UNICEF Campus Initiative Newsletter

The UNICEF Tap Project and Togo

In 2008 60% of the population in Togo, a coastal country in West Africa, had access to improved drinking water sources and only 12% of the population had access to improved sanitation facilities. One of UNICEF's aims is to reduce child mortality by improving access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities. UNICEF works with the Togo government to ensure that basic and essential services reach vulnerable populations. During the 2010 floods affecting more 82,000 people UNICEF reached out to more than 500,000 people and provided them with water purification tablets, and sensitization activities aimed at promoting safe sanitation and hygiene practices. In partnership with the local communities and other international organizations such as the Togolese Red Cross UNICEF is providing better sanitation facilities and constructing borehole wells in various communities, towns and villages. Togo is one of the four countries, other three being Vietnam, Mauritania and Cameroon, being specifically targeted by the 2012 UNICEF Tap Project funds.

March, 2012 Volume 4, Issue 1 Editor: Victoria Nguyen

For the week of March 19-25, the world celebrated World Water Week. For the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, volunteers across the country recruited restaurants to participate in The UNICEF Tap Project. Campus Initiative schools also creatively raised awareness on water through tabling, water walks/5ks, and water games. In the middle of the week, UNICEF and the World Health Organization announced that the world has met the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water before the MDG 2015 deadline! This update is reassuring that all our fundraising and advocacy efforts are making tangible sustainable improvements in the world!

Inside this issue:

School of the Month Congratulations, University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez for being selected as school of the month for March! Campus initiative leaders organized a UNICEF Hug Humanity Day (Abraza la Humanidad) by joining the Free Hugs campaign and giving hugs at the student center. By selling Free Hugs t-shirts, baked goods, and organic child-labor free chocolate, they collected over $500, which helped them reach their goal of $5,000 for the world’s children! Thank you University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez for your tremendous contributions and for your passionate dedication to reaching zero!

The UNICEF Tap Project

1

School of the Month

1

Child Soldiers Re-integrate into Society

2

Goals for April

2

The Alumni Association

2

Better World Books The UNICEF Campus Initiative has recently created a partnership with Better World Books. Better World Books is an organization that partners with students and faculty on college campuses to fund non-profit literacy initiatives by collecting and selling books. Many of the books collected include college textbooks, which students cannot sell back after finals and includes other unwanted textbooks. This initiative is entirely free and Better World Books will provide all the necessary materials – collection bins, shipping boxes and free shipping to warehouse. It is with every donated book that Better World Books can resell, $1.00 of it will be donated to UNICEF on behalf of your designated group. Better World Books will award a $1000 bonus to UNICEF for every 5000 books donated by the combined efforts of every UNICEF Chapter’s book drive. There are over 100 Campus Initiative Chapters nationwide and if every chapter can collect just 50 re-sellable books that will guarantee $6000 awarded to UNICEF. In addition to the program, Better World Books will give 5% of sales from textbooks donated to UNICEF’s global literacy initiatives.

1

UNICEF Campus Initiative Newsletter

Stay in touch with your national council member! Email us at: campus@unicefusa.org Don’t forget to include your zone number or at least your school name in the subject line. We’ll get back to you just as soon as we can!

Social Media

April 1, 2012 is the last day to have your fundraising efforts matched, dollar for dollar, up to $150,000, by the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF. Thank you for your participation in the challenge!

In Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo this March a hip hop crew known as the Flavour Boyz rap and performed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow at a UNICEF-supported transit center. All five members of the crew had been recruited or abducted by armed forces or groups. They are now at the center recovering from their experiences. The boys all met at the transit centre, where they were brought after being released from a myriad of different militias across the region. The leader of the crew, David*, is 16 years old, but he was just 14 when a militia attacked his village.

“I was at home studying – I was in the sixth form – when the militia came,” David explained. “They grabbed me and took me to their camp. They made me become a fighter like them.” Life in the militia was a nightmare. “It was difficult in the bush. There was no food and we slept badly, and our commander told us to attack villages and to rape women. While I was there, I fought in three wars. There were lots of people killed but somehow I survived.” The boys in the transit center live something like a normal life, playing games, washing and ironing clothes, and even going to school. David was also able to sing and write songs, something that he wasn't allowed to do in the militia.

UNICEF Helps Former Child-Soldiers Re-integrate into Society

Follow up with campuses regarding Tap Project events

The Alumni Association is excited to announce the creation of an induction ceremony! It will be one of the first steps in joining the UNICEF Campus Initiative Alumni Association. Even though this step is not a requirement, it is a great opportunity for graduating seniors of the UNICEF Campus Initiative to express their commitment and be welcomed into the association. The induction ceremony is an amazing way for UNICEF Campus initiative clubs to say goodbye and thank their seniors. To participate, seniors should each fundraise $25.00 to be donated to UNICEF. This can be accomplished either as a club or individually. Once the donation is made the club will receive an induction kit that includes welcome letters, pledge cards and buttons for each senior. Want to find out more? Email the Alumni Council at campusalumni@unicefusa.org and they can send you an informational kit, which includes a guide of how to conduct the ceremony, and fundraising ideas among other goods!

An Update from The Alumni Association

2

Get in touch with graduating seniors to provide opportunities with the

Alumni Council

Each child will spend a minimum of three months here before being re-integrated into their communities. Many children at the centre want to forget the past. But the Flavour Boyz sing about their experiences because they want the world to know what has happened to them and their communities. By addressing the past, they hope to create a better future. *Name changed to protect child’s identity.

A reminder of which National Council member is in charge of your zone! 1 (Red) - Tyra 2 (Orange) – Victoria 3 (Yellow) – Emily 4 (Green) – Shikhank 5 (Blue) – Faith 6 (Purple) - Nadia

UNICEFCampus

/CampusInitiative

© UNICEF/NYHQ2012-0097/Olivier Asselin Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow visits with girls attending a sewing class at a transit centre for girls who have survived sexual violence and other abuse, in Bukavu, DR Congo.

Campus Initiative National Council Goals and Commitments – April 2012

Contact campuses about opportunity to be a part of the next

National Council

Help all campuses wrap up Campus Challenge smoothly