UNICEF FieldNotes » child survival

Thanks a Million+, American Airlines Employees and Customers!

UNICEF USA — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:56:43 +0000

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.

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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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Bill Gates’ Annual Letter and UNICEF

Caryl M. Stern, UNICEF USA President and CEO — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:34:46 +0000

Bill Gates released his “annual letter” today, presenting a candid take on the work and learnings of his foundation. His 2013 focus? Measurement. Gates cites UNICEF and its beloved former Executive Director James Grant as “the best example of picking an important goal and using measurement to achieve it.” Though Grant is not a household name, Gates maintains that “(his) impact on the world is as significant as any profit-driven leader like Henry Ford or Thomas Watson.”

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UNICEF’s Year in Review

Annette Apitz, UNICEF USA — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:07:40 +0000

As 2013 begins, it’s a good time to look back on the year gone by. For UNICEF, 2012 was filled with immense challenges—all of which we met head-on. But this year was also one in which great strides were made for child survival. Watch the Year in Review video to see some of the highlights of UNICEF’s work in 2012.

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The UNICEF Snowflake: A Symbol of Hope

Michael Sandler, UNICEF USA — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 17:50:26 +0000

On November 18, a magnificent crystal ornament began to illuminate the heart of Manhattan from high overhead at 5th Avenue and 57th Street. Enormous and delicate, the 3,300 pound UNICEF Snowflake is 28 feet tall and 23 feet wide and contains 16,000 individual crystal prisms. This glittering emblem and its crystals represent an inspired and committed community who have pledged to safeguard the world's children. Like many events in New York during this holiday season, the raising of the UNICEF Snowflake inspires both celebration and contemplation. And while the appearance of the Snowflake symbolizes the commencement of the holiday season and serves as a tribute to UNICEF’s lifesaving work, it is also an acknowledgement of how far we still have to go.

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Raising Awareness about Proper Sanitation

Cathy Raines, UNICEF USA — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 15:13:34 +0000

It’s hard to imagine not having a toilet. But about 2.5 billion people around the world do not even have a basic pit latrine. And not having a toilet is a much bigger problem than just the lack of comfort and convenience. UNICEF estimates that 2 million children die every year from pneumonia and diarrhea—and these two illnesses can be largely prevented with safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene. Without proper toilets, water and the environment become contaminated, and diseases like diarrhea spread more rapidly. Having a toilet, along with improving sanitation practices such as handwashing, can keep children alive.

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Celebrate Global Handwashing Day!

Annette Apitz, UNICEF USA — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:12:29 +0000

Global Handwashing Day is a day started five years ago to promote and raise awareness about one of the easiest, yet most important, hygiene practices. Handwashing is a simple thing most of us do every day, but washing hands actually saves lives. Each year, diarrheal diseases and pneumonia kill almost 3.5 million children under five in developing countries. Our hands are the principal carriers of disease-causing germs, and if widely practiced, it is estimated that handwashing with soap could avert 1 million of those deaths. That's why the Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing, founded by UNICEF and other partners, is encouraging the world to help promote handwashing with soap.

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Technological innovations put Uganda on track to reduce child mortality

UNICEF USA — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:16:22 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a discussion with UNICEF Uganda Deputy Representative, May Anyabolu. Anyabolu gave a passionate presentation about Uganda’s history of conflict, the realities of everyday life, and UNICEF’s various programs and initiatives. Among many other initiatives, UNICEF and partners have created programs to reduce school drop-out rates, reach children in Uganda’s most isolated areas, and establish youth networking organizations. In addition, the installation of ‘Digital Drums’—rugged computers made from locally available oil drums—have served as a way to promote sustainability and make youth friendly content, along with games and reading materials, accessible to young people. Through mTrac, a nationwide SMS-based disease and medicine tracking system, community health workers as well as everyday citizens can text to a hotline to report theft, corruption and shortages.

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Helping the children of Mali

Annette Apitz, UNICEF USA — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 16:53:45 +0000

This week America celebrates its independence. But many people in the world do not even enjoy the most basic freedoms, like having a place to live, food to eat, clean water to drink and access to healthcare. If you’ve been visiting our website, you know that the Sahel region in Africa is a place where even the most basic needs for survival are not being met. UNICEF has been tracking the situation in Mali and the rest of the Sahel region and is doing everything it can to save the children and families of Mali. Here is some of the work that UNICEF has been doing.

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Caryl Stern: Keeping the promise

Caryl M. Stern, UNICEF USA President and CEO — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 18:28:56 +0000

Zero has never been closer. Last week, more than 700 leaders from 80 countries came to Washington, D.C. to pledge to work together to end preventable child deaths within a generation. I felt deeply proud to see so many people bolstering the fight for child survival. Ending preventable child deaths takes hard work, advocacy, persistence, and endless amounts of energy. Let’s use the invigoration of last week to propel our mission forward. There will be setbacks, of course, and there will be emergencies and other unforeseen events that demand our attention. But we cannot allow ourselves to stray from our top priority — reaching a day when zero young lives are lost to preventable causes.

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