NEW YORK — International soccer superstar David Beckham recently announced he is partnering with the United Nations Children’s Fund, better known as UNICEF, to launch a fundraising initiative that aims to increase assistance for the world’s most endangered youth.
Through the initiative, officially titled “7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund,” Beckham will use his celebrity status and influence to both fundraise for vulnerable children across the globe and inspire world leaders to spearhead meaningful change.
The initiative comes at an important time for poverty assistance efforts. According to UNICEF, over “15 million children were exposed to extreme violence in major conflicts in 2014,” while another 230 million children lived in regions affected by armed conflicts.
Moreover, last year several million children were exposed to natural disasters, thousands were devastated by the Ebola epidemic, and an estimated 168 million engaged in child labor practices.
If successful, the initiative will help fund several key projects across seven regions of the world where UNICEF has determined that immediate funding is required to save vulnerable children from violence, abuse, or disease.
A few of UNICEF’s initiative projects are listed as follows:
- Provide child protection services and counseling support to children in El Salvador, the country with the highest child homicide rate globally.
- Provide water pumps and community training in Burkina Faso, where currently one in five child deaths are caused by diarrhea.
- Support breastfeeding mothers in Papua New Guinea, where child malnutrition has stunted growth in nearly half of all children under the age of five.
In his 10 years as a UNICEF ambassador, Beckham has played a vital role in many UNICEF projects. Among other endeavors, Beckham has been involved in 2005 tsunami relief efforts, UNICEF’s State of the World Children’s Report, HIV and AIDS prevention efforts in South Africa, global child malnutrition prevention efforts and UNICEF’s Ebola relief efforts in West Africa last year.
In promoting his “7” initiative, Beckham is encouraging the public to join him by adding their name to his international campaign at 7.org or call on global leaders to #putchildrenfirst.