To commemorate the years of service these two organizations have accomplished together, the Church hosted an event in Salt Lake City for UNICEF USA on Jan. 11 and 12.
Leaders from both groups — as well as the Church’s Welfare and Self-Reliance Services Department — toured the Church’s humanitarian sites, had dinner together and met with the Presiding Bishopric at Temple Square.
UNICEF — or United Nations Children’s Fund — provides humanitarian aid to children and mothers around the world. According to the group’s website, they are “the world’s largest provider of vaccines … support child health and nutrition, safe water and sanitation, quality education and skill building, HIV prevention and treatment for mothers and babies, and the protection of children and adolescents from violence and exploitation.”
The first joint effort of service between the Church and UNICEF occurred in 2013 when immunization was provided by the Church to UNICEF’s office in the country of Jordan.
The following year, the Church joined forces with numerous partners — including UNICEF — to support the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus. These diseases infect new mothers and infants due to inadequate vaccination or poor hygiene.
In 2015, both organizations came together to support European refugees who were impacted by wars that were happening throughout the continent.
Through UNICEF’s program — Learning for Life — with support and funding from the Church, over 115,000 children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda have had access to education. The program started in 2018.
The most recent collaborated services happened in the past two years with the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and the treatment of malnutrition in children around the world.
“We express gratitude for the long-standing collaboration with UNICEF USA,” said Bishop Caussé, the Presiding Bishop of the Church, to the Church Newsroom. “Their work to care for vulnerable children and their families around the world closely aligns with the Church’s global focus on early childhood nutrition. We strive to follow Christ’s admonition to love and serve our neighbor.”
The event displayed how both groups share the values of charity, service and creating better lives for all of God’s children around the world.
“I saw the Church today really living into their mission that Jesus gave to be His hands and feet in their own communities and then around the world,” said Michael Nyenhuis, CEO of UNICEF USA, to the Church’s Newsroom.
To learn more about the event and the efforts of the organizations, visit the Church Newsroom article.