UNICEF - Schools for Africa

Tennis ace Serena Williams appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Education

New York, Tuesday 20 September - Tennis ace Serena Williams appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Education. Serena Williams will use her popularity to promote UNICEF's Schools for Africa programme and the upcoming Schools for Asia initiatives.

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IKEA Foundation

This holiday season the Annual Soft Toys for Education Campaign will make it possible once again to give a gift that gives back. IKEA Foundation will donate 1 euro for every soft toy and children's book sold in IKEA stores worldwide during the holidays to support UNICEF and Save the Children projects that help realize every child's right to a quality education. Funds raised in 2012 for UNICEF will support the Schools for Africa initiative in: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and South Africa.

Gucci's Commitment to UNICEF's 'Schools for Africa' Initiative

In 2012, as the partnership with UNICEF enters its seventh year, Gucci announced a new donation to UNICEF's ‘Schools for Africa’ initiative in the name of its children’s collection because Gucci firmly believes that an education is a gift forever. Inspired by a true sense of commitment to the world’s children, and in the spirit of the company’s ‘Forever Now’ philosophy, Gucci supports UNICEF through a range of fundraising activities that support and help raise awareness for the initiative.

Boss Orange Partnership

P&G Prestige, through their Boss Orange Fragrance line for men and women, is partnering with UNICEF in a global campaign "Today, To Help, Together" featuring celebrities Orlando Bloom and Sienna Miller. Boss Orange supports UNICEF's Education work in Madagascar through the Schools for Africa initiative. Boss Orange's donation will focus on enabling pre-school children to have access to quality education and a right start in life.

Schools for Africa partners sign new agreement for better education

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Watch former South African President Nelson Mandela’s new public service announcement in support of the ‘Schools for Africa’ campaign (16 May 2008).

Nelson Mandela Institute launches

The official launch of the Nelson Mandela Institute for Education and Rural Development (NMI) took place on 3 August in East London, South Africa. The Institute is a partnership between the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the University of Fort Hare and the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Education. The NMI will take forward the work and the vision of Nelson Mandela in the area of education and rural development. Together with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, NMI will work with UNICEF in the context of the Schools for Africa campaign. The key note speaker was Mrs. Graca Machel, the wife of Mr. Nelson Mandela, and the guest of honour was Mr. Harry Belafonte, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

"The establishment of the Nelson mandela Institute for Education and Rural Development is the realization of a long dream for me. To create a just world we should not underestimate the power of education. It is an area in which I believe we have not done nearly enough.

Too many children in Africa are denied schooling. When they do attend school, it is often at schools that do not stimulate them and bring out their full potential. Too many children in Mvezo and in many far-off rural areas in our country do not become confident readers and writers; indeed, they are denied the creativity that in turn denies the world the boldness of their ideas.

There can be no contentment for us when there are children, millions of children, who do not receive an education that provides them with dignity and honour and allows them to live their lives to the full.

It is not beyond our power to create a world in which all children have access to a good education."

Nelson Mandela