UNICEF Campus Initiative Newsletter

April, 2012

Volume 2, Issue 5

Inside this issue:

Sahel Crisis

1

Campus

Challenge

1

Syrian Refugees

2

12 Days of

UNICEF

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Campus Challenge 2011-2012!

The 2011-2012 George Harrison Fund for UNICEF and ACUI Campus Challenge officially ended on April 1st.

This year approximately $172,567.58 was raised through the Campus Challenge! The George Harrison Fund for

UNICEF will match this figure dollar for dollar up to $150,000 for a total of $322,567.58 to support UNICEF’s vital

efforts to protect and secure the future of children all over the world. The winner of the Campus Challenge this year is

the University of Notre Dame ($17,300) followed by the Ohio State University ($12,133) and Louisiana State University -

Baton Rouge ($5,770). The list of top-ten winners can be found here -

http://inside.unicefusa.org/site/TR?fr_id=1300&pg=entry

The challenge was established in 2008 when the George Harrison Fund joined with the U.S. Fund for UNICEF

and the Association of College Unions International (ACUI), to launch a fundraising challenge on college campuses

across America. The Ohio State University won the campus challenge last year by raising the highest amount of funds,

approximately $11,044.52.

The national council sends a warm, heartfelt thanks and congratulations to all our campus volunteers who

contributed to this year’s success.

One million children at risk of dying from malnutrition in the Sahel

Children in the Sahel of Africa which consists of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali,

Mauritania and Niger, Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal are on the verge of dying

from severe malnutrition. In these regions, the food and child survival crisis is a

direct result of inadequate rain with a drought being the outcome. According to

UNICEF U.S Fund, 15 million people are in need of assistance. Of the 15 million

people, 1 million young children are estimated to be at risk of dying of

malnutrition. There is a 10 times greater chance for a child to die with severe

malnutrition, which decrease the child’s ability to combat deadly disease. With

your help, thousands of children do not have to die.

You can also join the Live Below the Line

campaign this week! The Live Below the

Line campaign is way to challenge the way

people think about poverty—and make a

huge difference—by challenging everyday

people to live on $1.25 for 5 days. Through

this challenge, your friends and families can

sponsor you and all proceeds got to the Sahel

of Africa! You can find more information on

the campaign at

https://www.livebelowtheline.com.

Take Action through Social Media:

1,000,000 children could die in the Sahel if

we don’t act. Why isn’t this on the news?

Sound the

alarm. http://unicefusa.org #SahelNOW

Severe drought has hit the Sahel 3 times in 8

years. Children there need us. Sound the

alarm. http://unicefusa.org #SahelNOW

It only costs $100 to save a child in the Sahel

from severe acute malnutrition. Sound the

alarm. http://unicefusa.org #SahelNOW

UNICEF Campus Initiative Newsletter

© UNICEF/NYHQ2012-0226/Brooks Zainab [NAME CHANGED] sits with her infant daugher in a shelter in northern Lebanon.

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Stay in touch with your national council member! Email us at: campus@unicefusa.org

Don’t forget to include your zone number or your school name!

The mission of the UNICEF Campus Initiative Alumni Association is to unite all the Alumni of the

Campus Initiative to continue our commitment to the world’s children. Membership to the UNICEF

Campus Imitative Alumni Association allows fellow Alumni to maintain contact with one another;

receive invites to UNICEF and partner programs and events; stay connected to the UNICEF

Campus Initiative community within a new professional and social setting and continuing a

lifetime commitment to creating a better life for the world’s children. To learn more and how to get

involved please contact campusalumni@unicefusa.org or visit www.unicefusa.org/alumni. Once

you become a member of the Alumni Association you will be receive updates on Alumni

Association Launch Event, opportunities to get involve with UNICEF and local programs and

events.

Graduating Seniors: Join the Alumni Association!

National Council's Goals of the Month

Encourage campus clubs to take the 2012 Reporting and Reflection Survey

Follow up with campuses on mailing addresses for Back to School Kits

Ask campuses to share the new leadership board's contact information

Join the Alumni Association and take part in the induction ceremony

UNICEF Supports Syrian Refugees Seeking Safety in Lebanon A small former classroom in what used to be a religious

school in Rameh, Lebanon – remote town on the border with

Syria - is now the home to Siham* and her husband and five

children “Everything is very difficult,” she says. “There are

no clothes for the kids. Our daily routine is just this room or

down in the yard, which is very noisy.” Rameh is one of a

number of communities that have absorbed the influx of

Syrian families fleeing the ongoing unrest in their homeland.

It is a difficult adjustment for these families – there is only

a thin carpet on the floor and unlit stove to keep away the

cold mountain are. When the family arrived, the older

children attended the local school. But they found the

curriculum difficult to follow and soon stopped going. Now,

the only classes they go to are weekly creative art sessions

and other classes organized by a UNICEF-supported NGO

in a nearby town. Life may be difficult, but at least the

family feels safe, and grateful for the rice, lentils and other

basic supplies they receive from the UN and local NGOs.

The room next door to Siham’s is occupied by Zainab*, her

husband and their baby. Zainab left the southern Syrian city

of Deraa as she was about to give birth to her daughter. The

infant needs medicine and so does her husband, who has a

heart condition and cannot work. “I am just surviving for

the baby,” says Zainab.

Refugees fleeing from Syria have found generosity in

host communities. Another Syrian woman, Om

Hashem*, is also struggling to make the best of difficult

circumstances. Her family’s departure from Syria was a

mix of risk, bravery and terror – a perilous night-time

journey in which her 9-year-old, Shadi*, was badly

injured by an explosion.

“He will recover,” says Om Hashem. “The landlord has

been extremely kind. He treats me like every other

member of his family, and we are not missing anything.”

It’s a story heard time and again in this border region, of

local communities providing the Syrian refugees with

shelter and basic supplies at little or no cost. “The

generosity of these communities – which are themselves

very poor – is really remarkable,” says UNICEF

Representative Annamaria Laurini. “And UNICEF,

together with the international community, is helping

those communities to mitigate the impact of the Syrian

families that are now living with them.”

*Names changed to protect identities