Media Advisory
95 million people mobilize for world's children; their
95 million pledges go to Mandela, Machel and Mrs. Annan Tuesday in ceremony
with young people
WHAT: Arriving in New York after year-long global journey,
95 million ballots representing a grassroots movement for children
will be handed over to Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel and Nane Annan
in a ceremony involving 370 young people from around the world.
WHEN: Tuesday, May 7, 2002, 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: At the Children's Forum, a meeting of child delegates
to the UN Special Session on Children. The Manhattan Center, 311 West
34th Street, at 8th Avenue.
Background: Say Yes for Children began last year with initial
pledges from Mandela, Machel and the Secretary-General. It quickly
grew into a worldwide grassroots movement in support of children.
In both industrialized and developing nations, Say Yes ballots were
available on Internet sites (www.gmfc.org) and widely distributed
in paper form, adapted into local languages and re-written especially
for young children. The ballots were distributed and votes collected
at public events ranging from festivals and concerts to book fairs
and workshops, and at public venues such as malls, parks, cinemas
and rural markets. Teams of volunteers were deployed to the most rural
and remote areas in countries to distribute ballots to adults and
children and collect their pledges.
- In China, over 20 million people filled out Say Yes ballots
- In just one day in Kazakhstan, 3.5 million students, parents and
teachers voted
- One of four people in Turkey - some 16 million -- pledged their
support for child rights
* * *
Join us on Tuesday to hear the amazing stories behind these numbers.
Young people will be available to describe how they collected these
millions of votes.
PLEASE NOTE: AT THE REQUEST OF MR. MANDELA'S
OFFICE, THERE WILL BE ABSOLUTELY NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED DURING
THE CEREMONY
or more about this event or for interviews with "Say Yes"
youth, please contact:
Alison Qualter, UNICEF, aqualter@unicefusa.org,
917 929 0582
Mark Thomas, UNICEF, mthomas@unicef.org,
917 731 2897
B-roll covering Special Session themes is also available: View and
order at http://www.unicef.org/broadcast/brolls/specialsession/
A satellite news feed will be available twice daily during the Special
Session.
Learn more at http://www.unicef.org/broadcast/feeds/
If you are unable to attend this event but would like to obtain photos,
please send your request to photo@unicef.org;
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