At a glance: Iceland

UNICEF in Iceland

UNICEF Iceland started in March 2004 and is the newest member of UNICEF’s fundraising national committees.

Iceland, an island surrounded by the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, has just over 300,000 inhabitants who have truly welcomed UNICEF to their country. Since the national committee started, over 13,000 people have signed up as Global Parents who donate to UNICEF on a monthly basis.

Catering to individuals, Global Parents is an initiative that 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, Ireland, Canada and others. Global Parents have been the heart and soul of UNICEF Iceland since the beginning. The former President of Iceland, Vigdis Finnbogadottir, is the patron of Global Parents.

Donors, partners and supporters

UNICEF Iceland also enjoys support from several major and corporate donors, including Baugur Group, FL Group, Fons, Glitnir bank and Samskip. With support from major and corporate donors, UNICEF Iceland has managed to sponsor four projects in Guinea-Bissau in the area of primary education and reduction of child mortality, an education program in Sierra Leone and the polio campaign in Nigeria.

Many Icelanders are regular buyers of UNICEF Christmas cards and gifts, which have been sold by the Icelandic Association of University Women for four decades – long before the national committee was formed. The committee enjoys the good image that the University Women volunteers have built up in the country.

During a major fundraising campaign in Iceland, ‘Red Nose Day’, many local celebrities participated and helped double the number of Global Parents in a three-hour TV show. Among those celebrities was the internationally known band Sigur Ros who visited Swaziland to raise awareness about UNICEF’s HIV/AIDS projects and its work for orphans and other vulnerable children.

UNICEF Iceland has been lucky enough to enjoy visits from two international UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors, Harry Belafonte and Sir Roger Moore.

Involving children in Iceland

As part of its emphasis on education for development, UNICEF Iceland has developed education material for schools in collaboration with the National Centre for Education Materials. These include a leaflet about the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is distributed each year to all 11-year-old schoolchildren in Iceland.

In early 2007, web-based education material was launched. UNICEF Iceland used the great material that UNICEF internationally has developed through the years, updated it and adapted to the Icelandic market.

Recently UNICEF Iceland started to raise awareness about children’s issues in Icelandic schools through a ‘Moveathon’ project. Icelandic children get a chance to raise funds for their peers in the developing world by participating in the Moveathon.

In 2006, the Youth Council of UNICEF Iceland started. They have big ambitions and will be selling designed T-shirts and throwing a fundraising concert with the Reykjavik Sports and Youth Council, to name just two projects.

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, is ensuring that the needs of children are considered as a first priority in domestic and international development social policy areas. The Convention on the Rights of the Child will be a guidance tool to work with local NGOs and lobby for the rights of children in Iceland.

The Icelandic Government has shown a great interest in UNICEF’s work and will take a seat on the UNICEF board in 2010. More importantly, the government has increased its contribution to UNICEF by 60 per cent every year for the past three years.