Are you a runner? Be a part of the movement, the biggest movement in New York! This year UNICEF is participating in the 2009 ING New York City Marathon in November. We’re looking for committed individuals to join Team UNICEF!

As the organization that has saved more children's lives than any other humanitarian organization, UNICEF is committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure the survival of children. Each member will be raising a minimum of $3,500. Everyday 25,000 children die from preventable causes; Team UNICEF is helping us turn that number to zero.

Team UNICEF spots are going quickly so apply as soon as possible. If you or someone you know is interested in applying for one of Team UNICEF's guaranteed runner entries, please click here today!

Please email volunteer@unicefusa.org with any questions regarding your interest in joining Team UNICEF.

	Every Child Summer 2009

My colleague Adam Fifield and I spend a lot of time writing about child survival issues. And most of the writing we do isn't for this blog—it's for speeches and publications that also play a major role in telling folks about UNICEF's crucial work. Our magazine, Every Child, probably takes up most of our focus. We may spend months researching and writing articles that convey the extraordinary range of what UNICEF does for children around the world.

It's that range—that scope—that keeps me perpetually impressed by UNICEF. At any given moment, UNICEF may be vaccinating up to a million children in Sierra Leone, getting emergency supplies to cyclone victims in Bangladesh, creating safe schools for children in Afghanistan, helping former child soldiers find work in Columbia, distributing hundreds of thousands of bed nets to protect children against malaria in Nigeria—the list goes on and on and on. Which means we never run out of things to write about.

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—which featured moving testimonials from our partners and fascinating firsthand reports from UNICEF staff—packed the emotional power of a stirring ceremony or rally.

The meeting's theme—"Believe in Zero"— couldn't have been timelier. Though UNICEF has helped cut the worldwide child mortality rate by more than half over the last fifty years, 25,000 children still die every day from avoidable causes. Because of the economic crisis, deadly threats to children are actually increasing. It was galvanizing to stand in a room surrounded by so many people who believe that there is nothing more important than saving a child’s life. I'm convinced that, with more people like this, we can come closer and closer to the day when the number of children dying from preventable causes is not 25,000—it's zero.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF/2009

U.S. Fund for UNICEF President and C.E.O Caryl Stern at the 2009 Annual Meeting.

A series of speakers, including U.S. Fund President and CEO Caryl M. Stern, Board Chair Anthony Pantaleoni, and Nightline co-anchor Cynthia McFadden, told the packed general session crowd about notable accomplishments, remaining challenges, and the need—now more than ever—to remain focused on our mission.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF/2009

Ambassador Rice looks on as Kirsten Sheldon from the US Fund for UNICEF discusses the importance of water and sanitation with HCZ students.

Ambassador Rice spoke to over 120 HCZ students about her career and recent trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The 8th and 9th grade students asked Ambassador Rice a range of questions, covering her career and working relationship with President Obama, to global issues and the children of DRC. Cynthia McCaffrey, Senior Vice President of Programs for the US Fund for UNICEF also spoke to the students about her experience in the refugee camps and what the US Fund for UNICEF is doing to assist with the humanitarian crisis in the DRC.

The students had the opportunity to see first-hand, life-saving products that may be purchased through the UNICEF Inspired Gifts program. The gifts on display included insecticide treated mosquito nets, school-in-a-box kits, first-aid kits, nutritional supplements, measles vaccines and more. US Fund staff were present at each interactive station to educate students about the importance of each item. This opportunity provided students with an engaging and educational experience. After students visited each station they were asked to recommend items to be sent to the children of the DRC based on what they learned at each interactive classroom.

It was exciting to see Ambassador Rice, US Fund staff, HCZ staff and HCZ students participate in rich dialogue about child survival.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF/2009

Campus Conference Attendees show their commitment to achieving Zero child deaths from preventable causes.

Students from all over the country gathered at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF offices and were treated to presentations from UNICEF officers who work in the field, U. S. Fund for UNICEF Senior staff, and program experts who spoke about our volunteer programs, Campus Initiative, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, and the Tap Project. Breakout sessions offered topics such as special event planning, a showing of the Final Inch—a documentary about the efforts to eradicate polio in India, and more.

The students know us well, and truly believe that with their help, the number of preventable deaths of children can be reduced to zero. In fact, they asked to have their picture taken to demonstrate their commitment!

© 2009/Ellis/The Image Company

Key Club members Jared, Abigail, Anna and Lance.

A middle income country, with 3.3 million people, nearly half of children under age 18 live in poverty or extreme poverty. Only 40% of students enrolled in the first year finish the basic cycle on time and only one in every three 20-year old Uruguayans graduates from high school. We visited high schools, trade schools, and most frequently a model center for teens, called Mandala Vos, which offers a safe and productive place for teen agers to learn skills, express themselves through the arts, and make friends. The Key Club representatives were welcomed immediately, and while they did not speak the same language, through laughter and music and gestures, became very connected. Many jokes were made, many meals were shared, and I could see that the Key Clubbers understood the impact that this trip would make on their lives when we returned home.

UNICEF Uruguay is doing great work, meeting teens where they are, in providing them opportunities for healthy and safe environments that help them stay in school, return to school, or develop skills. We heard first hand from the young people who go to the center that UNICEF, through Mandala Vos, has changed their lives for the better, and they were happy to hear we would be funding more centers in the future. When I get everyone’s photos, I will post again about the great work that UNICEF is doing in Uruguay.

Even though the suffering of Somalia’s people has only grown worse since then, much of the world continues to largely ignore it.

The vast majority of recent media coverage has focused on—you guessed it—pirates. Fighting between government forces and militants and concerns about the country becoming a terrorist safe haven have also generated considerable press. But little attention has been paid to the enormous human toll of Somalia’s woes. Read these articles from The Christian Science Monitor, Reuters, and Voice of America.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2007-1907/Shehzad Noorani

In the wake of Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, UNICEF provided emergency supplies like the high-energy biscuits this girl is carrying. Now UNICEF is rushing to get clean water and other resources to the same region, recently hit by Cyclone Alia.

Cyclone Aila washed away embankments that normally protect waterside villages from incoming high tides. Now huts that survived the storm itself are continuously flooded. Families are camping out on the highest ground they can find, but they're running out of food and safe, drinkable water.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF/2009

New York city youth walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to simulate the distance many people around the world walk to access clean water.

TeachUNICEF and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF are committed to global water and sanitation issues. To learn more about these issues and download free classroom resources click here.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0671/Marta Ramoneda

Pakistan, 2009: On 1 June, a girl attends school in a tent classroom in the Chota Lahore camp in Swabi District, in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). An estimated 877 children are enrolled in the school. UNICEF is helping to provide education support for displaced children in camps and host communities. The Chota Lahore camp is one of many created in the last few weeks to accommodate people fleeing the current conflict.

We all know that working in volatile countries brings personal risk. Just a few months ago, Kate Horton blogged about the dangers UNICEF field staff often face. And the fact that some die while on the job. But knowing the dangers doesn't make news like this any easier. When colleagues like Perseveranda So—"Persy" to those who knew her—are killed in violent and targeted attacks it feels particularly tragic. And just, well, unfair. Those who are working tirelessly to help save and improve lives should not be felled by those who seek only to destroy lives.

Is it a childhood luxury to be able to attend primary school? Are dreams for the future a privilege for a limited few? While the American public education system and its schools face challenges, particularly now, we have an advantage that many countries don’t have: a long and deep-rooted belief that quality education is a right for all children. We work to insure that education is free and compulsory. We teach our children that they can—and should—dream of a future.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Renner/2009

Students at a school not in the child friendly school pilot program talked of their need for more classrooms, windows, floors, desks, books, paper, and pencils.

UNICEF believes that every child around the world has an equal right to education and should dream of a better future. This can become a reality for more children through UNICEF’s child friendly school model, which focuses not just on academic skills but also teaches basic life skills—lifesaving skills—such as hand-washing, hygiene, and preventing the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS. The child friendly school program then can have a major role in achieving zero child deaths from preventable causes.

We’ve been chosen as the featured charity for June in the 12for12K challenge! The reason for this partnership is simple: No child should ever die from a preventable cause. Every day 25,000 do. 12for12k is partnering with UNICEF USA to help bring that number to zero.

The 12for12k Challenge is the combination of social media and fund-raising that aims to change the lives of millions worldwide. How will 12for12K do this? By using the power and outreach of social media to spread the word. From Twitter to Facebook, blogs to social media newsrooms and more, the 12for12k Challenge will be helping UNICEF USA connect with as wide an audience as possible.

Help us reach our goal this month by posting the challenge to your Facebook page, tweeting about it on Twitter, or mentioning us on your blog. Follow @12for12k on Twitter for news about an upcoming “twitterthon” benefitting us.

The more people we reach, the more lives we can save. So, while you’re face-spacing and tweeting the day away, please consider helping us help the children of the world.

If you’ve been reading the U.S. Fund for UNICEF website, or followed the TAP Project, you know about the importance of water to everything UNICEF does. Access to clean water and sanitation is fundamental to every aspect of a child's life–from survival, to good health, to education, to dignity. We Believe in Zero, and that means no child should suffer from the lack of access to safe water and adequate sanitation.

Individual Americans like you, through your support for UNICEF, help bring safe water to children every day. But our government needs to play a stronger role as well. In order to strengthen the U.S. Government’s response, Senators Richard Durbin and Bob Corker introduced S. 624, the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009, a bipartisan bill to make clean water a reality.

Unfortunately, with everybody’s attention focused elsewhere, the bill isn’t getting the attention it needs for a hearing and further action by Senate leaders. It needs more Senators to show their support–and that means we need you to let them know you care about this!

The ONE Campaign set up an online petition to show American support for this legislation. YOU CAN HELP by clicking on the link to go to the ONE website and helping ONE reach its goal of 50,000 signers.

But (as I’ve discovered) mufflers are not limited to the metal bellies of cars. They also exist in our everyday conversation with the rest of world. Sometimes (and usually because of the distance between us) the messages we hear—or the ones we send—are muffled; they lose their inflection, their sting, their urgency. This is especially true of the silent killer, tetanus. Despite the fact that a combined 158,000 mothers and newborn babies die every year from this preventable disease, very few people hear this message in all its severity. Instead, tetanus treads lightly and it continues to retain its title as a silent killer.

© UNICEF/2008/Shehzad Noorani

Young girls wait at an EPI outreach receive tetanus (TT) shots in Lelan village of Fatikchori Upazila, Chittagong District. Bangladesh.

But I’m happy to say that since I started interning at U.S. Fund for UNICEF, I’ve found no mufflers here—no silent treading. This organization has been working overtime to sound the alarm on killers like tetanus. Consider that, since it began its campaign to eliminate this disease from developing countries, UNICEF—with the help of its donors and partners—has protected more than 81 million women and newborns in some of the most remote areas in the world. It has helped eliminate tetanus from 12 of the 58 countries where the disease was a threat to the lives of mothers and children. And most recently, BD (www.bd.com)—a leading global medical technology company—renewed its partnership with UNICEF to immunize mothers and children against tetanus. This means we can look forward to saving more lives, and bring the number of preventable deaths from 25,000 a day to zero!

So, want to get rid of your cumbersome mufflers? Want to hear the facts—loud and clear—about tetanus and how you can help eliminate the threat of this disease to mothers and children around the world? Visit UNICEF USA to learn more about the work UNICEF does to save lives.

And I don’t mean to say this eerily, but be aware of mufflers. Because in the case of loud, obnoxious engines (like that of my uncle’s very old, heavy truck), mufflers can be very useful. But they are not so great when it comes to silent killers like tetanus.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Burnham/2009

Key Club representatives Anna, Lance, Abigail and Jared met in Atlanta in January to learn about UNICEF's work in Uruguay and plan the June 2009 field visit.

This weekend I will be traveling with four youth representatives from Key Club International to Montevideo, Uruguay, to observe UNICEF-assisted programs. Last November, the student-led Key Club International Board voted to support programs in Uruguay through their Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF collections. More than half a million children and adolescents in Uruguay live in poverty. UNICEF helps at-risk adolescents by providing education, counseling, job skills, recreation, and social services. Pictured here are the Key Club representatives making the trip, Anna, Lance, Abigail, and Jared. We’ll post to the blog when we get back! ]]> http://fieldnotes.unicefusa.org/2009/06/key_club_members_to_visit_unic_1.html http://fieldnotes.unicefusa.org/2009/06/key_club_members_to_visit_unic_1.html Volunteers Key Club Key Club International Uruguay volunteer Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:45:02 -0500