There is a legend you may know; the story of a hummingbird whose forest catches fire. While all the animals watch helplessly as the flames ravage their home, the hummingbird fetches water, filling its tiny beak with a mere few drops at a time. At sight of what seems like a ludicrous effort, others express their scepticism:… Read more →←
Topic: Experts speak
Parents and caregivers dominate opportunities to contribute to learning Children spend more time outside school than they do inside it. It is here that parents and caregivers can shape their learning environments and opportunities. Consider a primary school child in Malawi. According to the pie chart below, the child’s… Read more →←
As a recently married woman, looking forward to starting a family, the topic of breastfeeding has become more and more prevalent in conversations with my husband and friends. When UNICEF approached me with the opportunity to collaborate on a breastfeeding campaign, it really highlighted the importance of breastfeeding and I was shocked… Read more →←
A special supplement of the Journal of the International AIDS Society, which I have co-edited with Douglas Webb and Lucie Cluver, considers the impact the new Agenda 2030 (the outline to help institute the Sustainable Development Goals) is going to have on work in the HIV field. Will it mean our efforts no longer have the same focus as… Read more →←
I was shocked by the stories I heard from Rohingya children on my recent visit to Bangladesh + to see the work of UNICEF and its partners to help 680,000 Rohingya refugees, 58% of which are children. I had barely spent an hour in Kutupalong refugee camp before hearing a flood of terrible testimonies. Two young women – 18 and 19 years… Read more →←
Her name is Mary*. She’s from Benin City in Nigeria. When she was seventeen, Mary tried to escape a life with no prospects to work in a restaurant in Italy. Instead, she was set up to be trafficked into the sex industry. Her story is a story that UNICEF has heard again and again. It is a byproduct of a huge industry that has grown up… Read more →←
Water is elemental. Without it, nothing can grow. And without safe water, children may not survive. Children without access to safe water are more likely to die in infancy– and throughout childhood – from diseases caused by water-borne bacteria, to which their small bodies are more vulnerable. When these diseases don’t kill… Read more →←
No one is more vulnerable than a newborn baby. Newborns are totally dependent on their mothers. And their mothers, in turn, rely on skilled doctors and nurses, with access to working equipment, medicines, infrastructure, and information systems. When mothers give birth at home, without access to a skilled birth attendant, the chance that… Read more →←
I recently traveled to Gaziantep in southern Turkey, close to the Syrian border, because I wanted to see the situation for refugee children first-hand. Turkey is carrying a huge burden, helping with what is now the biggest refugee population in the world: nearly 2.8 million Syrian refugees, of which 1.2 million are child refugees.… Read more →←
What’s the most important thing children have? Their brains. And yet, we’re not caring for children’s brains the way we care for their bodies. This should concern all of us – including business leaders. The first 1,000 days of life – from conception to age three – open a critical and singular window of opportunity. During… Read more →←