P&O is working with UNICEF in the Pacific region to provide life changing support for children in the destinations that warmly welcome us.
P&O has been cruising in the Pacific Islands, which includes Fiji, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and Vanuatu, for 90 years. However, children across all of these nations, continue to face multiple challenges at once, with those living in villages only accessible by boat or on foot being the most vulnerable. Limited access to health care services, quality education, and safe, clean water and sanitation is affecting children’s ability to reach their fullest potential. Plus, children in the Pacific are some of the most heavily affected by climate change and rising sea levels.
Why your donations matters
1 in 3
a third of children in the Pacific do not have access to good sanitation, and one in ten do not have access to safe drinking water.
40%
of children across the Pacific Islands are at risk of falling below the poverty line.
Create a wave of change in the Pacific
P&O is working with UNICEF in the Pacific to provide life changing support for children.
How your donation is making a difference
Your generous contribution directly supports UNICEF's programs in the Pacific, focusing on areas such as healthcare, education, nutrition, and child protection. With your help, we are:
1. Ensuring access to quality healthcare: Your donations assist in setting up health clinics, providing medical supplies, and training healthcare professionals, ensuring children receive the care they need.
2. Empowering communities: We work together to create sustainable solutions that empower local communities, helping them build resilience against future challenges.
3. Enhancing education opportunities: Your support enables UNICEF to provide schools with learning materials, teacher training, and safe learning spaces, giving children access to quality education.
4. Promoting child protection: We advocate for children's rights, safeguarding them from violence, exploitation, and abuse, creating a protective environment for their growth and development.
5. First response in an emergency: UNICEF is there for children before, during and after emergencies. When disaster strikes, our teams act quickly to deliver clean, safe water and essential medical supplies to prevent malnutrition and illness. We help new mothers give birth safely, and we provide life-saving vaccines to protect children from deadly disease outbreaks.
In Vanuatu, kangaroo care is reducing the fatality rates by 20 to 40 per cent
During a UNICEF visit to a hospital in Vanuatu, Doctor Caleb Vangana, a local paediatrician and kangaroo care enthusiast, highlighted how the practice can have outstanding life-saving outcomes and “reduce the fatality rates by 20 to 40 per cent”.
Kangaroo care is a natural, effective, and low-cost intervention that can be utilised in any setting. In places like Vanuatu, it can be the difference between life and death for premature babies.
During kangaroo care, the skin-to-skin contact helps regulate the baby's body temperature and reduce stress. This helps prevent some of the leading causes of death in premature babies, including hypothermia, infections, sepsis and breathing problems. The benefits also include physiological and behavioural, pain and stress relief for preterm newborns.
Baby Tyviana couldn't wait to come to this world and meet her mum Cendrella. Weighing only 840 grams, she was born almost two months before her due date.
Cendrella has two other children, but this was the first time her baby was born preterm and admitted to the intensive care unit. Seeing her little girl in the incubator was not easy, but since the mother of three started practising kangaroo care, she feels more positive and connected with her baby.
"I've seen a big difference in practicing kangaroo care and skin-to-skin, including a big weight change in my baby. I enjoy using the binder and it allows me to do other things too while she is up against me, and she feels comfortable too, she's not crying. It's helping me and my baby, now and in the future."
You can help mothers like Cendrella by donating to UNICEF today.
Why donate to UNICEF?
UNICEF has been advocating for the rights of children across the Pacific Islands for more than 50 years, working alongside our partners to deliver long-term development programs. We’re focusing on investing in the early years, keeping mums and babies healthy, protecting children from harm, providing access to clean water and quality education. And when emergencies strike, UNICEF is there delivering life-saving support to children and their families when they need it most.
Create a wave of change in the Pacific
P&O is working with UNICEF in the Pacific to provide life changing support for children.