Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Every Child #4 2011
Every Child #4 2011
3, 2011
Frontlines of
On the
Famine
P.S. To browse and order UNICEF holiday cards, please visit unicefusa.org/holidaycards.
In This Issue
9 Donor Activities at Home and Abroad 1415 Partner Profiles Why I Give: Patricia Anderson and Dominique Slavin 26 UNICEF in the Field
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Emergencies Update
HAITI
A year and a half after the earthquake that battered Haiti, nearly 600,000 people still live in displacement camps around Port-au-Prince (down from 1.5 million last year). Cholera remains a significant problem, though the number of cases has been decreasing; there are 438,365 as of this writing. To keep the disease at bay, UNICEF and local partners have distributed soap, water purification tablets, and chlorine for water treatment to 2.2 million people since April. UNICEF continues to provide a diverse array of aid to those still affected by the earthquake, including clean water, child protection, immunization, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and education (for the 20112012 school year, UNICEF procured school supplies for 750,000 students).
PAKISTAN
Last year, widespread flooding in Pakistan unleashed one of the largest natural disasters ever recorded. A total of 18 million people were affected, including 3.9 million children. UNICEF mobilized national, regional, and global resources to mount one of the largest emergency responses in history. Among the remarkable results: 11.7 million children were vaccinated against polio and 10.4 million were vaccinated against measles; 5 million people received clean drinking water; and more than 2 million children were screened for malnutrition. But just last month, additional monsoon flooding impacted more than 5 million Pakistanis. UNICEF is working with the government to assess urgent needs.
JAPAN
UNICEF continues to aid children who lost parents, homes, schools, and more in the Great East Japan Earthquake in March. UNICEF is helping to rebuild preschools and kindergartens and has set up childrens mini libraries with 150,000 books in 900 locations. The Japan Committee for UNICEF has directed the distribution of this and other assistance.
LIBYA
UNICEF is strengthening its presence in Libya and has been helping local water experts restore Tripolis water supply. To cover short-term needs, UNICEF procured 11 million liters of bottled water for half a million people. UNICEF has also distributed School-in-a-Box kits and is helping to care for children in special child-friendly spaces.
To donate to UNICEF emergency relief by region, please visit unicefusa.org/donate/emergencies.
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Key Club members Joe Hartsoe, Rob Gulick, Amanda Thain, and Grace Greenwell visited children at an older Neighborhood Care Point in Swaziland in 2007 before Key Club made a $2 million , contribution to improve the program.
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have also become a conduit to school. The caregivers know that these children need to be directed from here to the school, so the Neighborhood Care Points have just become a channel that nobody anticipated initially when we started investing in them.
who were willing to look after some of these children So UNICEF got initial funding from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office and said to the volunteer caregivers: You look after the children, and well bring you some support. UNICEF and other partners then worked with the government to set up the care points and provide basic materials. At first, the meeting place was often a tree or simple mud home. Now, we have a blueprint for the building its a concrete structure with a latrine, a storeroom, and a kitchen. The new structures are more child-friendly.
EC: How is health care delivered at the Neighborhood Care Points? JG: We bring health workers to the care points so they can provide immunizations and vitamin A supplements. They also screen the children and, if needed, refer them to health facilities. EC: How did the concept of Neighborhood Care Points evolve? JG: It came about in response to a drought emergency in 2003. UNICEF staff and representatives from non-governmental organizations were traveling around the countryside; they discovered that there were a lot of children out there, all by themselves They found children sitting alone in isolated homesteads after the premature death of parents, mostly from AIDS-related diseases. The drought made things even harder. But the more the teams looked around, they met people
EC: What kind of impact is Key Clubs $2 million contribution making? JG: The Key Club contribution has significantly improved the overall program. With this assistance, UNICEF has been able to provide more stimulation and more psychosocial support for the children, and more training for the caregivers. It has strengthened the existing centers and enabled us to open 100 new ones and provide crucial start-up items like cooking pots, and feeding utensils, and water and sanitation materials.
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...UNICEF-supported Bancos Comunales are not just banks: they train women to understand and advocate for their rights...
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Inspired Gifts
This holiday season, purchase lifesaving items such as warm blankets, mosquito nets, and therapeutic milk for children in need. Dedicate your gifts to friends or family members well send each of them a card to let them know. Visit inspiredgifts.org.
Help children around the world just by purchasing greeting cards and unique holiday gifts through Shop UNICEF. Youll also find seasonal decor and wonderful presents for the kids in your life. Find it all at unicefusa.org/shop.
UNICEF Childrens Champion Dinner Honoring Sting and Trudie Styler UNICEF Masquerade Ball Hosted by UNICEFs Next Generation UNICEF Snowflake Ball Presented by Baccarat, Hosted by Andy Cohen, and Honoring John Strangfeld, Prudential
Tuesday, November 29, New York
UNICEF Ball Presented by Baccarat and Honoring Irena, Nick, and Mike Medavoy
Thursday, December 8, Beverly Hills
For more information or tickets, contact Jennifer Lopez at 212-880-9131 or events@unicefusa.org.
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To save a single child is a blessing. To save a million children is an opportunity granted to us by UNICEF.
Audrey Hepburn
The various levels of membership will each offer unique opportunities for members to connect with each other and participate in UNICEFs work through volunteer gatherings, program events, and in-the-field experiences. Special communications and access to UNICEF staff will offer engaging and intimate ways to learn about the impact of donations. Members will also receive special recognition in U.S. Fund for UNICEF publications, on our website, and at events.
For more information about the Audrey Hepburn Society for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF please contact , Marci Brenholz at mbrenholz@unicefusa.org or (212) 922-2607 . Audrey Hepburn Trademark of Sean Ferrer and Luca Dotti. All Rights Reserved.
d o N o r AC t I v I t I E s At h o m E A N d A b r oA d
Southeast Regional Board member Dr. Gulshan Harjee, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Dr. Bobbie Bailey, and Caryl M. Stern at the UNICEF Experience in Atlanta. Dr. Bailey spontaneously pledged $250,000 during the inspiring event.
Participating as panelists and co-hosts for the Rising Power of Women in Philanthropy breakfast on September 16 in New York City were (l.-r.) Fran Drescher, Ambassador Swanee Hunt, Ta Leoni, Robert Jenkins, Pamela Fiori, Caryl M. Stern, Liya Kebede, and Mary Erdoes.
UNICEFs Chief of Child Protection Susan Bissell (center) spoke about child trafficking at a May luncheon in Houston, co-chaired by Southwest Regional Board members Eileen Lawal (left) and Susan Boggio (right).
U.S. Fund Vice President of Development Bill Horan, Southern California Regional Board members Brigitte Posch and Wendy Adams, and National Development Committee member Eric Eitel at a May event hosted by Ms. Posch and Rod Dubitsky.
Supporters Lorraine and Tim Nelson with children outside a school in Rwanda.
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Frontlines of
By Adam Fifield
On the
Famine
scribed the unfolding calamity as a megafamine and likened its scope to the massive Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. UNICEF and its partners, including the UNs World Food Program, are racing to save children like Aden by setting up emergency feeding centers in Dadaab and other settlement camps, in Somalia itself, and throughout the entire region. Using every means possible to reach children in jeopardy, UNICEF is rushing therapeutic food into affected areas by land, air, and sea. It is also delivering an array of other vital assistance, including immunizations, medicines, clean water, child protection services, anti-malarial mosquito nets, vitamin A supplements, and education for uprooted children. In southern Somalia alone, UNICEF has shipped more than 490 tons of ready-to-use therapeutic food enough to treat more than 33,000 severely malnourished children. Adens story and those of many other children like him who have been reached in time shows that UNICEFs response in the Horn of Africa is working and that the lethal grip of famine can be broken. But many are still in peril, and the operation remains at a critical juncture. Just $10 can feed a malnourished child for 10 days. Many generous American donors have committed lifesaving support, but as of this writing, UNICEF still faces a funding shortfall in the Horn of $91 million.
bdile and his family tried to outrun the famine. Their crops and livestock had been claimed by drought. They had little food or water. Getting out of Somalia and into Kenya was their only hope of survival. Malnourished and exhausted, the two parents, grandmother, and four children struggled across a parched, dust-blown terrain, walking for 25 days. Abdiles wife died of starvation along the way. But he kept going, carrying three children on his back. The desperate father feared that his youngest son, three-year-old Aden, would soon follow his mother.
The family finally reached the sprawling Dadaab settlement camp in Kenya, packed with more than 400,000 other refugees. By then, Aden was very close to death. He couldnt lift his head or swallow. He weighed only 11 pounds. The boy was taken to a hospital, where doctors wondered if he would make it. They immediately began treating him with therapeutic food supplied by UNICEF. Two weeks later, Aden had gained more than two pounds and was able to stand on his own for a few seconds at a time. My son is getting better by the day, and I know he will survive this, said a grateful Abdile, who shared his story with UNICEFs Chris Tidey. The Horn of Africas worst drought in 60 years has conspired with rising food and fuel prices, chronic conflict, and deep-seated poverty to create a vast and dire crisis. It is the most severe humanitarian emergency in the world today. Tens of thousands of people have died, more than half of them children. The situation is so grave that some parents have faced a kind of Sophies Choice: which children should they feed and which should they allow to starve? As many as 12.5 million people are affected in drought-wracked Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, including 4 million children. Southern Somalia is the hardesthit. There, famine has been declared in six districts and may spread to others. UNICEF emergency veteran David Bassiouni de-
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said that combating hunger and starvation has been at the heart of UNICEFs mission since its founding in 1946. At that time, the fledgling agency provided food as well as medicine to children in Europe suffering the aftereffects of World War II. Feeding children was how UNICEF started, says Bassiouni. That was how the organization came into being. We should not forget those humble beginnings, because thats how we originated. UNICEF has always given the nutrition of children and mothers very high priority. That means UNICEF will do everything in its power to reach malnourished children, even in a place like Somalia, where ongoing violence makes the work of humanitarian agencies extremely challenging and dangerous (dozens of aid workers have been killed in Somalia, including several UNICEF staff members). Despite such daunting circumstances, UNICEF is determined to deliver nutritional assistance to Somali children. One way it does this is by working with a network of over 70 local non-governmental partners and by deploying third party monitors to make sure aid reaches children. UNICEFs ability to respond to famines and to reduce risks from natural disasters has improved significantly over the years, says UNICEFs Deputy Chief of Communications Patrick Mc-
armed conflict, which compounds the effects of drought and hampers the distribution of relief. UNICEF and its partners have a history of battling famines across the globe, including in 1979 and 1980 on the Thai-Cambodian border, in the wake of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime; in 1984 in Ethiopia and many other countries across sub-Saharan Africa; in the late 1980s in war-torn Sudan, when the late UNICEF Executive Director James Grant brokered ceasefires to allow food to be delivered to the south; and in 1992 in Somalia. These are only a few examples. Bassiouni, who was the UNICEF Representative in Somalia when the horrific famine afflicted that country in 1992,
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Cormick. I think we are much quicker, says McCormick. There are now prepositioned supplies, more transport, and more personnel. As a result, were seeing fewer of those horrific pictures and fewer deaths now than we did in Ethiopia and Somalia before. In addition to being more prepared to tackle famines and food crises and meet immediate needs, UNICEF today is also more effective at helping nurture early recovery, says Bassiouni. We are not only responding to crises but are focused on building back better. For instance, it provides families cash grants so they can buy food or other necessities. In Somalia, UNICEF is currently providing cash for six-month periods to allow families to overcome the drought and plan how to use the money in the best way over that period. This assistance ensures that some families can stay put instead of being forced to flee to refugee camps.
UNICEF acts as quickly as possible to aid children in the path of these disasters.
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P A r t NF E A t U r E I l E s Er Pro F
Every child deserves a chance, but there are so many who dont get one.
did, they wouldnt give them a job. At UNICEF-supported centers in Honduras capital, Tegucigalpa, these kids can now turn their lives around beginning with the removal of their tattoos by doctors. They get a lot of other support, too, like counseling and job training, and they learn to take responsibility for themselves. We these brave young men, and by this program, that I made a contribution to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to help keep it going. What really impressed me with the gang project and others was how UNICEF would help the local communities get these programs off the ground. It was not a charity campaign, where someone comes in and does all the work and keeps doing it. UNICEF provided resources and guidance, but then the schools and communities and parents took ownership of the projects. I liked how UNICEF worked with the government and made sure everybody was on board. One great example is UNICEFs partnership with a local municipality to train mothers how to feed their babies and make sure they get the right nutrition in the first two years of life. Being able to witness UNICEFs work in Honduras was very meaningful to me. I got involved and went on this trip because of my son-in-law, Matt, who encouraged our family to support UNICEF. Matt passed away recently, and our support for UNICEF is a memorial to him. I think he would be deeply proud of what is happening in Honduras.
met some boys who had come back to talk about how they had changed their lives and how they had become mentors. They were now trying to keep other boys and girls away from gangs. I was so inspired by
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Every child is a possibility. So if we do everything we can to help each possibility, then theres more hope for all of us.
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in the developing world: To Educate a Girl. A Viewing Guide to the film helps teachers and their students dig deeply into the films topics, which profoundly impact so many children around the world. The U.S. Fund also gives students the opportunity to explore global issues outside of the classroom through the UNICEF High School Clubs program a growing movement of students who want to help the worlds children survive. Student-led clubs partner with the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to educate, advocate, and fundraise in support of UNICEFs lifesaving work. Club members stay connected to humanitarian and child survival news, and engage their families and communities in these essential issues. They brainstorm about the best ways to raise funds and awareness, and hold innovative, fun events.
Photo Credits
Cover: UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1345/Antony Njuguna P1: UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1012/Riccardo Gangale UNICEF/NYHQ1989-0479/John Isaac UNICEF/NYHQ2009-1508/Kate Holt UNICEF/PAKA2010-00222/Marta Ramoneda P2: UNICEF/NYHQ2011-0795/Marco Dormino UNICEF/NYHQ2011-0100/Shehzad Noorani UNICEF/NYHQ2011-0493/Adam Dean UNICEF/NYHQ2011-0223/Roger LeMoyne P3: John Ferguson UNICEF/NYHQ2006-0528/Shehzad Noorani UNICEF/NYHQ2009-1509/Kate Holt P4: U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Kristi Burnham UNICEF/NYHQ2009-1923/Giacomo Pirozzi U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Kristi Burnham U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Kristi Burnham UNICEF/NYHQ2005-0726/Christine Nesbitt UNICEF/NYHQ2009-1921/Giacomo Pirozzi P6: U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Thomas Nybo U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Kristen Magelinx UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1577/Giacomo Pirozzi P8: UNICEF/NYHQ1992-0393/Betty Press UNICEF/NYHQ1989-0475/John Isaac UNICEF/NYHQ2005-2249/Giacomo Pirozzi P9: Left to right: Tim Wilkerson, Lee Salem of Lee Salem Photography, Kim Coffman, Barron Segar/U.S. Fund for UNICEF, Wendy Serrino, Julie Skarratt P10-11: UNICEF/NYHQ2011-0203/Kate Holt P12: UNICEF/SUDA00449//UNICEF UNICEF/NYHQ1992-1169/Hoss Maina P5: UNICEF/NYHQ1992-1199/Betty Press UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1185/Kate Holt UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1203/Kate Holt UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1124/Kate Holt P14: Courtesy of Patricia Anderson UNICEF/NYHQ2005-2076/Donna DeCesare P15: Courtesy of Dominique Slavin UNICEF/NYHQ2009-2167/Tom Pietrasik UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1404/Tom Pietrasik P16: UNICEF/AFGA2010-00325/Shehzad Noorani UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1013/Riccardo Gangale U.S. Fund for UNICEF/ Amador Valley High School IBC: UNICEF/INDA2011-00191/Niklas Hallen Courtesy of Jeff Rowe Envelope: UNICEF/LAOA2011-00048/Martha Tattersall P13:
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I was lucky to grow up in the United states. When I was a kid, I didnt have to worry about where my next meal came from, or whether I would get a terrible disease, or whether I would be able to go to school. I put UNICEF in my will, because I want other children to get the same kind of chances I had. supporting UNICEF is the best opportunity to make a lasting difference in the world. A charity also has to get good grades to get a donation from me. And UNICEF is an A-plus charity I am confident the money I contribute is going to have the greatest impact. Jeff Rowe Danny Kaye Society Member
Recognizing Those Who Have Invested in the Future of the Worlds Children
to learn more about how you can create a legacy of life for future generations of children, please contact Karen metzger toll-free at (866) 486-4233, or visit our website: unicefusa.org/giftplanning.
No child should die of a preventable cause. Every day 21,000 do. We believe that number should be zero.
Believe in zero.
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