Road to Awareness 2011 supporting UNICEF Education Projects in Pakistan & Romania

‘Education empowers people with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to shape a better future’

This year, in addition to running the Check Out for Children guest fundraising program, Starwood EAME aims to raise an extra US$250,000 through the Road to Awareness employee fundraising campaign. With this funding UNICEF will supply vital equipment and education materials for 58 schools in Pakistan and Romania.

Starwood has been supporting several areas of UNICEF work in the last 15 years. We will now be focusing on education and ‘Opening Doors to Opportunity’ for children moving forward, including the following:

• Providing learning materials, playground equipment and teacher training for 8 schools in South Pakistan, directly benefiting 1,600 children;
• Establish early childhood education spaces for children 3 to 5 years old in these 8 schools;
  
• Organise a ‘Back to School’ campaign for the whole Sindh community using radio, posters and street theatre to communicate the importance of education;
  
• Provide vital furniture, blackboards, sports equipment, and computers to 50 schools in the poorest Romanian communities;
  
• New school materials will encourage children from the poorest communities to stay in school;
  
• Work with the local community and encourage more Roma children to get an education and stay in school in order to tackle the problem of social exclusion of the Roma community

Education represents opportunity. At all ages, it empowers people with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to shape a better future. One extra year of schooling increases an individual’s earnings by up to 10%. Despite this, nearly 100 million children today do not get the chance to go to school. UNICEF works to ensure that every child gets the chance to go to school and that they are able to stay in school and receive a quality education.

Background on Pakistan and Romania

Pakistan

There are nearly 6 million children not at primary school in Pakistan. The devastating monsoon flood emergency in 2010 caused further harm to children’s education. With over 10,000 schools damaged, UNICEF is working hard to get children back quickly into a safe learning environment. As well the need to get children into school, there is also the need to help them stay in education. For instance, more than 30% of children do not complete a primary education in Sindh province, south Pakistan.

In 2011, Road to Awareness will help upgrade eight child-friendly schools in Sindh, one of the area’s worst hit by the emergency. Road to Awareness will provide school supplies such as stationery, backpacks, first aid kits, playground materials, and sports equipment. In addition, fully equipped Early Childhood Education Centres at the 8 schools will cater for pre-school children. Road to Awareness will also support a Back to School campaign in Sindh, using radio, posters, and street theatre to inform parents of the value and importance of education.

About 1,600 boys and girls will benefit immediately. Many thousands more will gain from learning in a child-friendly environment over the coming years.

Romania

In Romania, due to poverty and discrimination, as many as 400,000 children are not going to school. An estimated 95% of Roma children do not get the chance to go to secondary school.

Working with families, communities, schools and government, UNICEF has launched a ‘School Attendance’ campaign to increase enrolment and reduce dropout among Romania’s most disadvantaged children..

Schools urgently need basic equipment and learning materials. With support from Road to Awareness, UNICEF will be able to provide furniture, blackboards, sports equipment, and computers to 50 schools in the poorest Romanian communities.

Details on how to Donate