2013-05-23T00:10:36-04:00 David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=david-bull Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for David Bull Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.3108936 2013-04-18T19:00:00-04:00 2013-04-18T13:17:11-04:00

David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bull/
The conference this week was important, not just because it included representatives from communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change as well as policy makers, but also because it made the crucial link between climate change, food crises and nutrition.

Each year two million children die because they cannot get enough food to eat. A further 165 million children's lives are blighted by chronic under-nutrition. Lack of nutritious food during the vital early period of a child's growth leads to irreversible damage to their body and brain affecting their future performance at school and economic productivity as an adult. Under-nutrition also puts children at a higher risk of dying from infectious diseases.

And a key driver of the high levels of hunger and malnutrition is the impact of climate change on food systems in the poorest countries of the world. Rising temperatures and variations in rainfall combined with increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters are making it ever harder for families to get enough nutritious food. Indeed it is estimated that every year for the next decade, 175 million children will be affected by sudden climate-related disasters.

As always it is children - those least responsible for climate change - who are the hardest hit. Climate change is compromising life chances now. It is vital that we invest in enabling communities to cope with a changing environment.

But it is not just children in developing countries whose lives are being affected by climate change. A new Ipsos-MORI poll commissioned by UNICEF UK and published yesterday shows that fear of climate change is casting a long shadow over British childhoods. Nearly three-quarters of young people aged 11-16 expressed concern about how climate change will impact on their lives and said they would like the UK Government to do more to combat it.

Awareness of climate change was extremely high - with just 1% saying they knew nothing about climate change, and that awareness led young people to feel very worried about its impact on them and their world. 74% agreed that the world will have changed as a result of climate change by the time they are adults. But they were not just concerned about their own futures. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of these young people across Britain were worried about how climate change will affect other children and families in developing countries.

Whilst a representative sample of adults also polled, expressed less concern about climate change than the young people, well over half agreed that the effects of climate change will mean their children will not grow up in the same natural environment as they did and 61% felt that the UK Government should take more action to combat climate change.

This survey shows that there is a desire amongst Britons, young and old, for our Government to show strong leadership and take decisive action on climate change. Climate change is something that will ultimately affect us all. Failure to act now will mean that tomorrow's adults and future generations will pay the price.

By showing strong leadership and committing its fair share of new money to the Green Climate Fund to help children adapt to the effects of climate change, the UK Government can make sure children everywhere have enough nutritious food to eat, grow up to fulfil their potential and do not pay for our past mistakes with their futures. We can afford this investment through innovative methods like new taxes on dirty shipping. We cannot afford inaction.

We all need to take our responsibility to future generations very seriously. For me this responsibility was brought into sharp relief by a 14 year schoolgirl, Eshitha Vaz, one of UNICEF's children's champions. "When it comes to climate change, I'm not proud of the human race" she wrote this week. "Governments around the world should see tackling climate change as one of their top priorities...but it should not just be something for only scientists and world leaders to worry about. It is something that should concern us all and also one that all of us should be willing to tackle."


Visit UNICEF UK's online petition calling on Edward Davey to make good on the government's climate cash promise.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2883018 2013-03-15T07:04:46-04:00 2013-05-15T05:12:01-04:00

David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bull/
Yet as the crisis in Syria enters its 3rd year it is abundantly clear that not enough notice has been taken of a humanitarian crisis that has seen over 1 million people flee their country and that has left more than 2 million children in immediate need of vital help. Despite the magnitude of the crisis a chronic lack of funding is threatening to leave many Syrian children without essential support. Indeed, unless an 80% funding gap is bridged very soon, UNICEF will be forced to scale back on even life-saving interventions, such as clean water and immunisation.

Like Their Royal Highnesses, I was also in Jordan this week spending time with Syria's exhausted and traumatised refugees. What struck me most about my latest visit was how much worse the situation has become since I was last there in October. Jordan is now home to over 347,000 Syrians, over half of whom are children and Za'atari refugee camp is now Jordan's 5th biggest city.

As the numbers increase, so does the need. Indeed an average of 8-10 children are born in Za'atari each day and during my visit we met Syria's youngest refugee. Ruba was just three days old, her mother having fled Syria on foot when she was nearly 9 months pregnant after her house was bombed. It would be tragic if Ruba has to grow up in a refugee camp.

UNICEF with our partners are doing everything we can to try and protect these children and make sure they don't become a lost generation whose one chance of childhood is compromised through trauma, illness and disrupted schooling. They may have lost the chance to grow up in peace and stability, but we are working hard to ensure they do not lose their childhood. In the Za'atari camp we are providing over 3 million litres of water every day, and we are running a school, providing child-friendly spaces and group counselling for the children, but it is no place for a childhood. There is a palpable tension in the air in Za'atari and it is strange to be in a place of such size surrounded by so many children and not see any young boys kicking around a football.

Yet in some ways the children who are now living in camps such as Za'atari are the lucky ones. That so many families have left their homes in favour of this dusty and desolate camp underscores the horrors they have left behind.

In Syria itself there remain a further two million children in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Despite UNICEF's best efforts we are unable to reach every child. Our work is being severely hampered by a chronic lack of funding. Supplies of chlorine for clean drinking water in Syria will only last until the end of this month unless the funds are available to buy more. An immunisation programme planned for April, to reach 2 million, may not reach those who need it. Without these vital supplies, millions of children could be exposed to the risk of life-threatening diseases.

Back in London, I cannot but I hope that Mariam is right and that Royal visit to her refugee camp home might make the world take notice. A seismic shift in public attitudes towards suffering of Syria's children is needed to ensure our work with in Syria is funded. Whilst there the Prince of Wales described the situation he witnessed as "heartbreaking". The situation for the children of Syria's conflict is indeed devastating and urgent action is needed to protect these children from further pain and suffering and to stop more Syrian hearts being broken.

This is a real and immediate crisis for children. We need your help, and we need it now. £5 could provide water for a week for a family in Syria, so please text the word DONATE to 70099 to give £5 NOW or give what you can unicef.org.uk.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2549102 2013-01-25T06:32:53-05:00 2013-03-27T05:12:01-04:00

David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bull/
This unflinching statement was from the world's most powerful economist, the IMF's Christine Lagarde, who chose to use her moment in the Davos spotlight to issue a warning to world and business leaders that future generations - our children and our children's children - can no longer wait for us to tackle the challenges of a changing climate.

Her comments sparked some surprise amongst economic commentators. For me, not so much. In fact, they chimed perfectly with my own comments at Davos, as we at UNICEF UK together with more than 100 other organisations, launched a huge new mass movement: Enough food in the world for everyone IF.

As the name suggests, the focus of the campaign it is not simply about asking for more money to help feed the world. It is about addressing the root causes of child malnutrition so that we can eradicate hunger for good, rather than just stem its flow. As well as aid and climate finance, the campaign calls for action to ensure Governments of developing countries can collect the tax revenues they need, and that land is used to grow food, especially through supporting small farmers.

Ours could be the generation that eliminates hunger for good. IF our leaders summon the will and resources to make it happen. One of the key challenges we must meet is to break the inextricable connection between child hunger and climate change. Floods, droughts, increasingly ferocious and changing weather patterns are all affecting food production, pushing up prices and leaving too many children with too little to eat and without the nutrients to grow up healthy.

The world has made progress in reducing child hunger in the last 20 years, but climate change threatens to reverse these gains and hold us back from the historic achievement of eliminating hunger. The impact of climate change on poorer countries could, by 2050, leave 25 million more children malnourished.

The acknowledgement of this issue at Davos - where the most powerful economists and business leaders of the world gather - demonstrates that climate change is no longer just a moral issue; but one that will become an ever growing barrier to sustainable economic growth if left unchecked. Lagarde as an economist recognises the importance of investing now, so that we save more in the future.

165 million children - nearly three times the entire population of the UK - are stunted because of malnutrition, because they didn't get the right nutrients in their first 1,000 days of life. This causes irreversible damage to their brain and body, leaving them unable to learn, nor earn as much as they could if they had been properly nourished.

UNICEF is a global leader in the effort to deliver life-saving nutritional support to the world's poorest children: promoting breastfeeding; fortifying diets with vitamins and minerals; treating children who are severely malnourished with life-saving emergency food; preventing and treating diseases like diarrhoea; and ensuring that vulnerable families have the money to feed their children.

I have seen these vital interventions in action and they work. It IS possible to stop children being killed or damaged by hunger and malnutrition IF we all take action to make it happen.

That means we need our Government to work to mobilise global support from other world leaders in the knowledge that tackling climate change and addressing hunger and malnutrition are fantastic investments. It has been estimated that tackling chronic under nutrition of children could cost $10bn a year and return $125bn a year to the global economy by 2030.

The same economic argument relates to investment in disaster risk reduction to help countries respond to climate change. In Ethiopia, a country prone to drought and regular food crises, investing in climate resilience strategies could save the country over $3.3 billion over twenty years. Surely it is better, both economically and for the affected children, to prevent a crisis than to respond to it after it has happened.

The word 'IF' holds such huge potential. 'If' only we could do this or achieve that, a phrase we use often, but is now being put to the test. Today, for the millions of children who go to bed hungry at night or risk losing their future dreams because they don't have the nutrients to grow up mentally and physically healthy, that word IF holds great hope.

"We can eradicate absolute poverty in a generation" David Cameron said at Davos. "There should be, there will be, and I will back a major push on tackling child hunger and stunting this year." Not next year nor the year after, but this year. With the UK hosting the G8 and David Cameron co-chairing the high level panel determining the next development goals, now is his strongest chance to influence other world leaders to act on child hunger, which includes tackling the effects of climate change that could otherwise make it worse not better.

This is the moment that together we can achieve real change. I believe we can do it, as does David Cameron. Do you believe it too?

www.unicef.org.uk/IF]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1954560 2012-10-10T19:00:00-04:00 2012-12-10T05:12:02-05:00

David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bull/
I visited a UNICEF-supported project in Monrovia's West Point slum where we were working with 10-14 year-olds to help them develop the life skills and confidence to resist early marriage and pregnancy. 14-year-old Jessica told me she had already been offered in marriage to an older man - she said "no thanks, I'm too young and want education and a career before I marry".

Instead, she and her friends are using drama to raise awareness in their community of the many dangers girls are facing. These girls in Liberia will I'm sure be celebrating today's first ever 'International Day of the Girl Child'. This is not just another once-a-year media opportunity - for Jessica, drawing attention to the needs and potential of girls is what she does every day - and it is making a difference.

Today is about supporting girls to ensure they can grow up protected, safe, educated and healthy. As the world unites to celebrate the day the world's leading children's organisation, UNICEF joins forces with governments, civil society and UN Agencies to lay the groundwork to put an end to a fundamental human rights violation that impacts all aspects of a girl's life - child marriage.

Despite the rate of girls marrying before their 18th birthday being on a slow decline globally, the need for a focussed and steadfast approach in accelerating and ultimately ending the practice of child marriage is paramount, because of the real and harmful consequences it can have on a girl's life and future. For some girls, being forced into marriage is a hard concept to imagine, maybe even hard to believe, but for the girl removed from family life at the age of 12 to marry a man three times her age the outlook is more than bleak. Separation from family and friends, lack of freedom and a decreased opportunity for education are just a small number of the risks involved for girls when marrying in childhood.

Niger is reported to have the highest rate of child marriages in the world, where a staggering three-quarters (75%) of the country's children are married before the age of 18, and over one in three children (36%) are married before their 15th birthday. Although this practice does affect boys, it affects girls in much larger numbers.

In 1994, the UN Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women issued a nonbinding recommendation that countries adopt a minimum age for marriage of 18 years for both sexes. Yet the marriage laws of developing countries vary dramatically. As of 2012, 103 countries have, at least on paper, established 18 years or older as the legal minimum age for girls to marry without consent. For boys, 126 countries have established 18 years or older as the legal minimum age to marry without consent. Despite these recommendations however, child marriage occurs in practically every region of the world but at significantly higher rates in South Asia (46%), sub-Saharan Africa (37%), and Latin America and Caribbean (29%), proving more must be done.

Globally, more than one in three young women aged 20-24 years were first married before they reached age 18. One third of them entered into marriage before they turned 15. Considering that child brides are at greater risk of experiencing violence, abuse and exploitation, with India having the highest rate of domestic violence towards girl wives (67% are affected); these statistics are even more of a sign that an urgent, global approach needs to be taken to stop this prolific violation of the rights of young girls, all too common in many communities across the world.

In addition to physical violence, due to the difference in age and maturity with their typically adult partners, child brides are less able to negotiate sexual relationships than older women. In addition, they may not be able to effectively negotiate contraceptive use, putting them at risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections, and early and unwanted pregnancies, posing life-threatening consequences. Shockingly, girls between 10 and 14 years of age are five times more likely than women aged 20 to 24 die in pregnancy and childbirth.

In spite of child marriage often ending a girl's education, research shows that higher levels of education for girls actually prevent child marriage and therefore must be a crucial part of our response to this terrible issue. When girls are able to stay in school, they develop not just in an educational sense but a social sense, allowing them to grow in confidence and giving them the communicative ability to make informed decisions about their futures.

What's more, educated girls can go onto employment, removing the parent's perception that they must force their child into marriage for financial reasons. UNICEF, the only organisation specifically named in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, has already proven success in challenging perceptions of the practice of child marriage and is currently addressing it at a global level through promotion of girls' education, working to ensure that by 2015 all children everywhere will be able to complete primary schooling and, crucially, that girls can reach adulthood unwed.

As the world unites to celebrate the 'International Day of the Girl Child', please join UNICEF in this mission. Let's work together to ensure that girls can celebrate an equal future.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1865465 2012-09-09T19:00:00-04:00 2012-11-09T05:12:01-05:00

David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bull/
For at least 20 of the athletes who competed in the Games in London this year, it is polio which has left them paralysed - a vicious, highly infectious disease that attacks the nervous system and can cause paralysis, if not death. It is children under five who are most vulnerable to infection.

When I was growing up in the UK in the 1950s, I remember a neighbour affected by polio - there were thousands of cases a year in Britain in the 1940s and 50s, before the polio vaccine was introduced in 1955. But it was possible to watch London 2012's Paralympics Games with a great sense of optimism. These Games were historic, not only for the number of competing athletes and sell-out crowds, but also because they may well have been the last Olympics to take place in a world where a child is at risk of paralysis because of polio. From 350,000 cases in 1988, so far this year there have been only 134 cases worldwide. We are on the verge of eradicating this disease forever.

Ade Adepitan, for many years the face of the GB wheelchair basketball team, now co-anchor of the Channel Four Paralympics coverage, was just six months old when he caught the disease living in his birth city of Lagos, Nigeria.

Polio cost him the use of his left leg and prevented him from ever walking. He, like the 20 athletes competing in London, is living proof that the disease doesn't have to take away someone's life and dreams just because it takes their ability to walk. He is a Paralympics Bronze medallist and World Champion in wheelchair basketball, reaching the greatest heights of his sport.

His achievements also underline the great power of sport in helping children and young people affected by polio to deal with the damage it causes, and rise to the challenges and opportunities it presents. We have been inspired by such resilience, determination and courage day in and day out during the Paralympics.

A key focus of International Inspiration, the London 2012 sports legacy programme, of which UNICEF is a key delivery partner (with the British Council and UK Sport), is to harness this power of sport to reach children with disabilities; to engage them in their communities, underscoring by example the possibility and importance of inclusion. The successes of International inspiration have reached millions of children in many countries around the world.

In Jordan, the programme uses sport to break down virtual boundaries between children in a country where those living with a disability are too often excluded from society. So far nearly 100 NGOs, schools, and organizations for children with disabilities have set up sports hubs in some of Jordan's most deprived areas. Sports coaches have been trained in refugee camps to ensure all children, regardless of ability, are included in sport and play.

This work is literally life-changing, and a real and exciting element of the legacy of London 2012.

Let's be clear, in our current age where a simple, cheap vaccine to protect against polio has been available for over 50 years, no child should still be at risk from the disease. I hope that by the time the Olympics and Paralympics arrive in Rio in 2016 that risk will be gone forever. I hope too that, thanks to the power of sport, the London 2012 Paralympics will mark a milestone in inclusion of people who are disabled, whatever the cause.

India, the epicentre of polio just a few years back, and the place where five of the affected 2012 Paralympians were born, is the latest country to make the disease history. It was officially declared polio free on 25th February 2012.

This leaves just three countries still trying to eradicate the disease; Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. They face a number of challenges - pockets of opposition to immunisation programmes, re-infection across borders and ongoing security issues - but these barriers are not insurmountable if funding and focus remains.

With global cases of the disease at their lowest levels since records began, and limited to fewer districts, within fewer countries than ever before, the world has a unique window of opportunity to eradicate it completely. In the words of Bill Gates; "if we all have the fortitude to see this effort through to the end, then we will eradicate polio."

If the inspirational athletes of the Paralympics can achieve so much, against such enormous odds, surely the human race can unite to reach those few remaining districts and make a final push to wipe out polio and achieve one of the greatest ever victories for humanity.

If so, then by the time we are celebrating Rio 2016, we will live in a world where no child will have to face the permanent damage which polio can bring. Then, in the years that follow we will see Paralympic Games which are equally inspiring, but in which the legacy of this vicious disease plays no part.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1682004 2012-07-18T06:17:45-04:00 2012-09-17T05:12:07-04:00

David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bull/
A year ago the atmosphere was full of hope and promise for what the future held for South Sudan and its children now the country had finally achieved independence from its neighbour in the North after decades of painful struggle and conflict.

But one year on life is still looking bleak for children. It remains one of the toughest countries in the world in which to be born.

UNICEF colleagues in South Sudan have identified the country as one of the toughest development challenges anywhere in the world.

After twenty-two years of violent civil war, the remnants of the ongoing conflict between Sudan and South Sudan are still impacting on children's lives so it's not hard to see why recovery is a long slow road.

And a major funding shortfall is making that road even longer; the 2012 consolidated appeal by all UN agencies and NGOs for South Sudan is only 45% funded, while UNICEF's requirement of $94 million is still falling $46 million short.

This means seventy percent of children have never set foot in a classroom and barely one in ten children finishes their primary education, one of the lowest rates in the world. A fifth of the population are also malnourished.

It shouldn't be like this. We can't solve all the problems at once but with help from the UK public, dedicated staff and private investment from companies like Unilever, we are making a start in helping those children who need it most.

There is much talk in development circles these days about the contribution that can be made by the private sector and UNICEF is working hard to engage companies in acting on the responsibilities described in the new Children's Rights Principles for Business. Companies can make a positive difference even in countries like South Sudan that face immense development challenges and don't yet constitute major markets for the products of global businesses.

At UNICEF UK, one way that we are helping South Sudan take a small step on the road to recovery is through our partnership with Domestos - owned by Unilever - who are donating a percentage of every bottle sold in Sainsbury's through the summer months to UNICEF's vital sanitation work in South Sudan, where less than thirteen percent of the population are able to use a toilet.

Improving access to proper sanitation for the world's population is critical if we are going to help all the world's children survive and thrive.

But despite the figures - 2.5 billion people globally live without access to basic toilets and an estimated 3,000 children die every day from diarrhoea caused by poor sanitation - sanitation is not an issue that corporate investors have so far jumped on. It's not hard to guess why. But of course Unilever is one company that is not afraid to talk about toilets.

Sanitation remains one of the Millennium Development Goals that is most lagging behind its 2015 target, and the World Bank recently estimated that failure to improve sanitation is costing the average African country up to 5 billion dollars a year in terms of lost productivity and GDP.

In South Sudan, UNICEF's sanitation programme is currently serving a displaced population of 300,000 and an additional ¼ million returnees coming back to the country after independence.

It's a huge programme running in a volatile environment with children and their families who's lives are still scarred from war. Deeply ingrained practices of open defecation and a lack of awareness of the danger of faeces mean that education and behavioural change are just as crucial as actually building toilets.

With the support and money from organisations like Unilever, UNICEF can get our sanitation experts out to remote communities to engage young people about the importance of hygienic practices, so they can act as the drivers of behavioural change in their communities and create a long lasting sustainable difference. Those young people are not afraid to talk about toilets either - they know that, by doing so, they can help save children's lives.

Recognising the role they can play in helping agencies like UNICEF reach global development targets such as the MDG on sanitation, the Unilever Foundation are also investing more widely in UNICEF's sanitation programmes in another eight countries around the world, reaching hundreds of thousands more children and their families.

A child being able to use a toilet is no joke. Poor sanitation leads to illness, causes children, especially girls, to miss out on school, and in many cases leads to death. We are working to keep children healthy and give them a better start in life, even in some of the most challenging countries in the world. Many other things need to change too, but I hope progress on sanitation will mean that by the time South Sudan celebrates its second birthday, the future will look brighter for many of the country's children.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1604189 2012-06-17T19:00:00-04:00 2012-08-17T05:12:10-04:00

David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bull/
For so long surrounded by conflict, this small West African country of 4 million is climbing slowly towards a better future, working to rebuild peace, security and development while still bearing the scars of it own vicious war and generously hosting nearly 60,000 refugees from last year's conflict in the Ivory Coast.

Less than a decade has passed since the end of the war that left the country's infrastructure, economy and governance in tatters. Almost 64% of the population are living below the poverty line with over 80% in vulnerable employment, alongside one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world (nearly one death for every hundred live births), 31% of 15 to 19 year old girls are already mothers or are pregnant. Yet I felt, during my recent visit, a sense of optimism and belief, despite a catalogue of challenges that make everyday life a desperate struggle for most children and families.

The Redemption Hospital in the capital Monrovia is the country's only free ward for treating sick children. It has 35 beds to cater for last year's 700 admissions - including 500 children who were severely malnourished (stunting rate is over 36%). Here, I met children as sick as those I saw in last year's trip to famine and war torn Somalia. Yet, almost unbelievably, the survival rate of these children was over 99%. The hospital receives supplies and support from UNICEF but the dedicated staff could do so much more with additional resources to reach out into the community to help families before they need hospitalisation.

So what is the source of the hope I felt? It comes from two related sources - the incredible resilience, tenacity and potential of the country's young people, and the support they are getting from a government led by Africa's first female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She sees the country's children as the best guarantee of a better future for all. While I was in the country she signed a new children's law and gave responsibility for its implementation to a newly titled Minister for Gender and Children. UNICEF is working closely with the president to promote the rights of children at the heart of the country's development.

As the UN's newest recruit to the panel responsible for creating a new set of development goals when the present ones expire in 2015 - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will co-chair alongside UK prime minister David Cameron and president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, of Indonesia. Her child-centred approach to government represents hope for children beyond Liberia and across the developing world.

"I understand the need to focus on children and young people in a country where the majority of the population are under twenty-four years old," she told me. "We will meet some of the MDGs but for those countries struggling, like Liberia, you can't just say you haven't met the goals and are going to bring in another lot once 2015 comes round. You've got to build on the foundations and put the children at the heart of everything."

The young people I met in Liberia are amazing ambassadors for the power of this approach. From the articulate leaders of Liberia's Youth Parliament to the young peacebuilders working to resolve disputes in their communities, to the young women fighting the stigma of HIV/AIDS I came away inspired. Perhaps most impressive of all were the girls in their early teens living in the slums of West Point (rated as one of the 10 worst places in the world) who are using drama, art and storytelling to build their own strength and confidence, while teaching their community how to confront some of the challenges they face. This UNICEF supported initiative is giving these girls a chance to avoid early marriage and become role models for a new Liberia.

The children I met in this forgotten country face unbelievable hardships on a daily basis with an extraordinary mix of resilience and hope in the face of despair. They deserve all the support we can give them. With a helping hand they can be the proof of a new model of development which puts children's rights at the front and centre of national strategy. If Liberia's inspirational president can carry the spirit of Liberia's young people to her discussions with David Cameron about the global vision from 2015 then the world's children - and the world itself - will share the chance for a better future built on rights and equity for all.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1524167 2012-05-17T19:00:00-04:00 2012-07-17T05:12:20-04:00

David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bull/
So dramatic were those last few moments, the sense of elation and despair of the fans and players was almost palpable. In its finest hour, football really can make you feel like you are part of something big.

So it didn't surprise me when I read in the papers last week that the greatest moment of Woody's Harrelson's life was when he netted the winning goal for the Rest of the World team at Soccer Aid two years ago; "scoring the winning goal at Old Trafford in 2010 was probably the highlight of a pretty great life."

Woody is no Aguero, but even he knows how life-changing it can feel to score the winning goal for your team.

I was pitch side that night at Old Trafford, where the atmosphere was electric, the tension nail biting and the competition fierce. And when the Rest of the World team, comprising football legends Zinidine Zidane and Luis Figo beat England on penalties to take one of the most coveted titles in football (at least in celebrity football!), it was one of the best nights of my life too. Not because of who won, but because of what the final whistle meant for children.

Soccer Aid has been a regular fixture in UNICEF's diary since 2006 when Robbie Williams used his position as an ambassador for UNICEF UK to initiate the celebrity football match to raise money for children. Since then, it has raised £7.5 million for our life-saving work with children across the world. Money that we would have struggled to find, and children we may not have been able to help had it not been for the support from all the celebrities that took part and the public who paid money to come along and watch the game. And all those who donated so generously during the TV programme.

For some, the spectre of celebrities associating with charities does not sit well. But at UNICEF UK we have always looked on celebrity support - particularly that of our ambassadors who generously commit their time for free, and remain dedicated supporters for many years - as a crucial way for us to tell the stories of some of the world's most vulnerable children and a platform to raise the money we need to continue our life-saving work.

Soccer Aid is the epitome of the difference that famous faces can make to the lives of vulnerable children when they come together in an exciting and innovative way for charity, and this year's game, which is now less than two weeks away, is no different.

In fact, this year the stakes are twice as high, thanks to an announcement from the UK government that this year they will match, pound for pound, all the money donated to UNICEF through Soccer Aid.

Their continued commitment to keep their promise to spend 0.7% of the national income on international aid, despite this time of austerity, reflects two crucial points; investment in aid by the UK government can and does make a real difference to children's lives, and the need for that support has never been greater.

As I write, there are more than a million children at risk of starvation in West Africa, simply because they don't have enough to eat. As a result of crop failure in eight drought-hit countries from Chad to Niger, combined with high food prices and the effects of conflict in Mali, many families and their children have been left with almost no food, and without help thousands could die.

The situation shows worrying similarities to the food crisis in East Africa last year, which needlessly claimed thousands of children's lives. The emergency became as grave as it did, in part because of the failure of the international community and media alike to respond to the growing crisis quickly enough.

But it doesn't have to be this way. UNICEF is the largest provider of therapeutic food for severely malnourished children in the region and has already treated tens of thousands of children since January. But if we are to stop the crisis turning into a humanitarian disaster, we need more money and we need it now.

By supporting UNICEF through Soccer Aid on Sunday 27th May, we can all be winners; you, me, Woody Harrleson and of course the children in West Africa and beyond who are suffering and need our help.

Together, as a team, we can save children's lives.

To buy tickets for Soccer Aid go to itv.com/socceraid or call 0161 444 2012. All profits go directly to UNICEF.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1431315 2012-04-17T19:00:00-04:00 2012-06-17T05:12:01-04:00

David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bull/
But new independent research by the Overseas Development Institute has found that as a result of international aid together with five other key factors, over four million fewer children under five are dying each year than in 1990. According to the report published yesterday by Save the Children, between 1999 and 2009, 56 million more children were enrolled in school, and damage to children's physical and mental development (stunting) because of malnutrition almost halved between 1990 and 2008. What's more, a hundred and thirty one countries now have over 90% immunisation coverage for diphtheria, tetanus and major preventable childhood diseases such as measles, compared to just 63 in 1990.

So why, if development works and such progress has been made, are 300 children in the world still dying from hunger every hour and why is West Africa facing yet another devastating hunger crisis?

There is, in fact, no contradiction between the remarkable progress made in improving children's lives over the last two decades and the fact that there is still a great distance to travel. The current humanitarian emergency in the Sahel is rooted in many factors - political and economic as well as climactic and environmental - but it also offers some stark lessons about the need for effective long-term development.

Food crises do not occur overnight but build slowly over months or even years and well-planned and adequately resourced development programmes are essential not only for wider progress but also to ensure populations are resilient in the face of the type of drought currently gripping the Sahel.

It is clear from this new research that the greatest progress for children occurs where governments take a lead in providing and regulating programmes and services. But even where there is good governance and strong political leadership overseas, aid remains crucial. Aid buys the vaccines, pays for the building materials to build schools and pays for midwives to be trained.

Botswana, for example, has seen a huge reduction in children born with HIV thanks to a programme to reduce mother-to-child transmission, paid for by aid. In Bangladesh sustained investment in child health funded by donations from international agencies and governments including the UK, resulted in a significant reduction in child mortality.

With Britain in economic difficulties and the country experiencing cuts across a range of public services it is inevitable that tough questions will be asked about how our country spends its money and how much aid Britain can afford to give. But no matter what hardships we in Britain face, they do not compare with those confronting children in the developing world. And this report finds that "development assistance plays a key role in improving children's wellbeing".

Our investment is making a difference and needs to continue and improve if we are to continue the progress of the last 20 years and ensure that children in 20 years time will not still face the kind of food crisis now threatening their lives across West Africa.

The generosity of the British people has helped transform millions of young lives. The UK's aid programme has made a clear and measurable difference. British aid vaccinates one child every two seconds, saving a staggering 1.4 million lives over the next five years.

For the past 82 years the British government has given overseas aid to save lives and support long-term development overseas. For 82 years the vast majority of British people have supported this policy and felt it the right thing to do. In today's world of wealth and technological advancement there is really no excuse for allowing children to starve.

Preventing it requires well directed development aid focused on the poorest and most vulnerable as well as humanitarian intervention. This latest research shows the remarkable difference our generosity has made. This is something we should all feel proud of and be proud to continue.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1321234 2012-03-05T19:00:00-05:00 2012-05-05T05:12:01-04:00

David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bull/
Yet, modern India remains a country of contradictions. It is a place where unimaginable wealth sits alongside acute, life-threatening poverty; strong Indian culture and tradition struggles against fervent westernisation; and whilst renowned for its highly intelligent, well-educated people it has the fifth lowest female literacy rate in the world.

It should perhaps not be surprising then that, as India becomes a growing global economic force, the debate about the aid to India continues to grab headlines, and these past few weeks have been no different.

For me, Amartya Sen - Nobel Prize winning Indian economist - perfectly summed up the danger of misreading a country's economic growth as a sign of prosperity for all: "Even today, after 20 years of rapid growth, India is still one of the poorest countries in the world, something that is often lost sight of, especially by those who enjoy world-class living standards thanks to the inequalities in the income distribution." For Sen, and for me, economics is about far more than GDP - it is about how people live - and die - and how we can all help those in need wherever our help can make a difference.

But in the midst of this increasingly contentious debate has come an extraordinary piece of news that will help defy the opinions of those who believe that aid to India is neither effective nor needed - for the first time in history there is no polio in India.

One of my abiding impressions of that first visit was of paralysed children crawling and begging on the city streets. It is a testament to humanity, solidarity and determination that no more of India's children will have to suffer in that way.

Despite only three years ago being home to the highest number of children affected by polio in the world, this vast country was officially declared free, on 25 February, of this highly contagious, crippling disease.

This achievement is not to be underestimated. The numbers tell you why. Last year alone, 900 million doses of the oral polio vaccine were administered and more than 170 million children under five, most at risk from the disease, were vaccinated in two national campaigns.

UNICEF, along with its partners including DFID, which last year doubled its support to the global eradication campaign, has been working alongside the Indian government to help make this great achievement possible.

And as Bill Gates pointed out when explaining his own foundation's decision to invest heavily in India, it is the leadership of their government that should be credited with the country's success. They have largely funded the eradication campaign and led development of the programme so that it can be sustained within a unique Indian culture. But the job is huge and why would we ask India to cope with it alone when we have a significant contribution to make?

The eradication effort has involved producing micro maps of the huge slum areas, which dominate the edges of the increasingly modern cities - particularly in the two of the country's poorest states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar - to try and capture every last child. It requires conducting mass immunisation sessions on India's huge train network, as well as stationing vaccinators at borders, in bustling market towns and in migrant settlements.

UNICEF continues to play a vital role in providing the technical expertise and knowledge required to reach every child where millions live in overcrowded slums, with poor sanitation and infrastructure; conditions in which contagious disease like polio thrive.

But as always, India's extraordinary achievement is not the end of the story. Their pending success leaves three countries - Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan - where polio still remains a very real threat to children's lives.

These countries have been hampered by cultural opposition to immunisation programmes, re-infection across borders and ongoing security issues. As in India, those children most at risk are the most vulnerable and least likely to access basic medical care.

But as we have shown in India, where the scale and breadth of the challenge to reach these children was unprecedented, through the effective use of aid and partnership, which brings together agencies like UNICEF, supportive governments and civil society, it can be done. It also serves as a timely reminder about the real difference aid investment from the UK can make to children's lives in countries around the world, including India.

We have a window of opportunity to capitalise on India's achievement and make a real push to protect every child against polio. I want to know that, wherever I travel on this planet of ours, I will never again find a child whose life has been damaged forever by polio. We can all play a part in ensuring this happens and for that we should be proud. ]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1219163 2012-01-20T19:00:00-05:00 2012-03-21T05:12:01-04:00

David Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bull/ The Today programme for the UK media to take notice of 'famine over foam' (the media were giving blanket coverage to the Murdochs and the hacking scandal) and help us draw attention to the simple fact that children were dying in huge swathes of East Africa because they did not have enough to eat.

This week Save the Children and Oxfam released a damning report about the failure of the international community to heed the warnings of the spreading nutritional crisis in East Africa quickly enough. This "dangerous delay" they say, cost lives.

Their findings focused not only the failure of international governments and agencies to act upon the warnings, but the lack of interest from media until it had reached crisis point. This meant that an earlier opportunity to generate global awareness of the situation and raise the millions of pounds necessary for aid agencies to deliver vital supplies to mitigate the crisis was missed.

UNICEF has been working in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia for decades, providing children and women with life-saving supplies and, as the world's leading children's charity, we have always stressed that early warnings need to be followed by early action. Our response in East Africa began as far back as November 2010 and we were saving lives well before the world took interest.

But UNICEF, like other organisations, needs donor money to buy supplies. How can we expect members of the public, who rely on finding out what is happening around the world by reading what is in their daily news paper or breakfast chat show, to donate to such emergencies if they don't even know it is happening?

Famines are the perfect 'non-news' story. They don't happen overnight but arise from slow burning, crippling emergencies that can go on for months, even years with few people outside the world of international development knowing about them. Put quite simply, they are too easy for the media to ignore, until they reach crisis point.

The emergency that unfolded in the Horn of Africa was a classic example of that. But I had renewed hope this week that this report which claimed the headline news on the BBC and the front page of the Guardian could change things.

For as I write, another potential children's nutritional emergency is unfolding in the western heartland of Africa - the Sahel. I hoped that this would be a huge opportunity for us to learn the lessons and respond more rapidly.

The region has been suffering from a chronic food shortage for years, but there have been no consistent eyes, ears or interest from the international media about the plight of all the children caught up in the crisis.

As we were in East Africa long before the crisis hit the headlines, UNICEF, along with partners, is working in the region urgently preparing health systems and stocking up on life-saving emergency food for children in affected countries. But to try and address the growing crisis as quickly as possible we urgently need more money to reach more children.

The BBC is already there with us in Niger. Reporting from the ground in a country where already every other child is suffering from acute malnutrition. On the same day that the report from Save and Oxfam was released, their world affair's correspondent Mike Woolridge warned in his dispatch that unless urgent action was taken and funding received, the international community were going to have another humanitarian crisis on their hands.

Our UNICEF press office seized the opportunity. This was our chance to get the word out, to engage the media, and give a voice to the thousands of children across the region whose lives are already hanging in the balance.

The media response? "This story is not on our news agenda."

"Another potential food crisis in Africa? We don't have space to cover it this evening I am afraid, we are focussing on the ship."

It is deeply ironic that there are no column inches left for them to report on a major potential food crises that could again claim the lives of thousands of people, whilst in the same breath they are running headlines criticising themselves for missing the last one.

The public should never be discouraged by thinking that their generous donations were 'lost' - we could not do our work, development or humanitarian, without public and government support, and as soon as the contributions started to come in for the Horn of Africa, they were put to use to save lives and make a positive difference.

But our ability to save the lives of hungry children does critically depend on the media spotlight - a news anchor's voice or an editor's pen to help us raise awareness and generate funds.

I was hopeful this week the media would lend a hand so we could write a different ending for the children of West Africa. Sadly, it appears not. ]]>