Let’s hear it for the Champions! For the fourth year in a row, American Airlines flight attendant volunteers and Admirals Club staff — known as “Champions for Children” — collected donations from generous American Airlines customers that totaled more than $1 million.
In all, $1,185,739.82 was raised in 2012 through UNICEF’s Change for Good program on American Airlines. A global campaign launched by UNICEF in 1987, Change for Good converts airline travelers’ donations of currency — dollars, Euros, pesos, reais — into lifesaving services for vulnerable children. American Airlines customers have donated nearly $9 million through Change for Good since 1994.

Many of us think that the crisis in Syria is a political one. But it is not — it is a humanitarian crisis, and it is among the biggest in the world. Over 2 million children are affected by the violence in Syria, and over half a million children are refugees. While UNICEF and its partners are doing everything they can to help affected children and families, UNICEF’s efforts are severely underfunded. If funding is not received in the next weeks, millions of children will suffer. We are urgently calling on the entire donor community to support UNICEF’s emergency relief efforts in and around Syria.

Two years ago I found myself standing at an epicenter of drug trafficking — the infamous Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia — home to the hugely lucrative illicit opium trade. But I was waiting to assist the victims of a different kind of trafficking, a group of North Korean refugees. Many of the women and children I was waiting for had been trafficked into marriage or for adoption. As the refugees’ protection officer, it was my responsibility to win their trust and safely escort them to a shelter where they would await processing to go to another country. This experience had a profound effect on me and inspired me to join the U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s End Trafficking campaign.

For over two years, the children of Syria have lived through shelling, endured trauma, missed out on school, fled their homes, and seen relatives die. In a recent editorial in the Toronto Star, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lane warns that “An entire generation of Syrian children and their families is at risk of being lost amidst the rubble.” The crisis in Syria is a true children’s crisis. And while UNICEF is committed to reaching Syrian families and children, the challenges remain enormous.

I am proud to report that the lives of women and children are improving in Rwanda.
Recently I took part in a panel discussion at an event held parallel to the 57th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. The talk highlighted the tremendous work that has been done to protect women and children from HIV and gender-based violence in Rwanda. What was truly amazing was the audience turnout, which left some without seats. Attendees had come from many different nations and organizations to gain more insight into what Zonta and UNICEF are doing in Rwanda to achieve an HIV-free generation by 2015.

Did you know there is a World Thinking Day? Well — neither did I!
World Thinking Day is a day when Girl Scouts all around the world honor each other and give thanks for their international friendships. This year’s themes for World Thinking Day aligned perfectly with UNICEF’s mission to end preventable child deaths. I was honored to be invited to speak about UNICEF’s work at a World Thinking Day event.