UNICEF tents help keep kids learning after Aceh quake

By Cory Rogers

Indonesian President Joko Widodo visits UNICEF education tent at the worst affected area from the 7 December 2016 earthquake in Aceh.   

Pidie Jaya, Indonesia - As thousands arose for predawn prayers last Wednesday in Pidie Jaya, Aceh Province, the ground beneath them suddenly began to thrash: Within minutes, 3,000 homes had been reduced to rubble, the roads between them split open in gashes.

According to the latest data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), 102 people were killed, over 300 injured and 85,000 displaced in the quake. A quarter of those killed were under the age of 18.

The effects of the earthquake go much further than the immediate impact however. Tens of thousands have lost their homes, but many others have lost access to services, to safe water, health and sanitation, not to mention education.

UNICEF at 70: Youngsters Dreaming Big

By Cory Rogers

“I wish every child could be whatever they want to be…” says a card hanging from a branch of a “wishing tree” UNICEF Indonesia set up to celebrate the organization's 70th anniversary.
UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, was born on 11 December 1946, just over a year after Indonesia proclaimed its independence. In a sense, the two grew up together.

In the decades since, as UNICEF’s work has shifted from service delivery to capacity-building and knowledge generation with Indonesia’s rise as a middle-income economy, UNICEF has striven to ensure children lay at the heart of the Government’s development agenda, helping lift millions out of poverty and combat deadly diseases and malnutrition.

The  core mission has remained the same at every juncture: to provide every Indonesian child with the opportunity to grow up healthy and protected from harm and exploitation, and to develop her or his full potential.

Now, the Bride is Back as a Student!

By: Dinda Veska

Do you still remember our story about two girls from Kenanga* Village named Sari* and Dewi*? The ones whose lives changed dramatically when they both married the same man, Hazar and gave birth to his children. Sari said that she really missed her old life. "I would be happier being a student than a mother. If I go back to school, everything will be better!"

When her husband Hazar left her, she told her mum what she longed for. But lack of money was the main thing that stood in the way of her going back to school. Even then, finding a school that would accept Sari as a bride and a mum was not at all easy.

‘For Every Child’: UNICEF Indonesia Talks Equity

By Cory Rogers, Communication Officer, UNICEF Indonesia

Every child in Indonesia deserves a chance to participate in building the country’s future.

That was the call issued by four prominent activists and social entrepreneurs gathered Monday in Jakarta for UNICEF Indonesia’s Third ACTIVATE Talks, a forum that aims to spark dialogue and action on the urgent issues confronting the country’s children and adolescents today.

The audience, comprised of some 200 youths hailing mostly from Greater Jakarta, answered the call with gusto, voicing their own dreams for Indonesian children in kind.