New York
Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg is donating $100,000 to UNICEF toward efforts to protect children from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the agency announced on Thursday.
Thunberg is donating the $100,000 prize she was awarded for her global activism by Human Act, and the organization is donating a similar amount to UNICEF.
“Like the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic is a child-rights crisis,” Thunberg said in the announcement. “It will affect all children, now and in the long-term, but vulnerable groups will be impacted the most. I’m asking everyone to step up and join me in support of UNICEF’s vital work to save children’s lives, to protect health and continue education.”
The funds will go toward UNICEF’s emergency programs to fight COVID-19, including providing soap, masks, gloves, hygiene kits, protective equipment and other support to health care systems.
The effects of the coronavirus pandemic are expected to be the most damaging for children in poorer countries and those living in the poorest neighborhoods, according to a recent study by the United Nations.
Through the campaign, UNICEF will help fight coronavirus by providing essential items like soap, masks, gloves, hygiene kits, protective equipment and life-saving information to healthcare systems in need.
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The agency is working with kids in more than 190 countries, providing services such as water and sanitation supplies in Yemen and essential protective supplies and equipment in Ecuador.
“The time is now, there isn’t a day to lose. We must unite together in this fight,” Thunberg said in the media release.
She received the Human Act Award on April 22, and it came with a $100,000 donation given to her through the Greta Thunberg Foundation. That money will now go instead to UNICEF.