Sep 12, 2016 12:00 pm
U.S. Fund for UNICEF National Board Member Dikembe Mutombo joined Eric Bledsoe of the Phoenix Suns and Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund forUNICEF, on a field visit to Maputo, Mozambique last week to see UNICEF’s lifesaving work in action.
Dikembe Mutumbo greets mothers and babies at a severe acute malnutrition center in Maputo, Mozambique
Visiting a local hospital and UNICEF-supported malnutrition center, they met with mothers and children being screened for malnutrition, and spoke with staff.
UNICEF Kid Power, which helps kids get active, save lives and be part of the solution to end global malnutrition, has supported UNICEF in treating thousands of local children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. 16 million children globally suffer from severe acute malnutrition – the most life-threatening form – which requires specialized feeding care with therapeutic food packets. The therapeutic food packets unlocked byUNICEF Kid Power contain a specially designed protein and vitamin-rich peanut paste, which allows children who are severely malnourished to be treated in their communities, and can transform the lives of millions of malnourished children around the world, just like the kids Eric and Dikembe met with. Primarily due to a lack of funding, UNICEF, along with partners, was only able to reach 19 percent of the children suffering from severe acute malnutrition with lifesaving therapeutic food in 2014.UNICEF Kid Power’s immediate focus is to eliminate the funding gap preventing the delivery of therapeutic food packets to every child who needs it.
Dikembe Mutumbo goes for a basket while playing with local players at a school in Maputo, Mozambique.
How UNICEF Kid Power works: UNICEF Kid Power gives kids the power to save lives. By getting active with the UNICEF Kid Power Band – the world’s first Wearable-for-Good, kids go on missions to learn about new cultures and earn points. Points unlock funding from partners and funds are used by UNICEF to deliver lifesaving packets of therapeutic food to severely malnourished children around the world. The more kids move, the more points they earn and the more lives they save.
Dikembe and Eric also met with the basketball team from a local school, and played a quick game with them – providing a great opportunity to connect directly with local kids.
UNICEF has supported Mozambique for almost four decades, throughout significant challenges including war, post-conflict recovery and peace-building, poverty, recurrent natural disasters and the surge of HIV and AIDS. UNICEF programs in Mozambique focus on child health and nutrition, education, HIV/AIDS, water and sanitation, and child protection.
Sep 12, 2016 10:30 am
The Hollywood community once again united to support Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), which staged its fifth biennial one-hour special on Friday, Sept. 9 (8:00 – 9:00 PM ET/PT / 7:00 PM CT).
(L-R) patient Mitch Carbon, actor Bradley Cooper and patient Emily Whitehead attend Stand Up To Cancer
Credit/Copyright: Kevin Mazur/American Broadcasting Companies Inc via Getty Images
Academy Award-nominated actor and founder of the Bradley Charles Cooper Foundation, Bradley Cooper, served as executive producer along with renowned live, large-scale event producers Done + Dusted, in collaboration with the Stand Up To Cancer production team.
Celine Dion attends Stand Up To Cancer
Credit/Copyright: Kevin Mazur/American Broadcasting Companies Inc via Getty Images
Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks attend Stand Up To Cancer
Credit/Copyright: Kevin Mazur/American Broadcasting Companies Inc via Getty Images
The telecast broadcasted from The Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, along with American Forces Network, ASPiRE, AUDIENCE Network, Bloomberg TV, Bravo, Comedy Central, Discovery Life, E! Entertainment, EPIX, ESPNEWS, FM, FS2, Fusion, FXM, Great American Country, HBO, HLN, ION Television, LMN, Logo, MLB Network, National Geographic, Pivot, RLTV, SHOWTIME, Smithsonian Channel, STARZ, STARZENCORE, TBS, Tr3s, VH1, and WGN America donated one hour of simultaneous commercial-free primetime for the telecast. For the first time, there was a Spanish version of the Stand Up To Cancer telecast airing nationally on Galavision, HBOLatino, STARZ ENCORE ESPAÑOL and Univision Deportes, and locally on Univision Puerto Rico. In addition, the show streamed live on SU2C’s Facebook page, Yahoo, SU2C’s YouTube page, MLB.com and in Spanish on Univision.com. USA Network aired the Stand Up To Cancer telecast on Friday, Sept. 9 at 11:00 PM – 12:00 AM ET/PT / 10:00 PM CT. The entire telecast will also become available to stream on Hulu beginning Saturday, Sept. 10.
The first Canadian-inclusive SU2C telecast aired in 2014, and this year’s show once again aired across all four major English-language Canadian broadcasters: CBC, City,CTV, and Global. Additionally, Canadian services AMI, Bloomberg TV Canada, Blue Ant Media, CHCH, CHEK, Fight Network, Hollywood Suite, Joytv, NTV and TLN aired the telecast, the show streamed live on Yahoo Canada, and it will be available on-demand on shomi and TELUS Optik TV in Canada.
Sep 12, 2016 09:00 am
This month, Helen Woodward Animal Center will once again unite with animal welfare proponents and organizations worldwide for the 4th Annual Remember Me Thursday.
2016 Remember Me Thursday Official Spokesperson Pauley Perrette with rescue pups, Rosie, Grace and Bug
Honored on the fourth Thursday of September, the campaign asks pet lovers and animal rescue groups to create an unstoppable, integrated voice advocating for orphan pets to live in forever homes, not die waiting for them. Grassroots candle-lighting ceremonies and a global avalanche of social media buzz will shine a light on the millions of homeless animals still awaiting adoption and encourage communities to opt to adopt and reduce the millions of orphan pets euthanized each year. Now some very big names are stepping forward to lend their support to the cause, including CBS’ NCISstar, Pauley Perrette, who has been named the 2016 Official Spokesperson for the campaign. Helen Woodward Animal Center encourages the world to join with these philanthropic celebrities and to be a part of this very special day, Thursday, September 22nd, 2016.
As the campaign’s 2016 Official Spokesperson, Pauley Perrette is best known for her role as the brilliant but offbeat forensic scientist “Abby Sciuto” on CBS’ NCIS (2003), the #1-rated drama in the world. She is also a published writer, singer and civil rights advocate, in addition to co-owner of the “Donna Bell’s Bake Shop” in Manhattan, which is named after her late mother. But it is Perrette’s passion for rescue pets that drew her to the campaign.
“It is so important that we give homeless animals loving forever homes,” stated the star. “We save them, but they end up saving us. The greatest joys I’ve experienced in my life have been from my rescued pets. As Official Spokesperson of the Remember Me Thursday campaign I have the opportunity to give a voice to these beautiful creatures.”
Perrette leads an impressive list of celebrity supporters also aligning themselves with Remember Me Thursday. Notable personalities, professional athletes, pet behaviorists and social media pet stars have signed on as “luminaries,” committing to share their thoughts on pet adoption in videos and via their social media accounts throughout the campaign. At press time, 50+ influential luminaries have joined the cause, including:
Professional Athletes: Anze Kopitar (LA Kings), Bryan Bickell (Chicago Blackhawks),David Backes (Boston Bruins), Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay Rays), Jeff Carter (LA Kings), Joey Logano (NASCAR), Kevin Kiermaier (Tampa Bay Rays), Liam Hendriks (Oakland A’s), Mark Buehrle, Ryan Newman (NASCAR).
Animal Celebrities: Alien Cat Matilda, Choupette Lagerfeld, Cole and Marmalade, Justin Fire Survivor, Lil BUB, Norbert, Paddington, Pumpkin the Raccoon, Sauerkraut Kitty, Tuna, Vito Vincent, Wolfgang2242, and Worried Cat.
Remember Me Thursday was established in 2013 by Helen Woodward Animal Center President and CEO Mike Arms. Moved by the staggering statistic of the 3.4 million homeless pets who lose their lives each year in the U.S., Arms put out a call to rescue organizations in an attempt to create a global awareness campaign. As creator of the International Pet Adoptathon and the International Home 4 the Holidays program (placing over 12 million pets in homes since 1999), he was able to send out an expansive request and the response was significant.
Now in its fourth year, Remember Me Thursday has been supported by 164 countries with hundreds of thousands of individuals and more than 500 separate animal welfare organizations around the globe holding candle-lighting ceremonies of their own, spreading the message on social media, or lighting a virtual candle. The enormous swell of celebrity support has resulted in the topic trending on both Facebook and Twitter, garnering more than 500 million social media impressions.
To be a part of the 2016 Remember Me Thursday campaign, individuals and animal welfare organizations are encouraged to get the entire world talking about pet adoption on Thursday, September 22nd, by tweeting, tagging, posting and sharing the beauty and life-saving significance of pet adoption using the hashtags #RememberTheRescue and #RememberMeThursday.
NEW THIS YEAR: Animal-lovers can win life-saving funds, toys and food for adoptable pets looking for forever families at their favorite non-profit, pet adoption organization. To enter the Remember Me Thursday Social Media Contest, simply upload your rescue pet’s photo and story to the #RememberTheRescue Photo Wall for a chance to win!
UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie was in Jordan last week to visit refugees, and made the following statement.
“This is my fourth visit to Jordan since the conflict in Syria began. It is almost impossible to fathom what the last five years have meant, in the lives of refugees in Jordan and elsewhere in the region.
“Not a single family in this camp of 60,000 people has not suffered loss and trauma. I met a family this morning, who fled Daesh in Raqqaa, and then moved twenty times, trying to find safety inside Syria. In that time, the mother suffered repeated miscarriages, and her two brothers and one sister were killed in an airstrike.
“There are children here who remember no life other than this harsh desert environment and these barbed wire fences. There are teens who bear the terrible physical and mental wounds of conflict – such as a 13 year-old boy I met, scarred by shrapnel from a barrel bomb.
“Over half of all refugees in Jordan are under 18. My own children are of that age. Like any other parent, it is impossible for me not to imagine what it would be like for my own children in this situation.
“But as difficult as conditions are, refugees here count themselves among the lucky ones.
“Besides the millions trapped inside Syria whose lives are at risk daily, 75,000 Syrians are stranded in the Berm – a no-man’s land on the Jordanian border – including children, pregnant women, and gravely ill patients.
“They have had no food delivery since early August. There is next to no humanitarian access whatsoever. There is no mechanism for evacuating the war wounded. None of the basic protections under international humanitarian law are being applied.
“This is not a problem of Jordan’s making, or that Jordan should be left to bear alone. They have been warning for years that they would reach a point where they on their own could do more.
“The world has known about the situation in the Berm for months, but no solution has yet been put forward.
“This is symptomatic of the wider problem. For all the good intentions, extraordinary efforts in the field, and the generosity of host communities, it is impossible to say that we, as an international community, are using all the tools at our disposal, or that we have even come close to doing enough to help the Syrian people.
“The Security Council – five years on and counting – remains divided on how to reach a political settlement.
“The deliberate use of siege and starvation, barrel bombs, attacks on hospitals and, reportedly, chemical weapons, continues every day.
“And for all the countless international summits and aid pledging conferences in these five years, UNHCR and other agencies still only have half of what is needed to meet the needs on the ground today.
“That shortfall has consequences.
“The gulf between our responsibilities and our actions has never been so wide.
“So my message to world leaders, as they prepare to gather at the UN General Assembly in 10 days’ time, is to ask that the fundamental root causes of the Syria conflict, and what it will take to end it, are put at the center of the discussion.
“Any increase in humanitarian funding saves lives and is deeply appreciated as well as absolutely necessary. But let’s be clear: aid workers here are still waiting for what was promised at the last conference.
“After five years refugees do not want to know by what percentage their lives might be made fractionally more bearable, but when they will be able to go home.
“They do not want to be the passive recipients of aid, they want a political solution.
“Finally I would like, if I may, to speak to the people of Jordan – whose decency, tolerance and humanity I so deeply admire.
“You have given your all to helping your Syrian neighbors, from the earliest days of the conflict. You did so knowing that it would be extremely difficult, and that the war could last for years, and with huge demands on your resources and services in your communities already.
“Having given so much, you are still dedicated to doing more, and I welcome and thank His Majesty The King for the courageous and forward-looking decisions to help a number of Syrians access work and education in Jordan. Thank you for your moral leadership.
“I wish families in Jordan, and across this region, Eid Mubarak.
“And to those for whom it is not a time of joy and celebration, but of exile, grief and hardship – my thoughts are with you.”
