15.03.2007
British Airways Passengers raise $560,000 through Change for Good to help children affected by HIV in Ukraine
Kyiv, Tuesday, May 15th – UNICEF and British Airways today announced a donation of $560,000 thanks to the generosity of British Airway’s customers through the Change for Good programme. The money will go towards supporting children affected by HIV in the Ukraine.
The money has been raised through Change for Good, the fundraising partnership between British Airways and UNICEF, the United Nation’s Children’s Fund. Over the past 13 years, Change for Good has raised over ?23 million through spare foreign change donated by British Airways passengers supporting UNICEF’s work with children in over 50 countries.
The collected sum will go towards providing care for children affected by the disease in four regions in the Ukraine where the situation of HIV is particularly serious: Kyiv (Kiev), Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa Oblasts.
The first round of funding will go to the Ukraine and will be used to help families and communities support and care for children affected by HIV. Ukraine is the country worst affected by HIV in Europe with an estimated 410, 000 people living with HIV and an increasing number of children born to HIV-positive women. According to the Ministry of Health, 10 per cent of children born to HIV positive mothers are abandoned after birth. Due to stigma and misconceptions surrounding HIV, many of these children are abandoned at public institutions being deprived of parental care and love.
The funding provided by Change for Good will reduce the number of children who live in these institutions by encouraging foster families to care for them. For the children who cannot be placed with families, the funding will help make the institutions a friendlier and better environment for the children to grow up in. This is the first time that Change for Good money will go towards UNICEF’s Unite for Children Unite against AIDS global campaign. The campaign, launched in 2005, has set specific targets to limit the impact of HIV on children and help halt the spread of the disease.
Natalia Martynenko, British Airways Country Commercial Manager Ukraine, says: “British Airways realises the importance of the corporate social responsibility. We believe it is time to put on agenda the HIV-problem in Ukraine. We hope that funds raised through Change for Good will help Ukrainian children, who are affected by this devastating disease.”
Jeremy Hartley, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine added: “We are thankful to British Airways for their generous contribution to UNICEF that will be used in support of the Unite for Children. Unite against AIDS Campaign. I hope this donation will set a trend for social responsibility among businesses in Ukraine that demonstrates an eagerness to protect the rights of HIV-positive children”.
For further information please contact:
- Nina Sorokopud, Media Relations, British Airways. mob: 8067 505 0056;
- Dmytro Konyk, UNICEF-Ukraine, mob: 38 050 357 87 58