As an educator, a proud uncle of six nieces and nephews, and as a JFK-based International Purser-Champion for Children, I was honored to represent the 2,700 registered volunteers at American Airlines during my first UNICEF field visit. For years, I have been collecting donations from American Airlines customers through Change for Good, a global UNICEF program that converts travelers’ contributions of foreign currency into lifesaving services for the world’s children.

Children in Brazil are learning how to advocate for their rights. Through the Urban Platform Program, young people are being trained in the skills of communications, advocacy, community organizing, and leadership. This intensive work takes place in Rio and São Paolo’s favelas, which are some of the most notorious urban slums in the world. We are grateful to have The Prudential Foundation as a partner supporting the Urban Platform Program, and when they visited Rio de Janeiro with me they were awed at these young people who were making their voices heard.

We all know that being a teenager isn’t easy. But in the world’s most marginalized and impoverished communities, adolescence can be an extremely arduous and dangerous time. With enough resources and support, it can also be a time of great opportunity and transformation.

Around the globe, there are 1.2 billion adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19. Nearly nine out of ten live in the developing world. The unique needs of these children do not get as much attention as those of younger kids, according to UNICEF’s annual flagship report The State of the World’s Children, which was released today.

More children than ever before are living past their fifth birthday, thanks to the efforts of UNICEF and its partners. The new report asks: what happens when those children turn 10, 12, 15?

While not as susceptible to disease and malnutrition as younger children, adolescents may in some ways be even more vulnerable — particularly when it comes to violence and exploitation.

Our latest Annual Report (click here to download a PDF) just came out, so I thought I’d share this fantastic UNICEF photo that’s featured on the cover:

As Kimberly-Clark Brazil’s liaison for UNICEF, Jefferson Correia has had the opportunity to see UNICEF’s child survival initiatives in Brazil firsthand. In Jeff’s own words: “This role has given me the chance to better understand UNICEF’s projects and the country where I live.”

In Brazil, Kimberly-Clark and UNICEF have been partners since 2007. Since then, Kimberly-Clark has partnered with UNICEF by supporting projects to address the needs of indigenous children and adolescents living in the Amazon and quilombolas (Afro-Brazilian) populations in the desert-like Semi-Arid region. These two populations represent the lowest child development rates in the country, live far away from where the resources are, and are quite distant from authorities, statistics and public opinion. Despite all of the difficulties facing these children, I was surprised to see how much potential exists, thanks to UNICEF’s efforts and the support offered by local NGOs. I witnessed these young people attending schools and fighting to improve illiteracy rates. They are receiving quality educations, related to their local culture and context, which are enabling them to become conscious citizens as adults.

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