— 8 Comments

UNICEF’s “Passport to Protection”: The Importance of Birth Registration

On Friday I participated in a Google+ Hangout with the UNICEF’s #ENDViolence Team to learn about the importance of birth registration. Thursday, December 11th marked UNICEF’s 67th year anniversary as one of the world’s leading non-profit organizations focused on the rights and protection of children. In honor of this important milestone, UNICEF released the report “Passport to Protection” which highlights the importance of birth registration in protecting children and giving them an overall basic human right. The right to exist.

Birth registration is the first step in securing a child’s rights to health, education, and freedom from things like trafficking, violence and abuse. It is a passport to protection. Yet around the world, an astounding 230 million children under the age of five – one out of every three children in this age group globally – have never been registered at birth. Tens of millions of more children are without a birth certificate.

Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD
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2013 Holiday Guide: Gifts that Give Back

Last year I did a post on Gifts that Give Back. In a world where we have so much and others have so little, gifts that give back in return is a brilliant concept. Not only are you giving something special to someone you care about, you are also giving back perhaps even more to a person in need. Here is my list of top Gifts that Give Back for 2013. Feel free to add more ideas in the comment section below.

Scarves, Appareil, Jewelry and Household Items

Anchal (scarves, pillows and quilts)

www.anchalproject.org

“Designing Change Stitch by Stitch” Anchal creates absolutely stunning scarves, pillows and quilts each handmade out of recycled saris by Indian women rescued from prostitution. I can not tell you how many compliments I have received on my stunning Anchal scarf. I wear it every day and it is warm, colorful and a reminder of the hard work that was put into making it. I had to order another one I love it so much.

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Gifts that Give Back SOCIAL GOOD
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Special report: UNICEF’s on the ground support offers glimmer of hope for children traumatized by Typhoon Haiyan

Friday marks the two week date since Super Typhoon Haiyan bombarded the Philippines, causing devastation, destruction and utter despair among this island nation. In the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan, millions of Filipinos are displaced, 18,175 people were injured, 3,976 people are confirmed dead, 1,598 people are still missing and estimated damage continues to spike up to $674 million (Source: New York Times).

The storm, one of the most powerful ever recorded in the world, also destroyed homes, schools, hospitals, roads, communications and other basic infrastructure, and damaged power and water supply systems making relief services extremely complicated and difficult.

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While world coverage of Super Typhoon Haiyan continues to filtrate the newspaper mostly speaking of the damage, destruction and despair, there are a few more subtle stories here and there about the most vulnerable victims of this devastating storm: The children.

On 12 November, a woman cradling a baby stands amid debris and other destruction caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan, in Tacloban City – the area worst affected by the disaster – on the central island of Leyte. Water, sanitation and hygiene, food, medicine, shelter, debris clearance and communications are among the priority needs. Blocked roads have limited access and the delivery of relief supplies. On 12 November 2013 in the Philippines, Government-led emergency relief and recovery operations continue in the wake of the destruction caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolanda), which hit the central Philippines on 8 November. At least 2,500 people have been killed in the Category-5 storm; the death toll is expected to rise as more affected areas become accessible. Some 11.3 million people, including an estimated 4.7 million children, in nine regions across the country have been affected, and more than 673,000 people have been displaced. Most of them are sheltering in overcrowded evacuation centres. The storm, one of the most powerful ever recorded in the world, also destroyed homes, schools, hospitals, roads, communications and other basic infrastructure, and damaged power and water supply systems. As a result, access to the many areas remains limited, hampering humanitarian relief operations. In response to the emergency, UNICEF is rushing critical supplies to affected areas, including therapeutic food for children, health kits, and water and hygiene kits for up to 3,000 families. UNICEF is also airlifting US $1.3 million in additional relief supplies from its supply warehouse in Copenhagen for another 10,000 families, including those affected by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Bohol Province in mid-October. The shipments contain water purification tablets, soap, medical kits, tarpaulin sheets and micronutrient supplements. UNICEF is also supporting water and sanitation, education and child protection interventions for vulnerable children and families. UNICEF is requesting US $34.3 million as part of a US $301 million United Nations Flash Appeal for the Philippines, to provide essential humanitarian supplies and services through May 2014. Photo credit:

On 12 November, a woman cradling a baby stands amid debris and other destruction caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan, in Tacloban City – the area worst affected by the disaster –on the central island of Leyte. Water, sanitation and hygiene, food, medicine, shelter, debris clearance and communications are among the priority needs. Blocked roads have limited access and the delivery of relief supplies. Photo credit: Jeoffrey Maitem/UNICEF

Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises Humanitarian SOCIAL GOOD
The children of Indira Kalyan Camp
— 11 Comments

UNICEF on “Committing to Child Survival”

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One area of development that is near and dear to my heart is child survival. As a mother of two children and a world traveler, I’ve seen firsthand the poverty and pain that many mothers around the world face by protecting their children and giving them everything they can to help them survive.

Often when I work with these children and their mothers, and I learn more about some of the devastating obstacles that stand in the way to raising a healthy, happy child, my heart gets broken. You see, my children were born in the United States to two educated parents who have the ability to ensure they receive good nutrition, safe drinking water and proper sanitation, education, immunizations and health care. Sometimes I scratch my head in disbelief realizing how lucky we are to live in a place where we take these fundamental rights for granted.

The children of Indira Kalyan Camp
Smiling and hopeful Indian girls within a Delhi slum are sadly thin.
Volunteering in Honduras
Children at a day care center in Honduras where I volunteered last January.
Lovely Nepali girls smile at the camera.
Children in a Delhi slum are able to attend school thanks to the support of NGOs like Pratham.

I believe strongly that it is our moral obligation to ensure other people around the world have the same opportunities at a healthy life as we do. Yes, the task is incredibly daunting and immense. But we can change things.

Child Labor, Marriage, Education and Survival Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD
The children of Indira Kalyan Camp
— 12 Comments

UNICEF India’s #ENDViolence Campaign

Over the past year, I have worked hard to build awareness and share the stories with my readers on some of the biggest social issues in the world. I have written about global health, poverty, education, safe water and sanitation, human rights, and most of all, how all of these issues have especially impacted women and girls in the developing world.

The beautiful girls at Protsahan finally getting a better future for themselves.

The beautiful girls at Protsahan finally getting a better future for themselves.

One topic that is near and dear to my heart is violence against women and girls. It is absolutely horrifying that in today’s world women and girls are being physically and sexually abused on a daily basis. Sadly, it happens everywhere. Yet violence against women and girls is even a greater problem in countries of poverty where the status of women is often so incredibly marginalized that women and girls have little or no say in the matter.

Living in the slums of India can be a dangerous place for a young girl.

Living in the slums of India can be a dangerous place for a young girl.

Traveling last May to India brought the issue of violence against women and girls to the forefront. I had just arrived after the horrendous rape and killing of a young Indian girl on a moving bus. The country was still in an uproar over the event and justice against these young men who took her life is still being sought. Today, I read the surprising news that these men have been convicted of the highest penalty possible: The death penalty and perhaps marked a change in the way law fighting these atrocities will be handled.

Yet has anything really truly changed for the millions of women around the world who are faced with violence, discrimination, harassment, intimidation, neglect and unworthiness every single day of their lives? Not much. There are laws in India against physical and sexual abuse but seldom are they enforced.

Child Labor, Marriage, Education and Survival Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD Women and Girls
— 14 Comments

Human Trafficking and stopping the unthinkable

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Photo Credit: © UNICEF/NYHQ2009-2579/Shehzad Noorani. Parul hides her face in Proshanti, a shelter managed by the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA). She was married at 14 years old, but her husband abandoned her when she became pregnant. She left the baby with her parents when her aunt offered to find her a job in Dhaka. The aunt instead brought her to Kolkata, India, and sold her to a brothel. She was forced to become a sex worker. She was later arrested in a police raid and sent to a local women’s shelter. 

Human trafficking is perhaps one of the most unimaginable practices in existence in today’s world. However, it is real and it is happening even outside my very own doorstep in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Just this morning when I picked up the newspaper, I read the startling news that the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul has been ranked the 13th largest center for child prostitution in the country. Thankfully much is being done to combat sex and human trafficking in Minnesota thanks to the newly signed piece of legislation called the Minnesota Safe Harbors Law.* Yet much more needs to be done in this combined metro area of close to 3 million people, and even a larger battle remains on a global scale.

Nearly no place in the world is untouched by human trafficking. Furthermore human trafficking can occur within and outside of international borders occurring in a variety of industries ranging from sex trade, to forced child labor and child soldiers. Oftentimes the victims are kidnapped against their will or inadvertently taken from their families who believe their children are going away to get an eduction where in reality they are being sold into a life of servitude and slavery inside a brothel.

Child Labor, Marriage, Education and Survival Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD Women and Girls
— 8 Comments

Teaching your kids the value of giving back: Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF

Some of my fondest memories of a child growing up in the 70s was trick-or-treating on Halloween with my siblings. Me, my brother and sister would walk for hours around our suburban neighborhood knocking on doors for candy. We’d come home exhausted yet smiling with pillowcases filled to the rim with sugary treats. We would pour our goodies onto the floor and would eat one a day for months to come.

Imagine if the candy could be replaced with donations. Donations to the children served by UNICEF.  Imagine the impact it would have on impoverished children around the world if only half of the candy was donations and we all participated.

Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD