Children bicycle to school in the town of Savelugu, capital of Savelugu-Nanton District in Northern Region. Bicycles help reduce travel time in rural areas. © UNICEF/NYHQ2007-0913/Asselin.
In 2011, 16.7 million unwanted gifts were
given during Christmas. That’s a lot of socks, boxers, pyjamas, novelty clocks and handkerchiefs collecting dust in the garage. In fact, with unwanted gifts worth an average of $64, we as a nation spent a total of $500 million over Christmas – an amount that could provide therapeutic feeding to over 913,242 children for a year.
With that in mind, UNICEF Australia launched a Christmas campaign in 2011, encouraging all Australians to end the senseless spending, say “No to Naff” presents and purchase a
UNICEF Inspired Gift instead.
Of course being a generous bunch of people, Australians took notice and joined our cause, giving life-saving and life-changing Inspired Gifts to thousands of kids who need it the most.
- Because of you, 1,232 quantities of polio vaccines were purchased, which is enough to vaccinate over 245,000 kids.
- With more than 470 pencil packs given over Christmas, 240,000 pencils will be distrubuted to kids for education and learning.
- From helping health workers reach rural communities, to letting kids in remote areas get to school, a bike is one of the most important modes of transport for villages. Amazingly, 156 bicycles were given as Inspired Gifts at Christmas.
- Just one water pump can provide a community of up to 1,000 people with clean, safe drinking water. During Christmas alone, 43 water pumps were purchased!
- Micronutrient powder gives children's emergency food rations a powerful boost. Over the Christmas period, more than 490 micronutrient powder packs were bought, an amount worth over $8,000 that MMG will generously match dollar-for-dollar.
From mossie nets to water pumps, pencils and bicycles, in 2012, UNICEF will dispatch the Inspired Gifts you purchased over Christmas to children and communities in need. What better way to start the new year!
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