There are situations in our daily lives that, fortunately, we can take for granted. We don’t even notice that we are doing them. We get up and take our sons and daughters to school; We serve them a hot dish at each meal and we even choose the best foods for their growth; We teach them how to fill a jug just by turning on a tap or we go down to the park to play.
It is unlikely that in the midst of all this activity we will imagine that our health center will lack vaccines to comply with its vaccination record; that, suddenly, our children could not have access to school or that, instead of that afternoon of playing in the park, they had to go look for drinking water several kilometers away.
However, this reality that may seem foreign to us, which we sometimes only notice when the news focuses on it, is what childhood experiences in many places around the world. The data collected by UNICEF—the United Nations Children’s Fund—supports this. From Gaza to Ukraine and Sudan, more than 460 million children live in conflict zones or have fled from them; Food poverty affects 181 million children under 5 years of age who cannot obtain a nutritious and varied diet; two-thirds of 10-year-old boys and girls do not know how to read a simple story; and 739 million face extremely high water scarcity. All of these situations are being aggravated by the effects of conflicts and climate change.
What can be done about it?
On a daily basis, UNICEF is present in more than 190 countries, also in those where there are conflicts, where it works to serve thousands of boys and girls, defending their rights and providing them with essential services. In 2023, thanks to the contributions of its members, many lives were saved.
Thus, UNICEF managed to vaccinate almost half of children under 5 years of age worldwide, achieving historic progress for child survival and achieving milestones such as distributing 6.2 million doses of the world’s first vaccine against malaria in seven countries in Africa.
It also saved 9.3 million children from severe acute malnutrition by reaching out to them to provide therapeutic food. This was the case in Bangladesh where locally produced ready-to-eat therapeutic foods were distributed, especially in the camps of the Rohingya minority.
In 2023, 36 million people could access drinking water. In fact, this supply reached places such as Afghanistan, the State of Palestine, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey and Ukraine in times of emergency thanks to UNICEF’s work on the ground.
And as far as education is concerned, 38 million boys, girls and adolescents attended school. In Ukraine, where the war has meant that 40% of minors cannot access continuing education, UNICEF ensured that more than 1.3 million could study.
What can you do?
In these types of situations, it is common to feel frustration and helplessness, believing that we can’t do anything. Now, despite the distance, there are always ways to contribute our grain of sand that, no matter how minuscule it may seem to us, will help these boys and girls have a future and make it a little better.
What’s more, in the case of UNICEF, it is precisely the help of its more than 437,000 members that allows crucial achievements for children to be achieved on the ground. Aware that without these contributions it would not be able to protect the little ones, the United Nations Children’s Fund has launched the campaign Why UNICEF? The reason is you to encourage new collaborators to join them.
Because yes, every gesture counts and subscribing is as simple as entering the website of the campaign and choose the monthly contribution you want to make. It is a long-distance race, in which consistency in donations means that UNICEF can develop comprehensive and ongoing programs on the ground that benefit millions of children and their families, providing them with adequate food or providing them with access to drinking water. , to quality education or to essential medicines.
The proof of this is the estimates offered by UNICEF. Thus, with 15 euros per month for a year it is possible to provide complete treatment against acute malnutrition to four boys and girls; With 25 euros per month, 763 minors can be vaccinated against polio; and with 35, drinking water is given to 395 boys and girls for a month.
There are no minor or major contributions. The importance lies in joining, mobilizing in favor of children to be part of the solution that helps UNICEF reach more and more boys and girls wherever they are needed, managing to introduce real changes that improve their world.
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