Twenty-five thousand children die everyday from preventable causes in Africa. There are many ways to stop this massive decrease in population, especially by providing shelter, food, and medicine to keep these children safe. There are many organizations and charities that lend a helping hand, doing as much as they can to reduce these deaths to zero. One of these leading organizations is UNICEF. UNICEF is helping out by giving children the essentials for a safe and healthy childhood.
On September 3, 2009, UNICEF made actress and singer Selena Gomez, 17, the newest ambassador. They wanted Gomez to use her voice in recognition and commitment to children’s issues to help fundraise for education and support the organization and its goals.
Selena Gomez states, “Every day, 25,000 children die from preventable causes. I stand with UNICEF in the belief that we can change that number from 25,000 to zero. I know we can achieve this because every moment UNICEF is on the ground providing children with the lifesaving assistance needed to ensure zero becomes a reality.”
Ghana is ranked number 30 out of 195 countries with the highest death rates of children under five. As UNICEF’s youngest Ambassador, Selena was sent to Ghana to witness first-hand the conditions of the children that lack the necessities needed for a healthy life. These include clean water, nourishment, education and health care. Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF says, “We’re very pleased to have Selena join the UNICEF family, as a longtime supporter, she will continue to capture and engage an audience of millions of young people to help ensure the health, education, equality and protection of every child.”
Selena Gomez might be the youngest ambassador, but many celebrities before her have been involved with UNICEF through the years including Danny Kaye, Joel Madden, Dayle Haddon, Lucy Liu, Clay Aiken, Marcus Samuelsson, Alyssa Milano, and Sara Jessica Parker.
UNICEF has saved more children’s lives than any other organization in the world. The organization is working in over 150 countries providing children with health care, nutrition, clean water, education, emergency relief, and more. Despite their extraordinary progress, they’re still doing whatever they can to complete there mission. They hope Selena Gomez will be an inspiration to help teenagers and adults to realize what they can do to help.
Helping out by joining a charity or organization that helps children in Africa is a good thing to do. Every child deserves to live. As Brad Pitt once eloquently put it, “Let us be the ones who say we do not accept that a child dies every three seconds simply because he does not have the drugs you and I have. Let us be the ones to say we are not satisfied that your place of birth determines your right to life. Let us be outraged, let us be loud, let us be bold.” If one person can do as much as Selena Gomez has, then imagine what millions of people could do?
For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.