
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to put children first. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. Currently, CKI members are building sustainable future through education and empowerment with UNICEF’s Brick x Brick initiative.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) (now complete) – CKI members led a 5-year initiative in Haiti called The WASH Project to raise funding for hygiene supplies and services for schools through 2022. The project’s main campaign was March Water Madness, in honor of World Water Day (March 22). In 2017, Circle K hosted the Six Cents initiative, named for the cost of one sachet of oral rehydration salts. The initiative raised more than $67,000 for UNICEF WASH programs.
Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) – Kiwanis and UNICEF joined forced in 2010 to launch The Eliminate Project focused on the fight against MNT. The initiative raised more than $119 million and reached an estimated 100 million women with vaccine protection, helping to eliminate the disease in 47 of 59 high-risk countries, including Ethiopia, Haiti, the Philippines, Kenya, and Chad.
Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD) – IDD is the leading preventable cause of developmental and mental disabilities in the world. In 1994, Kiwanis and UNICEF partnered for their first global service project together in an effort to eliminate IDD. At the time, less than 20 percent of people consumed iodized salt. Through the work of leading partners including UNICEF and Kiwanis, a decade later, that number had jumped to 70 percent. $105 million Kiwanis-raised funds have been at work in more than 89 nations and have helped save hundreds of millions of lives.