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Leading Businesses Support UNICEF's Haiti Earthquake Children's Appeal

Dépèche transmise le 19 janvier 2010 par PRNewswire

LONDON, January 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Some of the UK's largest companies have pledged support for UNICEF UK's emergency work in Haiti, which is currently helping children and families that have been affected by the earthquake.

Long standing and new partners alike have shown speed and innovation in their donations and fundraising for UNICEF UK. Examples include:

- UNICEF partner Dell has made a donation of $250,000 to UNICEF's Haiti appeal which will help in water, sanitation, nutrition and child protection work - all areas that UNICEF currently leads on in Haiti. - Orange are texting more than six million customers to encourage donations of GBP2.50, which can simply be added to customer's bill or taken off their credit. Half a million broadband customers are being sent an email also encouraging them to donate to the emergency appeal. All messages are zero rated. This means 100% of donations will be forwarded to UNICEF. Orange has also donated free advertising space on orange.co.uk for UNICEF's emergency appeal, which is also being promoted internally amongst staff who can donate through payroll deductions. Orange customers wishing to call or text Haiti from the UK will be able to do so free of charge from Friday 22nd of January, until 28th February. - H & M have launched an in-store fundraising campaign and customers are adding GBP1/Euro to their purchases in 171 stores across the UK and Ireland. H&M have also donated US$100,000 to the global UNICEF fund; - Thomas Cook is offering cargo space which will carry water supplies and water purification tablets to the Dominican Republic later this week; - British Airways also provided cargo space on a special relief flight that picked up supplies from UNICEF's Copenhagen supplies warehouse and took them to the Dominican Republic, from where they are being transferred overland to Haiti; - Visa have set up a landing page which will promote the appeal amongst their employees. All donations will be matched by Visa. - A number of partners, including Manchester United have reached out to their supporters by putting our appeal banners on their website. Manchester United are also running collections at their upcoming home matches.

Executive Director of UNICEF UK David Bull said: "No-one can have failed to have been moved by the horrific scenes that have emerged from Haiti since the earthquake struck last Tuesday. Given that nearly half of Haiti's population is under 18, UNICEF has a critical role in helping the country recover from the impact of the earthquake, both in the short and long term, and we are incredibly grateful for the innovative and rapid response that our corporate partners have shown. We rely solely on voluntary donations to carry out our life-saving work and we cannot thank our supporters enough for their generosity."

UNICEF UK is appealing for funds for its emergency work in Haiti. UNICEF does not receive money from the DEC nor from the UN budget. The public can donate at either or by calling on 0800-316-5353.

For more information contact Gemma Parkin, UNICEF UK Media Relations, Tel +44(0)207-375-6077

High resolution images of UNICEF cargo on a British Airways flight are available on request

CONTACT: For more information contact Gemma Parkin, UNICEF UK MediaRelations, Tel +44(0)207-375-6077