In this issue >>> Issue EIGHT Field Visits Concerts Events Report Launch Campaigns Livestream Chat March 2012 A NEWSLETTER FOR UNICEF AMBASSADORS Ambassador Angélique Kidjo Raises Her Mia Farrow Launches Voice to End FGM Polio Campaign On 28 February, Mia Farrow travelled to Chad and UNICEF Good- the Democratic Republic of the will Ambassador Congo (DRC) in February as part Angélique Kidjo, of a renewed push to end po- raised the volume lio. Ms. Farrow launched a polio in the UN Gen- vaccination campaign in Chad, eral Assembly which last year registered the se- Hall on the issue cond highest number of polio of Female Genital cases in the world. In both Chad Mutilation/Cutting and the DRC, frail health care (FGM/C). Her systems, lack of infrastructure and riveting concert, insecurity are some of the reasons © UNICEF/NYHQ2012-0112/Markisz which had every- why children here die at a higher one singing and rate than almost anywhere else in dancing, had a serious call to action – to support the global efforts to the world. It is also some of the improve the lives of girls and end FGM/C. Every year, approximately reasons why polio – which was © UNICEF/NYHQ/Asselin 3 million girls – some 8,000 girls worldwide each day – are at risk of once eradicated in Chad and the being subject to FGM. An estimated 130 million to 140 million girls DRC – has returned in recent years. UNICEF and its partners and women in the world have undergone such mutilation so far. Ms. are increasing efforts to help end polio around the world and Kidjo said she was one of the lucky ones, who grew up in Africa with tremendous gains have been made. This year, India, once the a father who did not believe in FGM/C. country with the most polio cases, reported being polio free in 2011. Since 1988, polio has been reduced by 99% globally. Lenny Kravitz Supports UNICEF’s Water and Sanitation Efforts Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter, record producer and actor Lenny Kravitz pledged his support for UNICEF’s efforts to get clean water and proper sanitation to millions of people around the world. “That thousands of children under the age of five continue to die every day because they lack clean water and basic sanitation is simply unacceptable," said Mr. Kravitz, who plans to use his social media platforms to send a global message about the importance of investing in children and providing them with clean water and basic sanitation. In advance of the 2015 deadline, the world has now achieved the Millennium Development Goal for access to safe drinking water, with 89 per cent of the global population with access to this vital resource. Nevertheless, over 780 million people, mainly in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, continue to lack this access. “I was born in New York City and have always taken access to clean water as a given,” said Mr. Krav- itz. UNICEF efforts to ensure clean water and adequate sanitation include drilling wells and installing water pumps, helping communities build latrines and teaching lifesaving hygiene to schoolchildren and mothers. © UNICEF/NYHQ/Bitton Campaigns >>> Geoffrey Rush Supports Axelle Red Raises Awareness Launch of Schools Believe in Zero of Education in Emergencies for Asia Academy Award-winning actor and UNICEF In January, Australia Ambassador Geoffrey Rush is help- UNICEF ing draw attention to the number of children Goodwill who die needlessly each day from preventable Ambassador diseases through UNICEF’s Believe in Zero Serena Wil- video campaign. liams lent her support to Mr. Rush filmed the video along with other the launch of prominent Australians late in 2011 and it was Schools for screened at the UNICEF Australia annual Asia, an in- benefit event in November. ternational Mr. Rush has © UNICEF-B/K.Pannecoucke fundraising helped raise initiative to improve the awareness and Axelle Red, National Ambassador for UNICEF © UNICEF/NYHQ/Markisz funds follow- Belgium, visited Ivorian refugee camps in Libe- access and ing devastat- ria to raise awareness of the importance of edu- quality of ing humanitar- cation in emergencies. To achieve the Millenium education for disadvantaged children ian disasters, Development Goal on education, UNICEF and living across Asia and the Pacific. including the its partners are helping these children to return Education is a subject that Ms. Williams current food to school where they not only get a basic educa- feels passionate about. “When I was a © UNICEFAustralia crisis in the tion, but also learn life skills to help them sur- little girl, my parents taught me the Horn of Af- vive and thrive. The ‘Learning to Survive’ cam- importance of school, and I came to rica, the Pakistan floods in 2010 and paign, launched in 2011 by UNICEF Belgium, value education. Yet millions of chil- ‘silent’ emergencies – those that do not aims to raise awareness and funds for education dren around the world don’t have that make the headlines. in emergencies, recognizing that education is an chance,” says Ms. Williams. Mr. Rush was recently named 2012 Australian essential part of the humanitarian response. of the Year. Sounding the Alarm It’s About Ability UNICEF is sounding the alarm on the Give A Day nutrition crisis in the Sahel, where some one million children are on the In November 2011, UNICEF Spain launched brink of severe acute malnutrition. ‘Dona 1 Día’ (Give A Day) campaign to raise Children in parts of Burkina Faso, awareness and funds to prevent child malnu- Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, trition. Pau Gasol, NBA player, and Ana Du- Niger, Nigeria and Senegal are in need ato, actress, both key UNICEF Spain Ambas- of immediate life-saving aid as a result sadors are featured in the campaign, which of poor rain, harvest and rising food raised more than US$2.6 million (50% via prices. UNICEF made an appeal for text messages) in two months. US$67 million to address the immedi- ate needs of children and women af- © UNICEF Montenegro/Dusko Miljanic fected by the Sahel nutrition crisis in UNICEF Montenegro Ambassador and popu- the first half of this year. To learn more lar musician Rambo Amadeus recorded a song click here. in December 2011 encouraging children to em- brace one another. He wrote and sang the hit song in the Balkans, with children both with and without disabilities. The song promotes the UNICEF-supported campaign ‘It’s about ability’, which has been promoting inclusion of children with disabilities in Montenegro since September 2010 and has influenced 23% of citizens to change their be- haviour in a positive way toward children with ©UNICEF Spain/2011 disabilities. © UNICEF/NYHQ2011-2139/Esteve 2 Field Visits >>> Events >>> Angélique Kidjo Manchester United Mariatu Kamara Visits Benin Gala Dinner Story of Hope In January, The Annual Manchester United Gala Din- UNICEF Canada Ambassador Mariatu during a visit to ner, held at Old Trafford in Great Manches- Kamara spoke to 450 female teachers at her home coun- ter on 12 December 2011, was attended by the annual Elementary Teachers Federa- try Benin, all the first team players. UNICEF UK Am- tion of Ontario event “And Still We Rise.” UNICEF bassador and Manchester United Manager Mariatu eloquently shared her story of Goodwill Am- Sir Alex Ferguson spoke passionately about surviving the brutality of Sierra Leone’s bassador An- his visits to see UNICEF’s work in the field decade-long civil war, arriving in Canada gélique Kidjo before guests enjoyed dinner and entertain- and the role education has played through- advocated for ment from singer Emeli Sande and British out her journey. Mariatu’s story of hope improvements comedian and broadcaster Angus Deayton. and healing was both moving and motivat- in the birth The event raised more than US$205,000. registration ing for everyone in attendance. system in order to guarantee this right for all children. Ms. © UNICEF Benin/Hounsounou Kidjo visited Ekpe, a town in the commune of Sèmè-Kpodji, where she toured a health centre and civil registration centre to see the circumstances impeding the proper registration of every child. “When a child does not have a birth certificate, his © Christine Cousins future is jeopardized. He is like a ghost,” said Ms. Kidjo. “Our responsibility as parents, © Simon Davies 2011 caregivers and states is to make sure that each child has a right to legal identity.” Anatole Taubman State of the World’s Stands for Girls Michal Viewegh in Sierra Leone Children Report 2012 Together with UNICEF Switzerland, Czech National Ambassador and renowned Swiss actor and UNICEF spokesperson author Michal Viewegh travelled to Sierra Anatole Taubman took a public stand on Leone in November where he visited violence against girls on Human Rights UNICEF-supported programmes on health Day, 10 December 2011. He was joined care, education, juvenile justice and HIV/ by approximately 300 people forming a AIDS prevention. “I knew the statistics on human chain in Zurich’s Old Town to poverty and child mortality before, but there raise awareness of the issue of violence is nothing like seeing it for yourself,” reflect- against girls. Mr. Taubman has appeared ed Mr. Viewegh. “I wish all UNICEF sup- in a number of internationally renowned films such as A Quantum of Solace, a James Bond film, The Pillars of the Earth, Pope Joan, Resistance, and in the German production Fünf Freunde. UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake launched UNICEF’s flagship report, The State of the World’s Children 2012 on 28 February in Mexico City. The theme of this year’s report © UNICEF Czech Republic – Children in an Urban World – focuses at- tention on the one billion children living in porters had this opportunity to see how urban areas.