Hope for Haiti - UNICEF offices in Central & Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEECIS) support earthquake victims in Haiti
GENEVA, Switzerland - January 28, 2010 - UNICEF offices in the CEECIS region have joined the global relief action for the earthquake victims in Haiti.
More than two weeks after the 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, the need for life-saving support. This is a children’s emergency; nearly 40 per cent of Haitians are aged below 14. Many children are at risk.
Several of the the UNICEF offices in the CEECIS have now started their own fundraising initiatives.
UNICEF Turkey has been extremely successful with their fundraising. Until today (January 28, 2010), more than USD 200,000 have been donated to UNICEF Turkey do help the victims in Hait. The fundraising drive was supported by national TV and radio stations and the UNICEF Turkey SMS donation line was dedicated to Haiti for at least the next 45 days.
The UNICEF office in the Russian Federation has opened a special bank account for donations and also accepts online donations through the UNICEF Russia website. As of January 28, 2010, Russians have donated more than RUB 500,000 to UNICEF for the earthquake relief (read more in Russian or in English).
UNICEF Bulgaria has already started an SMS campaign and is now organizing a big telethon that will run this coming Tuesday, February 2, 2010. The telethon will be a four-hour prime-time live broadcast on the biggest Bulgarian public broadcasting station, bTV. More than 50 Bulgarian celebrities have already confirmed their participation in the event.
Similar efforts are undertaken by the UNICEF office in neighboring Romania. Romanians can choose from supporting the earthquake victims via SMS or online donation. And UNICEF Romania is also joint organizer of a telethon that will raise funds for Haiti this coming Sunday.
UNICEF Serbia has set up a special bank account for donations and in Croatia, UNICEF calls for donations through an SMS campaign.
UNICEF Ukraine issues a special appeal for help and has also set up a special bank account for donations (click here for the appeal in English and Ukrainian).
UNICEF Turkmenistan is also organizing an SMS campaign. More details will be available on the UNICEF Turkmenistan website soon.
Of course, the global UNICEF website also offers the opportunity to donate money for the earthquake victims in Haiti and to the work of UNICEF worldwide.
