Whilst researching the work of UNICEF for these blogging posts, those stories that have struck me the most are those telling of how UNICEF has helped young women and girls who have found themselves in terrible and difficult situations, due to the extreme hardships of their lives in cultures which are often so much more punishing to females than our own.

Protecting children from traffickers

One such story is that of Nang (the name has been changed for her protection), a sixteen year old girl from a poor, remote corner of Laos. Nang was offered work as a sales assistant in Thailand. The conditions sounded good, the pay was reasonable, and, because the offer came from a woman she knew in her village, she felt safe accepting the job.

It was only when she found herself in Thailand that she realized that she had been deceived.

( Nang's story continues behind the cut )

These inspiring stories are just some of the thousands of ways in which UNICEF helps children and young people around the world every day. The donations made to this charitable drive will help UNICEF keep doing their extremely worthwhile work.

Information taken from "UNICEF - Life Stories"

A reminder that there is now just about a week left of the charity project to raise funds for UNICEF. All donations must be made by the end of Monday, 30th June in order to be counted towards the final total. Anyone who would like to make a contribution should go to the project donation page to do so.

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far. There have been thousands of dollars raised for a very worthwhile cause.

As soon as the project closes, the organizers will pull together the numbers for the final total, and announce it shortly thereafter. In the meantime, updates and information will continue to be posted at the LiveJournal site, and any questions or comments can be left there, as well as at the affiliated websites.

Congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard on making this project a success.

As tomorrow is World Refugee Day, it seems like a good time to highlight some of the work UNICEF does with refugees.

As well as the usual work providing food, water, healthcare and shelter, UNICEF’s ‘Schools-in-a-Box’ are invaluable to children in crisis.

During the genocide in Rwanda, 800,000 people were killed, 95,000 children were orphaned, and the country was reduced to ruins. The children of Rwanda were victims of unspeakable violence, many losing parents and siblings to add to their suffering. As a result, villages and refugee camps overflowed with devastated boys and girls.

“Establishing some sense of normalcy for these kids was a top priority for UNICEF,” explained Daniel Toole, a UNICEF representative in Rwanda during the crisis. “Getting them back to school was a fundamental way to do just that.”

In response to this need, UNICEF developed a simple solution that proved instantly effective. It’s called School-in-a-Box. This is a comprehensive kit designed to aid the continuation of children’s education immediately following an emergency. The kit includes basic school supplies, such as exercise books, pencils, erasers, and scissors, along with other items such as counting cubes and educational posters. This is all supplied in a locked box, whose lid can double as a blackboard. The kit contains enough content for one teacher and up to 60 students.



UNICEF distributed thousands of School-in-a-Box kits throughout Rwanda, helping more than half a million children.

“I felt so much pain, I couldn’t think straight,” said one ten year old Rwandan girl. “But now that I’m back in school, I’m beginning to feel much better.” Of course being in school also helps provide children with a sense of community, continuity and the friendship of their peers.

“Through education, kids can begin to understand what’s going on around them – from there they can begin to heal,” said Toole.

UNICEF’s School-in-a-Box program continues, having been implemented successfully during emergencies such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and in Darfur.

Information taken from UNICEF “Life Stories”

With help from the wonderful Alisa at UNICEF, I’ve been researching some of the fantastic work done by UNICEF around the world, and thought some of you might be interested in the kinds of ways in which your money will be spent.

In this post I will be reporting on some of the aspects of efficiency and organisation which enable UNICEF to deliver the help it does around the world, and in some follow-up posts I’ll be reporting on some specific success stories which show how UNICEF brings invaluable aid and assistance to children in desperate need.

How organisational efficiency helps UNICEF speed lifesaving help to children around the world…

In early 2007, two particularly pressing emergencies needed urgent attention. The humanitarian crisis for Iraqi children was worsening, with water, vaccines, nutrition and school supplies scarce in many areas. At the same time, in Darfur, the plight of mothers and children was ever more urgent. They, too, needed vaccines, clean water and school supplies.

As with so many other emergencies, UNICEF was able to manage these crises swiftly and efficiently.

The principle reason for the organisation’s ability to respond in this way is UNICEF’s extraordinary supply system, anchored by its central warehouse in Copenhagen. Equipped with the latest logistical technology, the warehouse is 25,000 square meters in area, stocked with more than 900 different kinds of supply items, and staffed with a team of experienced supply and emergency response experts.



Amongst other aid, during these crises, UNICEF rushed measles vaccine for 3.6 million children to Iraq, and polio vaccine for 1.3 million children to Darfur.

Whether the challenge is to get nutrition into a country during a food crisis, or to move vaccines into a region after a hurricane, UNICEF takes on the task. It’s why UNICEF has saved more children than any other humanitarian organisation in the world.

From its Copenhagen warehouse, UNICEF:

- Supplies 40 percent of the world’s children with vaccines.

- Supplies more lifesaving anti-malaria mosquito nets than any other humanitarian organization.

- Supplies 49 AIDS-stricken countries with life-extending antiretroviral drugs.

- Supplies more oral rehydration salt than any other humanitarian organization. (These salts reverse the effects of life-threatening diarrhea.)

These are, of course, just some of the elements of the essential, life-saving work organized from this supply center.

Thanks to careful planning and a long history of creativity in the face of crisis, nobody is better equipped to come through an emergency than UNICEF.

Information taken from UNICEF “Life Stories”

We are pleased to announce that the amount raised by the project during April was $5,450. Thank you and congratulations to everyone who donated. This money will help save a lot of young lives.

Wentworth has also made his promised donation of $5,000, and of course we would like to extend our thanks to him for this.

For anyone who wishes to make their donation in time for Wentworth's birthday, remember that you have until June 2nd to do so. Please go to the main project website to donate. Anyone who wishes to leave a birthday message for Wentworth as part of their donation can do so either here (please leave a comment to this entry) or at the MySpace site, or at any of the affiliated sites offering this service. We will make sure that these messages are passed on to him.

Also, a reminder that the LJ and MySpace sites have updates posted on an ongoing basis.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the project so far. Let's keep up the momentum and make this project the greatest possible success.

We're pleased to announce that UNICEF China has just setup online donations for WMFFC.
Please visit the Chinese donation page for more instructions.

Also UNICEF Korea has posted to their website an announcement about the charity project. Many thanks to UNICEF Korea for their help in promoting this endeavor.

A couple of great videos made to publicise the project on YouTube. Thanks so much to the makers for their time and effort with these projects.

We're pleased to welcome the following affiliates to the WMFFC project:

Prison Break 101
Wentworth Miller 101
Wentworth Miller Fan
Wentworth Miller France
ウェントワースミラー プリズンブレイク マイケルを演じる男の魅力

UNICEF U.S. have posted in their blog about the project. Thanks so much, Alisa!

They are planning to do another blog post in a couple of weeks updating us on money raised in the U.S., so let's all do what we can to get things off to a great start!

There have also been a number of other sites and blogs who've posted about the project, so thanks to all those people for the shoutout. Here's a random (but not complete) selection:

tv.popcrunch.com
Hollywood Scoop.com
Uptown Liz
French Yahoo
prisonbreakbuff.com

This message has been approved by Wentworth's representation for the announcement of this project:

____________________________________________

WENTWORTH MILLER FANS FOR CHARITY PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT

The participants in the project, Wentworth Fans For Charity, would like to invite all of Wentworth's fans to join them in raising money in Wentworth's name for the children's charity, UNICEF.

The project was conceived as a way for Wentworth's fans to show their appreciation and support for their favorite actor by donating to a favored charity nominated by him.

While expressing his deep appreciation for the offer, in response to the suggestion, Wentworth advised that rather than him nominating a charity of his choice, he would like the fans to select the charity, and he would make a generous donation to that cause along with them. View Wentworth's letter.

The charity which was chosen is one which is not only an eminently worthwhile cause, but also, due to its vast international reach, is one which hopefully will appeal to the greatest majority of Wentworth's fans around the world. UNICEF's goals for children are broad and all-encompassing. Their mission is to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behavior towards children. More information on the organization can be found at UNICEF.org.

Wentworth has also sent a message for fans with regard to this project:

"It's my privilege to be a part of the entertainment business, an industry that has reached out to and touched the lives of billions of people around the world. It gives me tremendous pleasure to think that many of those same people have been motivated to reach out to others in turn.

This charitable effort was conceived, organized and executed by a group of generous fans willing to donate their time and energies to a worthy cause. I'm honored to participate in this process, and I thank you for doing the same." – Wentworth Miller

This project will run from 1st April, 2008 until the 30th June, 2008, so that anyone who wishes to make a donation to this cause in lieu of a birthday gift to Wentworth may do so. At the project close, donations from around the world will be tallied, and the amount raised will be published on the various supporting websites and be communicated to Wentworth with our best wishes.

Full details about how to make a donation can be found at the project website. Please click on the link for your country, or, if your country is not listed, please click here.

Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard in organizing this project, thus helping to raise money for this very worthy cause. We hope that all Wentworth's fans will give their consideration to making a donation, and will enjoy making a contribution.

Full details on the project can be found at wentworthfansforcharity.org

Many thanks to everyone who participates.

____________________________________________

This thread will be dedicated specifically to thoughts and responses on this project. If you would like to leave a message for Wentworth in relation to this project, you can leave it here and all relevant messages will be collated and forwarded to him by the project organizers, via his representation, at the project close. Please mark any messages you wish to be conveyed to him, "Message For Wentworth".

Please do be sure to use the links provided at the project website in order to make your donation, or the amount will not be counted towards the final tally for the project.

And of course, feel free to repost the announcement and the project website links to any other sites or boards you frequent. Obviously the more we spread the word, the better for the success of the project.

Huge thanks to everyone who participated in the organization of this project. It's been a real team effort, and we all hope that Wentworth's fans will unite to ensure that this project is a success.