Campaign Updates
Measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, the Haiti earthquake killed over 200,000 people and devastated the lives of three million people. While the quake lasted only 35 seconds, its impact will be remembered forever.
To date, UNICEF has provided thousands of people with essential services including emergency shelter for 525,000 people, access to clean drinking water for 870,000 people, and immunisation against measles, diphtheria and tetanus for 500,000 children under the age of seven.
With over 40 per cent of Haiti’s population aged under 15, this is really the children’s emergency. Sadly, many of these children are now at risk of trafficking and sexual exploitation. UNICEF is working on the ground to locate, identify and protect unaccompanied children.
Education is also a priority with over 80 per cent of schools completely destroyed and up to 2.9 million primary-aged children affected. UNICEF has provided 150 school tents, 482 School-in-a-Box and Early Childhood Development kits and 762 recreational kits to help ensure children return to school and a sense of normality as quickly as possible.
The focus for UNICEF must now be on long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation. Your continued support will help us provide long-term education, nutrition and protection to Haiti’s children and bring hope to those who would have otherwise had an uncertain future.
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Malaria kills a child every 30 seconds. Approximately 90 per cent of all malaria deaths currently occur in the sub-Saharan Africa and most are children under five years of age. The mosquitoes that carry malaria usually bite between dusk and dawn, yet insecticide treated bed nets can help children get a safe night's sleep. UNICEF's Safe Dreams appeal aims to provide a mosquito net for every child around the world that needs one by the end of 2010. With your help we are confident we can reach this goal. In Niger for example, 69 per cent of households now have bed nets. But work still needs to be done. One net costs as little as $10. Your donations can help UNICEF provide more bed nets and educate more families on the importance of their use.
Become a UNICEF Rollback Malaria Partner / Donate Now / Read More
Almost 50 per cent of the developing world's population- 2.5 billion people- lack adequate sanitation facilites and over 884 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources. Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation, coupled with poor hygiene practices, causes disease and kills thousands of children every day. UNICEF is working to improve water suppiles and sanitaiton facitlies in schools and communities, and to promote safe hygiene practices. A donation of $260 provides a basic family kit, containing buckets, soap and purification tablets sufficient to meet the needs of 15 families.
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The whole world is feeling the impact of the recent global financial crisis. In developing nations, rising food and fuel prices have severely affected household budgets and resulted in malnutrition among increasing numbers of children. Food and fuel price increases late last year pushed around 100 million people into hunger. Some 148 million children under five suffer from malnutrition in the developing world.
Just 46 cents will buy one sachet of of Plumpy 'nut, a high- protein peanut-based paste. A donation of $165 can buy enough sachets to bring two severly-malnourished children back to full health. Your donations are reaching the children who need it most.
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Every year almost two million children die from diarrhoeal diseases.Once the disease takes hold, children can deteriorate rapidly as water is lost from their bodies. Yet Oral Rehydration Therapy (Oral Rehydration Salts) is often all that's needed to save the life of a child suffering from diarrhoea and other water-borne disease. UNICEF works to increase the use of Oral Rehydration Therapy in countries where children are are most at risk. Currently, only 38 per cent of children with diarroheal diseases in the developing world receive the recommended treatment. We need your help to reach more children. Just 40 cents buys enough Oral Rehydration Salts to save a child's life.
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Silent Emergencies are the emergenices you rarely hear about. Buried within newspapers, so small you may not notice them, they do not receive the attention or money they deserve. With money donation to our Silent Emergencies appeal, UNICEF was able to respond immediately to help the 4.82 million people affected by severe flooding in Bangladesh after the cyclone in May, as well as provide clean and safe drinking water to thousands in Zimbabwe where a cholera epidemic has already caused 4,300 deaths since last November. Yet a string of global humanitarian crises resulting from the global financial crisis has increased global suffering and the demands on UNICEF's emergency appeal fund. Your donations will make a difference.
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To read about UNICEF Australia's other appeals please click here.