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UNICEF’s 70th Anniversary

By Mariam Chanishvili
Thursday, December 15
The world’s largest children’s organization was established 70 years ago to bring help and hope to children suffering in the aftermath of WWII.

An event was held to celebrate UNICEF’s (The United Nations Children's Fund) 70th anniversary at the History Museum of Tbilisi (Karvasla). Georgian officials, UNICEF representatives, politicians, the First Lady of Georgia, were attending the event. The motto of the event was ’70 Years for Every Child’.

Laila Omar Gad, UNICEF's Representative to Georgia, delivered a speech. She mentioned the Convention on the Rights of the Child and said that since 1989 progress has been made, but it has not been equal. She talked about the development of the Georgian Juvenile Code noting that “Georgia has achieved truly remarkable milestones”.

The world version of John Lennon’s classic song ‘Imagine’ was presented during the event, which was launched with the support of Yoko Ono, David Guetta and people from over 140 countries around the world. Nina Sublati, Paata Burchuladze, and Zaza “Zumba” Korinteli have joined their voices to participate in the campaign as well.

Within the framework of the 70th anniversary, UNICEF invited writers from all over the world to advocate for children’s rights by participating in the “Tiny Stories” campaign. Authors were requested to write a tiny story under the theme “What I want for every child” and share the story on their Facebook pages. 20 Georgian writers participated into the campaign. UNICEF thanked the Writer’s House of Georgia and all the authors involved.

The ensemble of Vulnerable Children performed several musical pieces causing the admiration of the society. The Movement Theatre performance was dedicated to the 70th anniversary. A Georgian rock band, LOUDspeakers, also played during the event.

The United Nations Children's Fund is an organization affiliated with the United Nations that provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries. Nineteen years after being founded, UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on 26 October 1965 for "fulfilling the condition of Nobel's will, the promotion of brotherhood among the nations“ and emerging on the world stage as a “a peace-factor of great importance”.