Save Our Child

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Young Moldovan’s film addresses need for reform of institutional child care

Delegates from Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Belarus and Ukraine attend high-level Conference on Child Care System Reform in Chisinau.

CHISINAU, Moldova , 7 December 2009 – Tudor Culeanu, 15, looked on with pride while his short film, ‘The Moscow Train’, was presented to delegates attending a high-level Conference on Child Care System Reform in the Moldovan capital.

VIDEO: Watch now
The opening shot of his film shows a train about to depart and a message scrawled in large letters in chalk saying, “Mom, come back home!”
The train gathers speed as the camera pans to reveal three brothers left standing on the railway platform. It's an image that lingers in the mind of the young filmmaker, and it was inspired by a harsh reality: Tudor was one of nine siblings abandoned when their mother moved to Russia to find work.
OneminutesJr’ workshop
Home for Tudor is now a large institution housing more than 300 children in Straseni
near Chisinau.

Of the 2 million children in institutionalized care around the world, more than 800,000 come from Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In September, he took part in a ‘OneminutesJr’ filmmaking workshop here. Initiated several years ago by the European Cultural Foundation, the One Minutes Foundation and UNICEF. The OneminutesJr project has held workshops around the globe to develop new tools for youth empowerment and social change.
Tudor’s one-minute video, as well as others produced by youths at the Moldova workshop, were posted online. Tudor’s video was also shown on Moldovan television.
“This film was a great possibility for me to tell the world that I have a dream for my mother to come back home, and I would like other children to have this possibility to make a film about their lives," said Tudor.
Reforming child care systems
Out of an estimated 2 million children who are in institutionalised care around the world, more than 800,000 come from Central and Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States. Many young and disabled children are abandoned in institutions or living at home without specialised care.
To help prevent the separation of children from their families, participants in the Conference on Child Care System Reform urged governments to accelerate reforms by reallocating existing social and family support resources.

The conference brought together delegates from Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Government representatives agreed to start developing community-based services and phase out state-run children’s institutions.
“I hope this meeting will achieve, for the five countries that are here, a new energy and a commitment to reforming child care systems,” said UNICEF Regional Director Steven Allen. “It's important that children in institutions, separated from their families either by economic crisis or migration, can find a new way to be cared for – and. indeed, be reunited with their natural families."
Impact of global financial crisis
Poverty, migration and disabilities often pushes families to abandon their children. At the same time, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine are among the most severely hit by the global economic crisis.
In 2008, approximately 210,000 children were living in various types of alternative care arrangements in all of the five countries. More than 110,000 of them were growing up in institutions.

Tudor hopes the story of his film will reach not only parents facing similar problems to his family’s issues, but also government leaders who can make a real difference in the lives of children living in institutions.

UNICEF in Australia

Australia’s best-known artist and designer Ken Done has been an active supporter of UNICEF Australia since 1988.

UNICEF Australia has been active since the early 1970s, defending the rights of children and raising funds to support UNICEF’s work for children worldwide. We are based in downtown Sydney but have a network of volunteers in other state capital cities, all committed to supporting our work on behalf of the world’s children.
Bold and inventive, reflecting the Australian national character, UNICEF Australia has pioneered a number of programmes that have subsequently been rolled out globally.
Most notable of these is Change for Good®, a partnership between UNICEF and the international airline industry which offers travellers an easy way to help the world’s children by donating their unwanted currency to UNICEF aboard their flights. To date, Change for Good® has raised nearly A$9 million (US$5.85 million) since it started on Qantas flights in 1991.
Our Global Parent monthly giving programme was launched in Australia in 2002, with plans to extend it to other countries in the UNICEF family. Global Parent offers a way to help many children in the developing world. By making regular donations, our Global Parents help UNICEF help the Global Child, in any of the countries where UNICEF works, by ensuring health, education, equality and protection. It’s a way of getting funds to go where they are needed most.
Our Parliamentary Association, established in 1987, brings together federal parliamentarians in support of UNICEF’s mission. It also encourages Government to give women and children a high priority in its overseas aid programme.
UNICEF Australia does not deliver basic services for Australian children. But, using the Convention on the Rights of the Child as our guide, we draw attention to the plight of the most disadvantaged in our community.
The funds we raise for UNICEF’s programmes come from government, and from corporations and individuals who support our campaigns and buy UNICEF cards and gifts. Our high profile ambassadors, such as actor Nicole Kidman and artist Ken Done, also play an important role in reaching out to the public and raising awareness in Australia of UNICEF’s vital work.

In Armenia, the chance to develop schools that children love to attend

A peer support group at the child-friendly school in the village of Lernadzor, Syunik province, Armenia.

Education experts from the Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States are meeting 24-27 April in Geneva to discuss how to provide quality education for all girls and boys through child-friendly schools. Here is one in a series of related stories from the region.
By Emil Sahakyan
SYUNIK PROVINCE, Armenia 17 April 2009 – Located 200 km from Armenia's capital, Yerevan, the village of Ishkhanasar in Syunik province represents a sad picture of rural poverty.
The village is now home to 250 people, most of whom are very poor and originally came to Armenia from Azerbaijan, fleeing the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh.
Dangerous conditions
The village school is located in an old Soviet-style building that once was an entertainment club for collective farmers and still carries the name of Lenin. It's no wonder that the school has only 40 students, as conditions inside are far from child-friendly.
On the contrary, the school is dangerous for children to attend. Falling walls and ceilings, no heating in the winter, inadequate sanitary facilities and the absence of minimum supplies all make it a dangerous place not only for children, but for teachers as well.
"I was teaching history to children when suddenly I heard a crack and immediately a big piece of wall fell down just several steps from me," said school Principal Ara Davtyan.
A big difference
Just a few kilometres away from Ishkhanasar, the situation is different. The school in nearby Shaki village has been renovated and is well maintained by students and teachers alike. It has about 200 students and is a centre of community life.

This school in the village of Ishkhanasar, Syunik province, represents a sad image of rural poverty in Armenia.

However, that was not the situation until 2007, when a pilot project on child-friendly schools was introduced in Syunik province by UNICEF, the Goris Teachers' Union and the non-governmental organization Kapan Teachers.
"When we first heard about this initiative, we were hesitating about our participation," said Deputy Principal Rima Sargsyan. "But it was worth taking a risk and participating in the project, as it helped us to identify our strong and weak points, and put us on the right track."
Meeting standards for 'child friendly'
The roots of the project were laid down in 2006, when the Ministry of Education and Sciences, with support from UNICEF, developed a Child-Friendly School Framework outlining requirements that a school has to meet in order to be called child-friendly.
Such schools foster an environment in which children are motivated and able to learn. Staff members are friendly and welcoming, and attend to students' health, emotional and safety needs. Child-friendly schools recognize and encourage children's growing capacities as learners by providing a culture that focuses on meeting the needs of each individual child.
In the course of the pilot project in Armenia, seven schools that managed to meet the requirements were nominated as 'child-friendly' and received special prizes.
"The project helped schools to become more organized and improve the quality of lessons, and served as an effective self-assessment tool and a means to mobilize communities around education and child rights issues," said UNICEF Education Officer Alvard Poghosyan.
Hopes for a small village
In 2008, UNICEF – in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science, NGO partners and local branches of the National Institute of Education – rolled out the child-friendly school project in Armenia's Shirak and Lori provinces. The partners started by raising child-friendly school awareness among school administrators, teachers, parents and children themselves.
As a result, around 80 per cent of schools in the provinces are now developing plans to introduce child-friendly school standards.
This year, UNICEF is planning to assess progress made so far in introducing the child-friendly school concept in Armenia. Following the assessment, an action plan identifying steps to scale up the concept in the country will be devised. Globally, UNICEF is rolling out the 'Child-Friendly School Manual', a practical guidebook, which will help countries design and implement child-friendly schools that are most appropriate to their circumstances.
Looking at his shabby classrooms, the principal of the Ishkhanasar village school said provincial authorities promised to start construction of a new school building in 2009 – raising the hope in this small village that one day its school, too, will be child-friendly.

Goodwill Ambassador Leo Messi, star footballer, in new video spot on child rights

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Leo Messi, seen here at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, is one of the leading football players of his generation.

NEW YORK, USA, 29 June 2010 – UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lionel ‘Leo’ Messi, one of the biggest stars in football, has recorded a new public service announcement to raise awareness about children’s rights and promote equity.

VIDEO: Watch now
Mr. Messi, who plays for FC Barcelona and Argentina's national team, was named the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009. He also won the Golden Ball award for the best European footballer last year. While his accomplishments as a player are well known, he is also determined to use his fame to help the world´s most vulnerable children.
A few weeks before the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Mr. Messi recorded the video PSA.
“Football has given me a lot of joy and opportunities, and I feel grateful to UNICEF for this chance to give support to children," he said. ”I hope that in my role as a global Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, I will be able to support children who need our help.”
UNICEF and FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona last year achieved a historic sweep of the football championships, winning the UEFA Champion’s League, the FIFA Club World Cup, La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the European Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup.
In 2006, FC Barcelona and the FC Barcelona Foundation signed a global agreement with UNICEF. Since then, FC Barcelona has worn the UNICEF logo on its jerseys, broadcasting a message about the rights and needs of children as a symbol of the club’s values and its solidarity with children.
It’s the same message Leo Messi conveys in this video PSA, reflecting his commitment to the most vulnerable.
For more than half a century, UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassadors have helped improve the lives of children and women around the world by creating public awareness of children’s issues and helping to mobilize resources on their behalf.

Thousands take part in Argentina’s ‘Race for Education’

Participants in the UNICEF-supported Race for Education in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, 5 April 2010 – A few days before the start of classes, some 5,000 people took part in Argentina’s ‘Race for Education’, a three- and seven-kilometer foot race that was organized by UNICEF for the third consecutive year.
The Race for Education is designed to mobilize families in support of education. The event aims to increase awareness of children’s basic right to receive quality education, as well as to strengthen adults’ commitment to this right. The 14 March race also generated support from the private sector, local artists, public officials, journalists, youths and families, who all came together to run for children.
A symbolic event
The runners – children, adolescents and adults of all ages – gathered in Buenos Aires’ Palermo Park at nine in the morning and prepared for the start. The first wave of runners were public school students aged 9 to 12, who inaugurated the first 50 meters of the track as onlookers applauded enthusiastically.

Andrés Franco, UNICEF Representative in Argentina (left), and Argentina’s Minister of Education of Alberto Sileoni display a UNICEF Race for Education team shirt in Buenos Aires.

UNICEF Argentina ambassador Julián Weich coordinated the start of the race and encouraged the participants. Throughout the event, the runners symbolically covered the whole education cycle, from the 1st grade to 5th year. Those who made it to the finish line ‘graduated’.
Since Argentina’s National Education Law 26.206 was passed in 2006, UNICEF has organized the race as a call for the law’s implementation. Among other things, the law increased the period of mandatory schooling from 10 to 13 years, established a common education structure for all the regions in the country and promoted bilingual, intercultural education for Argentina’s indigenous population.
Bringing partners together
“This year the Race for Education exceeded our expectations,” said Andrés Franco, UNICEF Representative in Argentina. “Five thousand people were mobilized for education in the country and supported the work of UNICEF in Argentina.”
He added that the qualities of personal effort and commitment – just like those necessary to run a race – were essential to creating a strong and unified education system. “Contributing to improving education is a job for everybody – families, the Government, the teachers, the private sector, the media and the children,” he said.

Students from Government-funded schools in Buenos Aires, Argentina, ranging from ages 9 to 12, participate in a UNICEF-supported Race for Education.

Among the winners were Eugenia Arias Cebollada and Natalia Castillejo, a mother and daughter who train together every day. Ms. Cebollada, a doctor, won third place in the ladies’ category for seven kilometers, while her daughter Natalia, 16, was second in the shorter version of the race, which is three kilometers long.
“Educating also means accompanying your children, seeing them grow, and sharing activities with them,” said Ms. Cebollada. “The UNICEF Race for Education is a good opportunity to run with one’s children… [and highlight] the importance of accessing and completing school.”
Funds for education
The Race for Education raised approximately $100,000 for UNICEF education projects in Argentina. Among other goals, the projects seek to improve the quality of education, reduce drop-out rates, and promote the inclusion of children and adolescents in school.
The Race received the significant support from the private sector, including Cablevisión, Coca-Cola de Argentina, Procter & Gamble, the Government of the City of Buenos Aires and other partners.