The UNICEF Student Team
by Sam Halkes & Mary Weaver
FROM the Fall Semester of 2015 onwards, Middelburg has its own UNICEF Student Team. Split into three branches – fundraising, educa-tion, and promotion – UNICEF will be becoming a strong presence around UCR, with promotional events and volunteer opportunities in the coming years. The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of ev-ery child, everywhere, in everything the organization does.
As for the new Student Team, we are there to organize events especially tailored towards students. Our teams will mainly be focused on spreading the UNICEF message among students in Zeeland via educational, but most-ly fun events. Our wish list does not only include special workshops and interesting lectures, but also galas, pub quizzes, and parties. We hope that by raising awareness for UNICEF, we also inspire the UCR community to become (even more) active for children’s rights (inter)nationally.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, was founded in 1946 to respond to the aftermath of WWII. Their purpose was to provide food, clothing, and health care to the children suffering from famine and disease in post-war Europe. Since then, UNICEF has evolved to advocate for children’s rights globally. The 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which later evolved into the binding Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), pro-vide the principles of children’s rights. The CRC has four categories- the first is Guiding Principles, which establish-es the underlying ideas upon which specific rights will be based. Second-ly, Survival and Development Rights are the rights of all children to food, shelter, water, health care, and others. Protection Rights include prohibitions against child abuse, neglect, and cruel-ty. Finally, Participation Rights are the rights of children to hear and be heard. This includes their access to informa-tion and rights to express opinions. UNICEF is the only organization specif-ically named in the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a source of expert aid and advice.
In order to carry about its mandate, UNICEF is active in 190 countries worldwide. UNICEF provides statis-tics and monitoring of the situation of children and women. This has become an especially important role in moni-toring the progress of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Regular reports provide frequent updates and insight. UNICEF also provides any supplies or logistics needed, which includes vaccines, medical devices, medicine, and educational supplies. An example is their School-in-a-Box kit, which is culturally neutral and pro-vides supplies for one teacher and up to 40 students. UNICEF is able to provide emergency supplies in crisis situations within 48 hours of an order. Currently in Syria, UNICEF is providing thermal blankets and winter clothing, as well as responding to the re-emergence of Po-lio in by aiming to vaccinate more than 23 million children in the Middle East.
While UNICEF’s main focus is on fieldwork, they are actively involved in policy-making in all areas of society. As advocates of children’s rights, UNICEF tries to influence policy to reflect the norms set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This involves part-nerships not only with other Interna-tional Organisations, but with national and regional governments.
Although the UNICEF headquarters are in New York, they have offices in other industrialised countries that are focused on fundraising efforts to sup-port their active work elsewhere. In the Netherlands, the UNICEF office is lo-cated in Voorburg, and this is where the Student Teams are coordinated from. The Middelburg Student Team will host events designed not only to edu-cate about UNICEF and the children’s rights, but also to raise money for and promote their initiatives. Together we can give children the equal opportuni-ties they deserve.
Sam Halkes, Class of 2017, is a Sociology and Anthropology Major, with a minor in Gender Studies from Zaltbommel, the Netherlands.
Mary Weaver, Class of 2017, is a Law and Politics Major from Atlanta, USA.
