冰岛

联合国儿童基金会在冰岛

本页内容将被译成中文。

UNICEF Iceland is the newest of UNICEF’s fundraising national committees. On 20 November 2003, the Icelandic National Committee for UNICEF officially starts work, bringing to 37 the number of UNICEF national committees worldwide.

Iceland, an island surrounded by the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, has just 280,000 people. Thus the Icelandic National Committee will be amongst the smallest in the UNICEF family. But it has big ambitions: the committee aims to be a significant contributor to UNICEF on a per capita basis.

During the first weekend after operations start, the committee will invite people to drop by its office, which is shared with the Icelandic Committee for the United Nations (UN) Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Icelandic UN Association.

UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Karin Sham Poo, and Senior Fundraising Officer, Ingalill Colbro are flying to Reykjavik to meet the Executive Board and attend a press conference on the 26 November. The Executive Board has nine members, including prominent figures from the world of business, the media and the arts.

Solid support

“We’ve had really solid support from UNICEF Geneva and from other National Committees and we’ve learnt a lot and picked up some great ideas,” says the committee’s Executive Director, Stefan Stefansson. “To work for UNICEF’s unique mandate is an exciting and empowering task.”

UNICEF already has a presence in Iceland through its cards. UNICEF Christmas cards have been sold on the island for many decades by the Icelandic Association of University Women. They have done “an excellent job,” says Stefansson. “So we will be building our work on their legacy here.” The goal is to boost sales in the next two years and have UNICEF products sold year round in selected shops.
 
Spreading the word about UNICEF to Iceland’s adults and children is one of the committee’s most pressing challenges. Starting in 2004, exhibitions around the country will display UNICEF’s work, to be complemented by strong advocacy on key issues. The committee intends to use UNICEF’s five Medium Term Strategic Plan priorities – girls’ education, HIV/AIDS, immunization plus, child protection and early childhood development - to make UNICEF known to a broad audience in Iceland.  
 
Children’s needs come first

Helping UNICEF promote its global work with, and for, children in Iceland lies at the heart of UNICEF Iceland’s vision. So, too, does ensuring that the needs of children are considered as a first priority in domestic and international development social policy areas. The Icelandic committee will use the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a platform to discuss and educate people about different subjects, from tolerance and inclusion to special protection rights for refugee children. 

As part of its emphasis on education for development, the committee plans to build a web-based information centre for children and teachers. Education materials, developed with the help of a core group of schools, are set to appear on the committee’s website, planned to be up and running early 2004.

Like its counterparts, the Icelandic National Committee will focus on sustainable fundraising. A fundraising campaign will start in earnest in February, with three main components. First, several  corporate sponsors are providing seed capital to the Icelandic Committee, part of which will go to early childhood development programmes in West Africa. At the same time, a UNICEF appeal package will be sent to small- and medium-sized businesses in Iceland - of which there are about 6,000 - with the aim of securing donors.

Finally, the Global Parent pledge programme will be launched. Catering to individuals, this initiative aims to bring on board contributors with the concept that they can adopt - not one single child - but all vulnerable children. This concept has been developed and successfully implemented by UNICEF Australia, which offers a monthly pledge programme.

Reciprocity lies at the heart of any good relationship. While Iceland learns more about UNICEF, UNICEF is sure to learn more about Iceland.