UNICEF FieldNotes » advocacy

The Opportunity Africa Forum in Delaware

Martin Rendón, UNICEF USA — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:50:21 +0000

Last week, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) convened a forum called “Opportunity Africa: 2013” at Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware. The conference brought together interested citizens of Delaware with individuals from government and the private sector who work on a range of issues related to Africa. Topics included trade, business, security, geopolitics, international development and humanitarian issues. The momentum to save children that is coming from Africa is notable, as Africa’s leaders seek partners and support in the effort to get to ZERO preventable child deaths.

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Help Support Children with Disabilities

Paige Munger, UNICEF USA — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:36:37 +0000

According to the World Health Organization, a staggering 10% of world’s children are disabled. These children are often targets of exclusion, stigmatization, neglect, violence and abuse. UNESCO estimates that in developing countries, up to 90% of these children do not attend school. UNICEF strongly supports the ratification of the world’s newest human rights treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). We need your help to make sure the Senate approves the CRPD before the end of the year, and we urge you to add your voice!

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USF Salutes Sabre for Fighting Trafficking

Mark Engman, UNICEF USA — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 20:36:36 +0000

Sabre, the global travel technology company, recently launched its "Passport to Freedom" initiative to fight child sex trafficking and exploitation. The company also joined the “Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism.” This is a big deal: Sabre is the first such company to join “The Code.” The Code, a joint venture of ECPAT International and the tourism private sector, provides a way for businesses in the travel and tourism industry to combat child sexual exploitation. UNICEF serves as an advisory partner for The Code.

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Day of the Girl Child: End Child Marriage!

UNICEF USA — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:20:34 +0000

UNICEF marked October 11, 2012, as the inaugural International Day of the Girl Child, established last year by the United Nations General Assembly to draw international attention to girls’ rights. This first commemoration focused on the prevention of a fundamental human rights violation that affects every aspect of a girl’s life: child marriage. Child marriage has lasting negative impacts on girls. The practice denies a girl of her childhood, disrupts her education, limits her opportunities, increases her risk of violence and abuse, and jeopardizes her health.

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Obama Administration Steps Up Efforts to Fight Human Trafficking

Jennifer K. Chan, UNICEF USA — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:11:36 +0000

President Obama recently declared that fighting human trafficking is one of the great human rights causes of our time. In a speech delivered at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), the President announced a number of concrete measures his administration is taking to help identify and protect victims, and prevent this crime in the U.S. and around the world. According to ILO estimates, globally there are 5.5 million child victims of trafficking. President Obama condemned the practice, whether for forced labor or sexual exploitation, as ‘modern slavery.’

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Neil Young, Foo Fighters, the Black Keys and Others Call to End Poverty at the Global Festival

Rachael Swanson, UNICEF USA — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:29:09 +0000

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF is partnering with the Global Poverty Project to launch Global Citizen—an enduring online community and movement against extreme poverty with real-world successes. Global Citizen is a web platform that will unite and amplify the calls of the movement to end extreme poverty. And this September, as world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly, we’re hosting the Global Festival—a massive advocacy, free ticketed concert that will put the movement to end extreme poverty in the headlines. This historic event will bring Neil Young with Crazy Horse, Foo Fighters, The Black Keys, Band of Horses, K’naan and 60,000 change makers together on the Great Lawn in Central Park, where we will raise our voices and urge our leaders and fellow citizens to do more to tackle extreme poverty.

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Congress can help us get to zero!

Martin Rendón, UNICEF USA — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:37:53 +0000

The U.S. Government’s annual contribution to UNICEF plays a critical role in our efforts to get to zero—no child dying from a cause we can prevent. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have made their recommendations to preserve the appropriations for UNICEF for Fiscal Year 2013. The next step would be for each chamber to vote on its bill. UNICEF’s supporters need to continue to remind their Senators and Representatives that we need their help to secure this funding as it moves through the legislative process!

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Partnering with Polaris Project to combat trafficking

Jennifer K. Chan, UNICEF USA — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:45:59 +0000

Earlier this month I had the privilege of attending a screening of the documentary Not My Life, at American University in Washington D.C. The screening was coordinated by the End Trafficking team at UNICEF, our Global Citizenship Fellow Aarti Singh, and American University’s UNICEF Campus Initiative. The End Trafficking project is a U.S. Fund for UNICEF initiative that raises awareness about human trafficking and mobilizes communities to take meaningful action to help protect children.

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Students lend a leg for a landmine-free world

UNICEF USA — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:07:30 +0000

At the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, we believe that students can play a vital role in helping the world’s children survive and thrive. That’s why we are so impressed with a group in West Virginia called Proud Students Against Landmines and Cluster Bombs (PSALM).

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From our classroom in NYC to 42 new classrooms around the world

UNICEF USA — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:28:16 +0000

Being the mother of an almost four-year-old boy, I thought it was important that he start understanding how fortunate he is and that it is his civic responsibility to give back to those who are less fortunate. Philanthropy and compassion are things I believe can be instilled at a very young age. I wanted to do this in a way he could relate to and thought what better way than giving him an outlet to help other children around the world. I thought the UNICEF School-in-a-Box was the perfect introduction to UNICEF for preschoolers.

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