UNICEF Gala in the Benefit of Romanian Children – the Third Edition
PRESS RELEASE
Bucharest, April 5, 2006
UNICEF Gala in the Benefit of Romanian Children – the Third Edition
Wednesday, April 5, 2006. UNICEF Romania announces the third UNICEF Gala. The speakers at the press conference were Mrs. Andreea Marin, presenter of the UNICEF Gala, Mrs. Voica Pop, Child Protection Program Officer, UNICEF, Mr. Francois Oliver, General Manager Carrefour Romania, Mrs. Ioana Popescu Tăriceanu, President, Fundaţia Copii Sănătoşi – Copiii contează pe noi and Mrs. Wajiha Haris, UNICEF consultant, organizer of the event.
UNICEF Gala will take place on Wednesday, April 12, 2006. The event is a fundraiser in the benefit of the Romanian children and is part of a series of such actions initiated by UNICEF in 2005. The Gala will include a fashion presentation of the 2006 spring/summer collections of Doina Levintza, Lena Criveanu, HSY and Pal Zileri. The main sponsor of the event is Carrefour Romania. UNICEF Gala will be presented by Mrs. Andreea Marin.
The proceeds of the event will be donated by UNICEF for projects in the field of pregnancy monitoring and prevention of severe illnesses to the newborn and for the prevention of child abandonment in maternities through baby friendly hospitals initiative and social assistance. The projects will be implemented by Fundaţia Copii Sănătoşi – Copiii contează pe noi (Foundation Healthy Children – Children Count on us), Holt România and Pentru Fiecare Copil o Familie (For Each Child a Family).
One of the main concerns of UNICEF is the health status of the newborns and the prevention of abandonment of children in maternity hospitals. In Romania, there is still la large number of prematurely born children and of babies with low weight at birth and the access to basic health and protection services is still limited. Another special problem is the high rate of child abandonment, especially in maternity wards and pediatric hospitals. “UNICEF believes that better pregnancy monitoring and improved care of the newborns is one of the best strategies for the prevention of severe illnesses to the newborn and of the child abandonment in maternity hospitals. The development of a social assistance network can also contribute significantly to solving this problem,” declared Mrs. Voica Pop, Child Protection Program Officer with UNICEF.
With the help of the funds raised at the event, Fundaţia Copii Sănătoşi – Copiii contează pe noi will purchase medical equipment (incubators, monitoring equipment and mechanical ventilation equipment) necessary for the neonatal intensive care ward within Filantropia Hospital in Bucharest for the support and development under optimal conditions of the babies born prematurely, with low and very low weight at birth. The project aims primarily at reducing the number of days spent by the babies in the neonatal intensive care wards, which leads to the overall decrease of the costs of their support and treatment until they are able to leave the hospital. There is also a deeply emotional side to this project, as it intends to help these special babies return to their families under the best development conditions, as soon as possible. ”Like any other mother, during my pregnancy, I wanted to have a healthy baby, delivered on term. I was lucky. Unfortunately, because some mothers face health problems during pregnancy and also because of the poverty degree of many families, numerous children are born prematurely. Healthy Children Foundation decided to take action in order to shorten the suffering of these babies and the grief of their families”, declared Mrs. Ioana Popescu Tăriceanu, President of the Foundation.
In Iaşi, the Holt România foundation will use the funds for the prevention of child abandonment of babies in the “Cuza-Voda” maternity hospital, especially through the provision of social assistance services. The women who give birth will receive information about their rights, about the rearing and the care of the infant and about the community services available for babies. On leaving the maternity hospitals the mother will receive a package – the “Welcome, Baby!” bag – that will include clothing and hygiene items for the child and the mother. The funds will be also used to endow the social assistance office within the maternity hospital.
In Caraş – Severin County, the project of the foundation Pentru Fiecare Copil o Familie targets the creation of a connection and a socio-medical network between maternity wards and the community of the baby and of the family. The mother will receive from the professionals working in the counseling offices within maternity hospitals information on the community services and the available resources. Through this project, community medical assistants and social assistants will work in highly vulnerable communities with the mission to take over the cases from the maternity hospitals and to offer socio-medical support to the mother and the child.
Francois Oliver, General Manager Carrefour România: "Carrefour has been involved in social projects ever since its entrance on the Romanian market. We have assisted and continue to support the fight against breast cancer, we have supported foundations that attend to those who cannot take care of themselves: children and older people; we were there for the people affected by flood, we support various associations for street children and many others. Besides increasing the purchase power of our clients by applying daily the best prices, we also have a social mission, namely to help the community where we develop our activity. It is a great honor for us to be involved in UNICEF’s projects in Romania.”
Contact persons: Codruţa Hedeşiu, Communication Officer, UNICEF Romania, phone no.: 201.78.64
Mihai Ursa, Media Relations Manager, McCann PR, phone no.: 232.37.27
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