New York (October 17, 2014) – This holiday season shoppers can help UNICEF save and protect the world’s most vulnerable children by purchasing gifts that give back.

UNICEF today announced the launch of its inaugural UNICEF Market, an online holiday marketplace that benefits the organization’s work for children. The new virtual holiday bazaar features an array of gifts from around the globe, from hand-crafted jewelry to home accents and accessories. Each item purchased will support UNICEF’s programs that provide lifesaving nutrition, medicine, education, clean water, emergency relief and more to children in need in more than 190 countries and territories.

Thousands of handcrafted creations, including the Mumbai Mosaic Bangle Bracelet from India ($20.99), Handcrafted Set of 3 Wooden Batik Centerpiece Bowls from Indonesia ($37.99), Gemstone Tree Sculpture from Brazil ($57.99) and Alpaca Scarf from Peru ($64.99) are available at market.unicefusa.org. This new array of handcrafted products powered by Novica will also benefit artisans in countries where UNICEF works, many of whom live in rural communities and did not previously have the means to sell their work on the international market.

“Children around the world are in the center of an unprecedented number of humanitarian emergencies, from violent conflict to the spread of life-threatening disease. UNICEF is working around the clock to save and protect these children and provide them with essential items they need to survive,” said Caryl Stern, president and CEO for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. “This holiday season, we’re asking consumers to shop the UNICEF Market and give the gift of basic necessities—medicine, food and clean drinking water—to children in need.”

Also new this year is UNICHEF: Top Chefs Unite in Support of the World's Children, a collaboration of 40 world-class chefs assembled by U.S. Fund for UNICEF National Board Member Hilary Gumbel. Gumbel will donate 100 percent of the royalties that she would have received to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.  UNICHEF’s contributors were brought together to create an international culinary travelogue of recipes, personal photographs and remembrances. UNICEF Ambassador Marcus Samuelsson, and chefs David Chang, Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Sandra Lee, Cat Cora, Jamie Oliver, Giada De Laurentiis and Mario Batali, among others, are included in the collection. UNICHEF is available for purchase at Amazon.com, HSN.com and at shop.unicefusa.org.

Through UNICEF Inspired Gifts, shoppers can purchase life-changing and lifesaving gifts in honor of a loved one.

Actual lifesaving items include Therapeutic Food, a peanut-based paste that provides quick, lifesaving nourishment to a child suffering from acute malnutrition ($72.80 can provide 10 malnourished children with lifesaving nutrition for 5 days); a Super Hero Pack, consisting of 20 doses of tetanus and polio vaccines,10 doses of measles vaccines to protect kids from these deadly diseases, 1 vaccine carrier to deliver the vaccines safely to kids and 6 mosquito nets to protect kids from malaria ($54.07); and 4 local-language Story Books for children ($26.00). These essentials go directly to help children and are available again this year at www.inspiredgifts.org.

In addition, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF offers a variety of boxed holiday cards ($10 to $20) that can be purchased online and through UNICEF partners Pier 1 Imports, IKEA, Barnes and Noble and select Hallmark Gold Crown stores. Individual holiday cards will be available as well beginning in November. One hundred percent of the purchase price of each holiday card pack purchased in Pier 1 Imports and IKEA stores will be donated to support UNICEF. To shop online visit market.unicefusa.org.

Caryl Stern’s memoir, I Believe In ZERO: Learning From the World’s Children, (St. Martin’s Press) which was just released in paperback on October 7, makes an excellent gift for the book-lover. Available at shop.unicefusa.org, the book takes readers on journeys through Africa, South America, and South and East Asia to experience the lives of vulnerable women and children. Each of the stories focuses on a particular location and weaves together background on the country and its history, an account of the humanitarian situation and depictions of the people Stern meets on her travels. The author has chosen to donate 100 percent of the royalties she would have received to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Additional Holiday Gifts that Give Back are Available through UNICEF Partners:

IKEA “Soft Toys for Education”

The global “Soft Toys for Education” campaign has supported UNICEF for over a decade and has raised more than $90 million to help provide a quality education to 11 million children in 46 countries. From November 9 to January 3, for every soft toy or children’s book sold in IKEA stores, the IKEA Foundation will donate one euro (approximately $1.30) to support UNICEF and Save the Children’s global education programs, including UNICEF’s “Schools for Africa” initiative. The Soft Toys for Education collection includes a wide range of woodland and fairy tale creatures with accompanying story books. The 2014 collection will feature newcomers such as KATTUGGLA the soft toy owl and PIPHARE the soft toy rabbit. Also this holiday season, IKEA will donate 100% of the purchase price from each UNICEF holiday card pack sold in IKEA stores throughout the United States to support UNICEF programs. For more information, visit www.ikeafoundation.org.

Pier 1 Imports®

For more than 20 years, Pier 1 Imports® and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF have held a greeting card contest with the winning design being reproduced as an official UNICEF greeting card. The winning card is sold exclusively at Pier 1 Imports stores nationwide and on pier1.com during the 2014 holiday season. Last year’s Grand Prize Winner was Robbie from California, who won for the theme “Joyous Celebration.” At four years old, he is one of the youngest winners since the contest’s inception in 1992. One hundred percent of the sales price of all UNICEF cards sold at U.S. Pier 1 Imports stores will go to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

H&M “All for Children”

H&M’s All for Children collection is a range of children’s clothing and apparel sold in support of UNICEF’s work. This year, the collection offers a way for kids to play dress-up. Available in select stores as well as online from October 23 until supplies last, the collection is inspired by an adventure into the forest, with pieces that emphasize color, texture and prints to reflect woodland plants and wildlife.  Twenty-five percent of the purchase price from the All for Children collection will support UNICEF by helping the most vulnerable children of the world build a better future through education. For more information, visit http://www.hm.com/allforchildren.

K.I.N.D. (Kids in Need of Desks)

K.I.N.D: Kids in Need of Desks offers desks ($65 each) for children in schools in Malawi, where four out of five students do not have a desk or chair. In addition, the K.I.N.D. fund is providing scholarships for girls in Malawi. A donation of $177 delivers one year of education, including tuition, room and board, text books, transportation, a school uniform and learning supplies. These gifts are available for purchase at http://inspiredgifts.unicefusa.org/shop/schools

Delta Air Lines

Through Delta’s SkyWish program, SkyMiles® members can donate their unused frequent flier miles to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF for travel in support of UNICEF’s lifesaving work for children. As part of a long-standing partnership of over a decade between the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and Delta, this is a simple way for SkyMiles® members to put their unused miles to good use this holiday season. For more information or to donate miles, visit www.delta.com/skywish 

American Airlines (Change for Good)

This holiday season, as travelers visit loved ones around the globe, they can use their spare currency to make a difference in the lives of children in need. Through UNICEF’s Change for Good program on American Airlines, travelers can make donations of foreign and domestic currency on select American Airlines international flights or at Admirals Club® and Flagship Lounges®.

Western Union (Education for Better)

Since the conflict began in Syria, nearly three million children have been out of school or are at risk of dropping out. Western Union is supporting UNICEF’s efforts to provide an education to children in Syria and neighboring countries. Through December 31, 2014, donations through Western Union’s Education for Better Fund will be matched one-for-one by Western Union, up to a total of $100,000. Donations will be transfer fee-free[1], and 100 percent of the funds will be donated to support UNICEF’s education programs in and around Syria. In the U.S., donations can be made via www.westernunion.com using a credit card or debit card. For more information or to donate, please visit www.westernunion.com/donate.

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About UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to save and improve children’s lives, providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief, and more. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF supports UNICEF’s work through fundraising, advocacy, and education in the United States. Together, we are working toward the day when ZERO children die from preventable causes and every child has a safe and healthy childhood.

For additional information, please contact:

Marci Greenberg, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, (212) 922-2464, mgreenberg@unicefusa.org


[1] Western Union may make money from foreign exchange. Also, if you're using a credit card, a card-issuer cash advance fee and associated interest charges may apply. You can avoid these fees by using a debit card.