LOCAL donors and supporters of Unicef were amused to receive from its Makati office a little bulky mail last week. It was wrapped in a simulated piece of a tattered newspaper page.
The contents were the UN agency’s newsletter, Children’s First, March issue; and a letter from Dr. Nicolas K. Alipui, representative to the Philippines.
What many recipients did not know was that the wrapper had a story to tell. It was about Bill who at the age of 9 many years ago was a vagrant and a petty criminal loitering in the waterfront of Cebu City.
Then things changed for the better for the tyke when police brought him to a center which was supported by Unicef. Bill was drilled on discipline, given training and education, and taught various skills and imbued with a keen sense of virtues.
To make a long story short, Bill graduated from college while under the care of the Cebu center and became a police officer himself – a model one.
Sadly the story of Bill is seldom told to many Filipinos today. And along the way, the pivotal assistance of Unicef in molding almost-hopeless children become good citizens, is also not given full attention.
This missed information on Unicef’s efforts in the Philippines becomes doubly sad because the agency’s programs in enlisting financial help and attract donors are unintentionally disregarded, a setback of sort.
Unicef itself may be remiss for its inadequacy of information in soliciting prospective Filipino donors. The UN agency does not get wide press coverage in many of its worthwhile and humanitarian projects across the island, which is odd.
One reason why prospective donors are adamant to open their wallets. They are only looking for the programs that Unicef is doing and they will be ready to chip in.
Unicef appeals to donors for a one-time-a-year sum of
R1,000. This amount can easily be given by those who are in the upper-middle level families. The average employee cannot afford to contribute such amount.
So Unicef must appeal to the Class A and B families. Giving them good information what it is doing can soften, so to speak, their hearts.
There is so much competition for donors in the country. For one there is the influential ABS-CBN TV and radio network whose pet projects are those undertaken by their own Bantay-Bata Foundation.
Then there is the Alay-Kapwa of another TV network. Lately, Hands-on Manila has come around. These entities are strongly making their appeal for support from all sectors of the community. The same sectors that are hot donors of Unicef.
Unicef must convince them they should hand in their donation to the relief agency for good reasons.
This year, Unicef has lined up projects that it will tackle:
Safe motherhood and childbirth: Many women are dying at childbirth of preventable causes. They are not well nourished and must be given access to prenatal and postnatal care.
Better nutrition and disease prevention: Many children – 30.4 percent are malnourished and suffering stunted growth, and 27.6 percent are underweight. It will strongly inculcate breast-feeding.
Access to quality education: it will strongly support in young children’s access to early childhood care and development.
HIV/AIDS awareness: It will address growing concern of HIV/AIDS, early marriages and child-bearing among teenagers; pursue effective means of educating awareness associated with risky sexual behavior.
Child protection: It will help reduce the number of children who are engaged in hazardous work (some 3.5 million of them).
Surely, Unicef in the Philippines faces Herculean tasks. But it looks at them as opportunities in doing their service to the Filipino children.
With a foreign humanitarian agency doing something for our children, we must feel ashamed for not doing our own share of plunking in our onetime donation of at least
R1,000 to Unicef.
By the way, the agency has transferred to its new office – 31st Floor, Yuchengco Tower RCBC Plaza, 6819 Ayala Avenue, Makati City. Telephone No. 758-1000.
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