stress of the earthquake, poverty, and living in the camps.

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF New England Regional Office recently hosted a community event focused on fostering global citizenship. The event, “Engaging Kids, Schools and Communities: Re-introducing Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF and TeachUNICEF to Boston” concentrated on two specific U.S. Fund for UNICEF programs: our educator resources known as TeachUNICEF and our annual Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign. As the Boston Global Citizenship Fellow, I was excited to plan an event focused on global education and the engagement of young people through service opportunities. The event met and exceeded my expectations as it was truly a community event, with representation from Boston-area parents, teachers, non-profit organizations, students, and religious leaders, all of whom were excited to learn how different community groups were active in educating, advocating and fundraising on behalf of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Last month, from May 7-11, over 1,000 U.S. Fund for UNICEF volunteers participated in Live Below the Line, a project implemented by the Global Poverty Project. Volunteers were encouraged to live in solidarity with the 1.4 billion people (25% of the world’s population) surviving in extreme poverty, by living off of just $1.50 per day for food for five days. UNICEF Volunteers of all ages took part in this “…movement of passionate people willing and able to make a meaningful difference to those who need it most.” Collectively, UNICEF supporters fundraised over $29,000, which will go directly to supporting UNICEF’s relief efforts in the Sahel.

Last week I had the honor of speaking at an event called Wake Up! for Human Rights. At this event, each panelist spoke about their organization’s mission, goals and role in fighting for human rights. The audience heard incredible speakers from Ground Up Global, Pencils of Promise, Malaria No More, and finally myself representing the End Trafficking project at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. I spoke with pride about UNICEF’s holistic and sustainable approach to addressing systems and social norms in the realm of child protection. But what the audience doesn’t usually hear is that they can do something to change their everyday actions—that they can change the way they speak, and challenge the way that their friends act.

The AIDS pandemic is one that was born and reached its peak in our lifetime—many still remember when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control first recognized the disease in 1981. Since then, it has caused the deaths of more than 46 million individuals. Today, through the work of UNICEF and its partners, we have an unprecedented opportunity to wipe the disease from this planet by virtually eliminating all new HIV infections among children within the next three years. How can we accomplish this? It starts by believing in zero.

UNICEF Global Citizenship Fellows work to cultivate an American constituency whose empathy will stretch across the world and who care about international hardship as their own. The Global Citizenship Fellowship deploys eight fellows to eight regions in the U.S. to support a grassroots movement of community members who are passionate about UNICEF’s lifesaving work. As part of our fellowship, we work closely with high school and college UNICEF clubs to mobilize young people around issues affecting child survival and development. One particularly active and passionate young man, Winston Lee, is the president and founder of Valencia High School’s UNICEF Club.