Dec 05, 2016 12:30 pm
A long-standing advocate for women’s health and empowerment, Revlon, together with Global Brand Ambassador Halle Berry and CEO Fabian Garcia, celebrated the winners of their record-breaking crowdfunding competition, the 2nd Annual Revlon LOVE IS ON Million Dollar Challenge, last week at The Glasshouses in New York City.
Halle Berry Celebrate Revlon’s 2nd Annual LOVE IS ON Million Dollar Challenge Winners
Credit/Copyright: Getty Images
“We are thrilled that our $1.4M in donation incentives resulted in over $6.3M raised for charities making a real difference in women’s lives,” said Revlon CEO Fabian Garcia. “The top fundraising charity, Cancer Research Institute, raised an impressive $1.2M to advance immunology and immunotherapy to conquer all cancers.”
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The exclusive cocktail party celebrated the top five fundraising charities from this year’s Challenge. With over 150 women’s health organizations competing, Cancer Research Institute came in 1st place and was awarded the top ONEMILLIONDOLLAR donation from Revlon. The Challenge generated a total of $6.37 million in donations—more than double the amount raised in Revlon’s inaugural Challenge last year.
Dec 05, 2016 11:30 am
On November 29, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF hosted its 12th annual UNICEF Snowflake Ball at Cipriani Wall Street, celebrating UNICEF’s lifesaving work for children around the world and highlighting the organization’s 70th anniversary.
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Pamela Fiori, Hillary Clinton, Katy Perry, and Caryl Stern speak on stage during the 12th annual UNICEF Snowflake Ball
Credit/Copyright: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for UNICEF
The event honored GRAMMY Award-winning recording artist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Katy Perry and Philanthropist Moll Anderson. Presented by Mariner Investment Group LLC and Baccarat, the event raised more than $4 million for UNICEF’s work to put children first. The evening featured a special appearance by Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, who surprised Katy Perry – and the audience – and presented her with the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award, along with Pamela Fiori, National Board Member of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and past Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award recipient.
Hosted by Academy Award Winner Octavia Spencer, the event featured performances by Sara Bareilles and the cast of The Color Purple. The evening began with the lighting of the UNICEF Snowflake at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, presented by UNICEF Snowflake Lighting Sponsor ALEXANDANI | CHARITY BY DESIGN. Since The UNICEF Snowflake Ball began 12 years ago, the event has raised more than $31 million for UNICEF’s lifesaving programs for children.
Sara Bareilles and Hillary Clinton attend the 12th annual UNICEF Snowflake Ball
Credit/Copyright: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for UNICEF
Katy Perry was honored with the 2016 Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award. Previous recipients of the award have included UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Harry Belafonte.
Katy made her Capitol Records debut with 2008’s One of the Boys (which generated four hit singles: “I Kissed A Girl,” “Hot N Cold,” “Thinking of You” and “Waking Up In Vegas”), and cemented her status as a global superstar with the 2010 follow-up album, Teenage Dream. She headlined the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show, which set a record as the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show. Katy’s cumulative streams now exceed 10 billion worldwide and she is the most-followed person globally on Twitter.
Aside from being one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, Katy is an active advocate of many philanthropic causes. In 2013, Katy was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador as a result of her commitment to improving the lives of children worldwide. From traveling to Viet Nam and Madagascar to highlight the needs of some of the world’s most vulnerable children, to recording PSAs about the importance of empowering girls and supporting adolescents living with HIV/AIDS, as well as raising awareness for UNICEF’s emergency relief efforts, Katy has used her powerful voice to advocate for children and support UNICEF’s mission to ensure every child’s right to health, education, equality and protection.
At yesterday’s event, Katy said that “I’m humbled to receive the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award tonight and celebrate 70 years of UNICEF’s lifesaving work for the children of the world. Audrey Hepburn remains a sparkling example in her career as well as her dedication to being a champion of children. Her life is an inspiration most of us will never match, but hopefully we can aspire to. I’m proud to carry on her shine and to use my voice to help bring attention for issues that affect the world’s most vulnerable children.”
Moll Anderson was honored with the Spirit of Compassion Award. Previous recipients of the award include Quincy Jones, Chairman of Island Def Jam Music Group “LA” Reid, and UNICEF Ambassador Alyssa Milano.
Moll is an accomplished author, television and radio host, interior designer, life stylist, and advocate for women and children globally. Moll’s career has been filled with many professional achievements, including winning an Emmy for her work as an entertainment reporter. She has been a regular contributor to The Doctors television show, and a guest co-host on FABLife, and she has appeared on numerous other television shows.
Along with her professional work, Moll is a dedicated philanthropist, focusing her energy on many deserving causes. She commits her time and resources to improving the lives of women and children in her community and internationally through her work with such organizations as Habitat for Humanity and UNICEF.
Moll noted her inspiration for becoming involved in UNICEF’s mission, saying “Why UNICEF? Everyone has been asking me that tonight. Why did I choose UNICEF? UNICEF chose me when I was a little girl. It was Audrey Hepburn. It was seeing Audrey, beautiful Audrey Hepburn on the news as a young woman.”
UNICEF Ambassador Vern Yip designed the décor for this year’s UNICEF Snowflake Ball, featuring five colors representing themes inspired by prayer flags that correspond to key UNICEF ideals: blue for peace, red for love, white for health, yellow for joy and green for wisdom. Guests dined on a custom menu featuring collaboration by UNICEF Ambassador Marcus Samuelsson. A live auction hosted by Kate Chertavian featured VIP packages including a Paris Fashion Week experience, a Napa and San Francisco package, tickets and a backstage experience at Katy Perry’s next U.S. tour. The After Party was hosted by UNICEF Next Generation, with a special performance by The Dolls. The After Party was made possible by Presenting Sponsor Al-Monitor.
Gillian Miniter and Desiree Gruber chaired the event with Project Chair Jaime Jiménez, Christine and George Stonbely as Snowflake Patrons, and Daria Daniel and Sterling McDavid served as the UNICEF Next Generation Chairs.
Dec 05, 2016 10:15 am Marlee Matlin, Camryn Manheim, and Dancing With The Stars’ Sasha Farber and Emma Slater were among the 200 guests who joined Nyle DiMarco at the launch of The Nyle DiMarco Foundation (NDF) “Love and Language” campaign on Tuesday night at the Sofitel Hotel.
Marlee Matlin and Camryn Maheim
NDF teamed with Convo to launch its campaign with the mission of ending language delay and deprivation amongst Deaf children by promoting kindergarten ready literacy. Less than 15% of hard of hearing and less than 6% of Deaf children in grades K through 12 can read and write proficiently.
The Nyle DiMarco Foundation, a non-profit organization, adopted “Love and Language” as its kickoff campaign to highlight giving deaf children access to learn language from the start. NDF is working closely with its partner, LEAD-K, (Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids for Kindergarten-readiness), a national coalition, to pass legislation in each state that focuses on early language acquisition for deaf and hard of hearing children from birth to age 5. To date, legislation has been successfully passed in three states including California, with 23 more states on the verge of passing similar legislation. Funds raised at the event will go toward the organization’s effort of pushing policies that end language delay and deprivation by working with parents and educators on language development milestones. NDF also aims to set up a worldwide resource network for parents with Deaf children everywhere to connect and get the support they need.
Convo Communication, a Deaf-owned company that develops communication solutions for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people joins as the lead sponsor for the evening. The philosophies and values of Convo and The Nyle DiMarco Foundation are closely aligned as the two entities strongly believe in giving back to the Deaf community and embracing our natural sign language. Like DiMarco, the founders and leaders of Convo were once Deaf children.
Nyle DiMarco is an actor, model and advocate who is also fourth generation deaf. In 2015, he was named the winner of America’s Next Top Model — the only deaf contestant in the show’s history, and the second male to ever win. In the spring of 2016, DiMarco was named the winner of Season 22 of the Emmy nominated ABC hit series Dancing with the Stars and most recently made a guest appearance on Difficult People starring Billy Eichner for Hulu.
Dolly Parton announced Wednesday evening the creation of the Dollywood Foundation My People Fund, established by Parton, The Dollywood Company, Parton’s dinner theaters and The Dollywood Foundation, to provide $1000 each month to Sevier County families whose homes are uninhabitable or were completely destroyed in the recent Smoky Mountain wildfires.
In less than 36 hours, the fund raised more than $1 million, but the need is much greater.
Any family who lost their primary residence (renters and homeowners) due to the wildfires in Sevier County will be eligible. A pre-application for those affected is available at dollywoodfoundation.org. Completion of the pre-application is not required but is encouraged to expedite the distribution process.
The first funds will be distributed Dec. 15-16 and Dec. 19-20 from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. at the CAREMORE Assistance Center at the LeConte Events Center in Pigeon Forge. One check per household per month will be issued. All recipients must show a photo I.D. Families can receive aid for up to six months. Anyone needing assistance in the application process should call 1-800-DOLLYWOOD.
“We are proud to assist Dolly in the creation of the My People Fund,” said Craig Ross, President of The Dollywood Company. “We hope this serves as the first step to rebuilding for the families of the Sevier County community. We send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to everyone affected.”
Jim Rule, CEO of World Choice Investments, LLC said, “It is our hope that the My People Fund will make a difference to those families looking for a way to move forward during this difficult time. The Dixie Stampede and Lumberjack Adventure families are honored to help Dolly provide this special support.”
“We are working to gain a better idea of the number of families affected by the tragedy,” said David Dotson, President of the Dollywood Foundation. “The My People Fund has already secured more than $1 million and climbing. But we know that substantially more donations will be required to meet the need.”
Significant donors to the fund include Verizon, Tanger Outlets, Miley Cyrus’ Happy Hippie Foundation, CoreCivic and The Blalock Company.
Anyone who would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to the My People Fund may visit dollywoodfoundation.org. For those wishing to send donations via mail, those contributions should be sent to: My People Fund, c/o Dollywood Foundation, 111 Dollywood Lane, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863.
Please help the Dollywood Foundation share the word about this effort by using the hashtags #MyPeopleFund and #someplacespecial.
On World AIDS Day this year, Elton John and David Furnish welcomed a host of fellow philanthropists and special guests, including Lady Gaga, David Walliams, Juergen Teller, James Blunt, will.i.am, Lottie Moss, Craig David, Sophie Ellis Bextor and many more to the Tanks of Tate Modern, London as they hosted a special ‘Radical Eye’ black tie dinner, private view and exclusive after hours’ party to mark World AIDS Day 2016.
The event was kindly sponsored by Bulgari.
The evening began with an intimate private view of the highly lauded exhibition of Modernist photography from the Elton John Collection, ‘The Radical Eye’, before welcoming guests at a drinks reception and 3 course dinner.
The event was hosted by Tania Bryer and guests viewed a short film charting the progress achieved by the global anti-AIDS community over the last year and Elton’s leadership to continue the flow of funds towards the fight.
Elton John said: “I was so thrilled and honoured to see two of my great passions come together in one night: the magic of photography and the humanity of the fight against AIDS. It was a special occasion.”
Mark Dybul, Executive Director of The Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria and Elton John AIDS Foundation trustee also took to the stage, speaking of the critical role the Foundation plays in the global fight against AIDS, both for global advocacy and in the work they fund.
Speaking at the event, Mark said: “The Elton John AIDS Foundation’s contribution to the fight against AIDS is extraordinary, and Elton and David’s advocacy is truly unique.”
The event raised nearly £1 million to support our vital programmes and £80,000 was committed to ‘We the Brave’, a transformational public awareness and de-stigmatisation campaign in South Africa helping LGBT and men who have sex with men. This group is up to 20 times more likely to be infected with HIV.
Following the dinner and private view, the event continued late into the night, with special guest Craig David taking to the decks at the after party to rapturous response. He performed hits including Rewind and Walking Away, alongside TS5 set including Justin Bieber and Whitney Houston tracks.
The world’s first ever global health day, initiated in 1988 – World AIDS Day is held on the 1st December each year to enable worldwide communities to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate those who lost their lives to the worldwide pandemic.
As humanitarian donors prepare to gather in Geneva, award-winning British-Nigerian actor David Oyelowo has joined Nigerian luminaries and international charities in writing an open letter warning global leaders of the tens of thousands of children who could starve in North East Nigeria unless the world acts immediately.
Selma star Oyelowo joins compatriot Aliko Dangote, one of Africa’s leading businessmen, U2’sBono and Save the Children in demanding decisive action to address the crisis when the donors meet to agree world-wide humanitarian emergency funding in Geneva this week.
Oyelowo, who was raised in Lagos and London, co-writes in the letter: “The tragedy now unfolding in North East Nigeria is one of the world’s deadliest but least reported emergencies.
“Over 4.7 million people are in need of food assistance and some 400,000 children are at imminent risk of starvation. It must be addressed when humanitarian emergency donors gather this week in Geneva.”
An appeal by Nigeria as part of the UN’s global Humanitarian Response Plan is announced today in Abuja, as Save the Children’s new report on North East Nigeria ’Children’s Lives and Futures at Risk’ warns of a threat of full-scale famine.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network estimates that more than 65,000 people are in famine conditions. 14 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.
Kevin Watkins, Save the Children CEO, who visited North East Nigeria last month said: “North East Nigeria is teetering on the brink of widespread famine. The UN estimates that 75,000 children could die over the next year from malnutrition: that’s as many as 200 children who could die every day.
“Some of the mothers I spoke to had walked for two weeks to get their children treated at Save the Children’s clinic. There is still a window of opportunity to prevent a full blown famine – but that window is closing fast. Failure to act would be indefensible and unforgivable.”
Among other interventions, Save the Children and ONE are calling for innovative financing opportunities to ensure the UN appeal is fully funded. Today’s report from Save the Children highlights that large sums of illicit finance from Nigeria are laundered through banks and the property markets in the United Kingdom.
It has been recently agreed that criminal assets stolen from Nigeria and seized in the UK can now be returned to Nigeria, with the Nigerian government pledging to use any returned funds to benefit the poorest.
Watkins continued: “This is a very welcome step forward. Save the Children is now calling on the UK Government to expedite the return of these funds, and for the Government of Nigeria to use the funds for the humanitarian response. Other OECD countries and the Nigerian government itself should apply the same principle.”
As the Nigerian army continues its advance into insurgent strongholds in areas bordering Niger, Chad and Cameroon, it is almost inevitable that more humanitarian suffering will be revealed. The conflict has been characterised by systematic, widespread and grave violation of children’s rights. Killing, abductions and sexual abuse, and the forced recruitment into militias has been tragically commonplace. Many children have witnessed atrocities first-hand, or have themselves been subject to attacks, and are in desperate need of psychosocial support.
Three teenage brothers captured and imprisoned for three months told Save the Children staff during a counselling session for displaced children:
“The day our village was attacked, our teacher was with us. They cut off our teacher’s head with a sword. They killed our parents. They dropped them in a well. They told us to stop crying or we will also be killed. We heard the voices of our parents screaming inside our heads.”
Save the Children has already witnessed the deadly effects of a delayed international response. As the crisis has intensified, it has established seven outpatient therapeutic-feeding sites and an emergency unit to which children with life threatening malnutrition can be referred for treatment. Children referred to the centre display the classic symptoms of Kwashiorkor (lack of protein leading to fluid-retention), Marasmus (energy deficiency) and extreme hunger, with distended stomachs, pencil thin limbs, loss of hair, acute anaemia and severe skin conditions. Most arrive with complicating conditions, including diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Many of the children being treated have been carried or walked for between three days and two weeks from areas like Mafa and Konduga. One mother in Save the Children’s emergency feeding clinic in Maiduguri told of how her husband, uncle and three children were beheaded in front of her. Another described sometimes going for five days without food.
Another concern, widely voiced by parents in Save the Children clinics, is that children leaving the stabilisation clinic are returning to an environment marked by extreme poverty, rising food prices, and little or no support.
Dec 05, 2016 05:00 am
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations’ global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 177 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges in these areas:
