Champion for Children - Impact :: U.S. Fund for UNICEF

You are making a difference

In December 2006, the “Champions for Children” volunteer program for UNICEF’s Change for Good program on American Airlines was born, proudly supported by Airline Ambassadors International. Since then, Champions have collected more than $5 million to help UNICEF save and improve children’s lives – incredible! Every time you collect on flights or at Admirals Clubs, you are making a difference in the life of a child. Below you can read about the tangible impact the notes and coins you have collected are making in the lives of children around the world.

HIV/AIDS | General Fund | Emergencies | Voting

Furthering the fight against HIV and AIDS in Latin America

Champions for Children have collected over $2 million to support UNICEF’s critical fight against HIV and AIDS in Latin America.

Across Latin America and the Caribbean, an estimated 50,000 children under age 15 and 740,000 adolescents ages 15 to 24 are living with HIV. Although 90% of these young people acquired the infection through their mothers, services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV are still not available everywhere.

With the funds collected by Champions, UNICEF is expanding transmission-prevention services for pregnant women, providing pediatric treatment, and supporting children orphaned or impoverished by HIV. Additionally, UNICEF works to protect adolescents’ rights to access treatment and care while participating fully and without stigma in their communities, and strengthening the participation of youth in infection-prevention programs.

Mother holding child's hand - hiv/aids photo

Here is one example of the lifesaving work that Champions’ funds are supporting.

Maria Isabel, a Bolivian young mother of a three-year-old boy, tested positive for HIV a few years ago.

“I summoned up the courage to go to a medical center where I took the Elisa [HIV] test. When I heard the result I was horrified, I could not stop crying.” It was explained to Maria Isabel how to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

“I saw that my son was growing without showing signs of the disease, and then I decided that I should strive to live, especially for my child. I returned to La Paz to be with my family and to start treatment. When my son was a year and a half we did the Elisa test and he was HIV negative. This immense joy motivated me to give advice on the prevention of vertical transmission, and child nutrition for pregnant women based on my experience. I explained that life is not over just because you know that you are HIV-positive.”

Thanks to UNICEF, Maria Isabel can give advice to many pregnant women on the importance of taking the HIV test as part of the regular prenatal care package.

In addition to helping mothers like Maria Isabel, another example of how Champions’ funds are helping UNICEF combat HIV/AIDS is UNICEF’s youth network project in connection with the fight against the HIV epidemic. The youth network project marked a major advance in HIV intervention across Latin America. Through the network, young people have a forum to share their experiences of HIV in their countries and discuss youth and adolescent participation in promoting sexual and reproductive rights and preventing STDs so that they can bring awareness of the issue to their peers and educate them on safe practices. UNICEF has learned over its 65 years’ of experience that the active, meaningful “buy-in” of young people is essential to the effectiveness, relevance, and success of any intervention for long-term change.

These are is just a couple of the critical projects that have been made possible because of the support of Champions for Children.

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Helping save children's lives through General Fund contributions

Champions for Children have raised over $1.1 million to support the U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s General Fund. Contributions to the General Fund are unrestricted donations not designated to a specific emergency, program, or country. Instead, UNICEF allocates monies from this fund for rapid, effective intervention when and where children need it most in any of the 150+ countries in which UNICEF works, helping save the maximum number of young lives.

By providing unrestricted donations, Champions for Children are empowering UNICEF to fight “silent emergencies”—the deadly effects of preventable disease and malnutrition that do not make headlines but that left unchecked can become much larger threats to children’s well-being across entire regions. These contributions also help UNICEF continue to manage country-led health, education, and child protection programs that many governments are reluctant to pursue without UNICEF’s expert guidance to ensure that children are and remain a national priority.

The General Fund has helped UNICEF and its partners make great strides in the global fight for child survival, including the 2011 announcement that the number of children under age five dying from preventable causes dropped from 22,000 to 21,000 per day. While this number is unacceptable, little by little, progress is being made.

Thank you, Champions for Children for providing unrestricted funds to help UNICEF provide low-cost high-impact interventions which will help us reach a day when zero children die of preventable causes.

Supporting life-threatening emergencies

Over the past few years, Champions have risen to the aid of children affected by severe emergencies by dedicating funds collected to support UNICEF’s relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts in those regions.

Below are the emergencies in which Champions’ collections have made an impact since December 2006:

Famine and Drought in the Horn of Africa—2011

Following the news that millions of children across the Horn of Africa—including Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti—were suffering a deadly combination of high food prices, armed conflict and crop failure, Champions dedicated the $286,403 collected in August and September 2011 to support UNICEF’s relief efforts in the Horn of Africa region.

With the incredible support of Champions, UNICEF is working to ensure the region’s most vulnerable children continue to:

Receive treatment for severe, acute, and moderate malnutrition.
Gain access to clean water and improved sanitation.
Receive vital immunization vaccines against measles, polio, and other deadly diseases.
Resume school through the provision of temporary learning spaces and School-in-a- Box kits.

On November 2, 2011, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made a special visit to the UNICEF global Supply Center in Copenhagen to help maintain the world's attention on the humanitarian crisis in East Africa. A Champion for Children was invited to participate in this unique event as a special recognition of Champions’ fundraising efforts to support the crisis.

Please click here to read JFKI Champion for Children Christina Andersen’s blog post about her experience.

Please click here (the password to view the video is unicef) to watch a video that the U.S. Fund for UNICEF President and CEO, Caryl M. Stern, created to thank supporters like you for helping UNICEF save lives in the Horn of Africa region.

Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan—March 2011

Champions for Children expressed deep concern for the children and families impacted by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011. The disaster was of such a magnitude that UNICEF’s unrivaled expertise in aiding children in emergencies was welcomed in a country that is traditionally a donor to UNICEF programs worldwide and not a recipient.

As a result of Champions’ efforts, over $230,000 collected in March and April 2011 through UNICEF’s Change for Good program on American Airlines supported UNICEF’s emergency response in Japan.

Below are a few examples of the critical emergency programs that UNICEF was able to provide with the collections raised by Champions and other supporters. UNICEF was able to:

Procure and distribute supplies including drinking water, children’s clothes, hygiene products, and shoes.
Initiate health services support for mothers and children.
Expand psycho-social support services to help children regain normalcy in their lives following the tragic event.
Implement a Back-to-School Campaign (first month).

Provide school supplies, such as school bag and stationery.
Supply primary and junior high schools with desks, chairs, computers, fixtures, portable toilets, and other necessities.

Implement Back-to-School Campaign (second month).

Assist with the purchase of school goods for primary and junior high school students, including clothes, school supplies, paints, and supplementary materials.
Begin supplying materials for health checkups at schools.

Earthquake in Haiti—January 2010

Following the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, Champions dedicated January and February 2010 collections to support UNICEF's long-term rebuilding programs for children in Haiti. A record-breaking $346,751 was collected.

With your support, UNICEF is able to:

Expand access to safe drinking water with sustainable water management systems in Port-au-Prince.
Respond to a cholera outbreak through social mobilization and awareness and support for treatment centers.
Construct provisional schools in Port-au-Prince. UNICEF and its partners have built 770 classrooms benefiting over 70,000 children.
Train child protection and child rights advocates, and working with partners to identify and support restaveks, children trapped in forced labor.

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Annual voting on a Champion-selected UNICEF Project

Over the past several years, Champions for Children have voted on a UNICEF project to support with a portion of funds collected each year. Each of these projects was visited by a select group of Champions to see first-hand the impact Change for Good collections are having in the lives of children. Projects include: