Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time. -- Grace Abbott The first and continuing argument for the curtailment of working hours and the raising of the minimum age was that education was necessary in a democracy and working children could not attend school. -- Grace Abbott

* "Everyone deserves the best start in life, which is what UNICEF is working to provide the world's most vulnerable children. Education is essential to a child's development. I hope that as an Ambassador I can encourage people to join UNICEF's mission to make education a reality for children throughout the world." -- Clay Aiken * "UNICEF is working for the survival of children worldwide. What can we do to get more Americans committed to the cause?" " -- Clay Aiken

* "There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace." -- Kofi Annan

"Children do not constitute anyone's property: they are neither the property of their parents nor even of society. They belong only to their own future freedom."
-- Mikhail Bakunin

* I can’t think of any issue that is more important than working to see that no schoolchild in this world goes hungry. -- Drew Barrymore * Feeding a child at school is such a simple thing – but it works miracles. -- Drew Barrymore School feeding not only fills stomachs, but has a proven track record of boosting enrollment, attendance and academic performance. For just pennies a day per child, this program changes lives – and ultimately can impact the futures of poor countries around the world in a profound way. -- Drew Barrymore

* "These children and their parents know that getting an education is not only their right, but a passport to a better future - for the children and for the country." -- Harry Belafonte

"These children and their parents know that getting an education is not only their right, but a passport to a better future - for the children and for the country. Kenya's decision to abolish school fees is a shining example of just what can be achieved in the developing world by sheer political will."
-- Harry Belafonte

"Children who have lost parents to HIV/AIDS are not only just as deserving of an education as any other children, but they may need that education even more. Being part of a school environment will prepare them for the future, while helping to remove the stigma and discrimination unfortunately associated with AIDS."
-- Harry Belafonte

* "...in serving the best interests of children, we serve the best interests of all humanity." -- Carol Bellamy

"Creating a world that is truly fit for children does not imply simply the absence of war. It means having the confidence that our children would not die of measles or malaria. It means having access to clean water and proper sanitation. It means having primary schools nearby that educate children, free of charge. It means changing the world with children, ensuring their right to participate, and that their views are heard and considered. It means building a world fit for children, where every child can grow to adulthood in health, peace and dignity."
-- Carol Bellamy

"The economic benefits of investing in children have been extensively documented. Investing fully in children today will ensure the well-being and productivity of future generations for decades to come. By contrast, the physical, emotional and intellectual impairment that poverty inflicts on children can mean a lifetime of suffering and want – and a legacy of poverty for the next generation… "
-- Carol Bellamy

“…Together let us build the global alliance to realize that goal, secure in the knowledge that in serving the best interests of children, we serve the best interests of all humanity.
-- Carol Bellamy

“When the lives and the rights of children are at stake, there must be no silent witnesses.”

“What is needed now are increased efforts to promote youth participation and commitment; more services aimed at youth; more parental involvement; more education and information, using schools and other sites; more protection for girls, orphaned children and young women;and more partnerships with people with HIV and AIDS.“
-- Carol Bellamy

“Despite the threat of global terror hanging over all of us, there is only one path: to pursue the Millennium Development Goals with fresh resolve –confronting violence, bigotry and hatred with the same determination that we attack the causes from which they spring – conflict, ignorance, poverty and disease. The world we seek, where every child can grow to adulthood in health, peace and dignity – in short, a world fit for children – has remained a dream for more years than we can count. But we at UNICEF are convinced that working together with committed partners, and with an appropriate plan of action and a commitment to resources, we can make that dream a reality for each and every child on earth.”
-- Carol Bellamy

"A century that began with children having virtually no rights is ending with children having the most powerful legal instrument that not only recognizes but protects their human rights."
-- Carol Bellamy

"The Convention is not only a visionary document. We are reminded daily that it is an agreement that works – and its utility can be seen in the everyday use to which I have seen it increasingly being put by country after country, in policy, in practice and in law."
-- Carol Bellamy

* The fact is that there is enough food in the world for everyone. But tragically, much of the world's food and land resources are tied up in producing beef and other livestock--food for the well off--while millions of children and adults suffer from malnutrition and starvation. -- Dr.Walden Bello

We spoke out, committed civil disobedience, and went to jail because the peace hangs senselessly and precariously upon weapons costing billions to build and billions to improve — weapons which become more useless as we add to their destructive force. With this money we could have fed the world's people. Half the children on earth go to bed hungry — millions more have retarding and stunting protein deficiencies. Instead of building the peace by attacking injustices like starvation, disease, illiteracy, political and economic servitude, we spend a trillion dollars on war since 1946, until hatred and conflict have become the international preoccupation." -- Daniel Berrigan

The child awakens to a universe. The mind of the child to a world of meaning. Imagination to a world of beauty. Emotions to a world of intimacy. It takes a universe to make a child both in outer form and inner spirit. It takes a universe to educate a child. A universe to fulfill a child. ~ Thomas Berry

"Children need systems that are inclusive and driven by them, systems that will enable them to respond to their feelings and needs at any time." -- Jeroo Billimoria * Success will be when every child in the world has access to a service like Childline and knows that someone who cares is just a phone call away -- Jeroo Billimoria

* How do we redefine education so that 30-50 percent of inner-city children do not drop out of school, thus ensuring that millions will end up in prison? -- Grace Lee Boggs

* The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We must look towards societies that set a high value on nonaggression and noncompetitive ness, and therefore handle conflicts by nonviolent means. We can see how child rearing patterns produce nurturing adult behaviors.” -- Elise Boulding * We’re never going to have respectful and reverential relationships with the planet- and sensible policies about what we put in the air, the soil, the water – if very young children don’t begin learning about these things literally in their houses, backyards, streets and schools. We need to have human beings who are oriented that way from their earliest memories.” -- Elise Boulding

" …And these children that you spit on
as they try to change their worlds
are immune to your consultations.
They're quite aware of what they're going through…"
-- David Bowie "Changes"

* Our generation has inherited an incredibly beautiful world from our parents and they from their parents. It is in our hands whether our children and their children inherit the same world. We must not be the generation responsible for irreversibly damaging the environment. -- Richard Branson

* 35 million people in the U.S. are hungry or don't know where their next meal is coming from, and 13 million of them are children. If another country were doing this to our children, we'd be at war. -- Jeff Bridges

* Many people think that hunger is unavoidable in any society, even a society that is blessed with great abundance. That is not true. The European community does not have widespread hunger. America, which leads the world in so many ways, can end childhood hunger within its borders. -- Pierce Brosnan * "We want the world to focus on children whose lives have been devastated by AIDS. The millions of children who are missing their parents; their childhood, their future but most importantly, they are missing YOU. Everyone can make a real difference. Your voice is needed in a global movement that can change their world." -- Pierce Brosnan

* “We are asking people to understand that slavery still exists today; in fact, according to a recent New York Times article, if you count the number of women and children in bonded labor, domestic slavery or sexual slavery today, there are more slaves in the world than at any other time in history.” -- Charlotte Bunch

* "School feeding is a great tool to encourage education and provide food aid to children born into extremely impoverished situations. The kids in school being fed by WFP are empowered by their school meal to learn and better their lives!" -- Lauren Bush

* If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all. -- Pearl S. Buck

* "Every minute of every day, a child under 15 is infected with HIV - the overwhelming majority of children under 15 who are HIV-positive get infected through their mothers at birth. Without treatment, half of these children die before they reach their second birthday." -- Gabriel Byrne

"Perhaps we cannot prevent this world from being a world in which children are tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children."
-- Albert Camus

"If I had one wish for my children, it would be that each of them would reach for goals that have meaning for them as individuals."
-- Lillian Carter

The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him. -- Pablo Casals * You must work - we must all work to make the world worthy of its children. -- Pablo Casals

* "Stigma hurts. Because of AIDS, children are bullied, isolated and shut out of school. They are missing out on education. They are missing out on medicines. Children are missing your love, care and protection. Join me. And become a stigma buster. UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS" -- Jackie Chan

The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them.
-- Frank A. Clark

* "Music can speak louder than words, and I will use my music to speak out on behalf of children everywhere." -- Judy Collins

* We all have families who are longing for peace in the world and an end to the suffering caused by poverty, disease, and hunger. Untold numbers of our friends, our neighbors, our parents, and our children, are hoping that there is more understanding, more generosity, more genuine friendship, and more caring among people of all faiths and cultures. -- John Conyers

* In a nutshell, this United Nations non-profit organization [World Food Programme] feeds millions of starving children at schools in third world countries as an incentive for them to attend school, which in turn might better their futures. They do so much more but I was so struck by this story. -- Sheryl Crow

* "UNICEF is helping mothers realize their dreams for the future — a future in which the basic needs for a child’s survival: food, clean water and simple health care — are guaranteed." -- Jane Curtin

* As a people, we value family, education and success. Hunger is an enemy to all three. Scientific studies have demonstrated that even brief periods of hunger can permanently inhibit a child's mental, emotional and physical growth. Kids who are hungry do poorly in school and are unlikely to grow into productive adults. For families, experiencing hunger means living in a world of isolation and shame. Caring citizens must put an end to this disgrace. -- Ted Danson

"The greatest gift we can give to our children is to raise them in a culture of peace." -- Louise Diamond

Some of us believe in communism, Some of us believe in capitalism, Some of us believe in spiritualism, Some of us believe in materialism Some mothers believe in heavy dandy, Some fathers believe in understanding. Some of us believe in total freedom, Some of us believe in laying the rules on. But the children believe in friends, For the children of the world, Every boy and girl, All they'll know is what we teach 'em, Most of us fail when we try to reach 'em For the children believe in having friends -- Donovan

* We live in a complex world and the motivation to use violence to solve problems needs to be seriously questioned. It is essential that we help our children perceive peaceful alternatives. We need to use these troubled times as an opportunity to create a new vision for the future. -- Naomi Drew The only way children can learn the habit of forgiveness is by seeing us, their parents, forgive others and forgive ourselves. -- Naomi Drew

* If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much. -- Marian Wright Edelman

The legacy I want to leave is a child-care system that says that no kid is going to be left alone or left unsafe.
-- Marian Wright Edelman

Investing in [children] is not a national luxury or a national choice. It's a national necessity. If the foundation of your house is crumbling, you don't say you can't afford to fix it while you're building astronomically expensive fences to protect it from outside enemies. The issue is not are we going to pay -- it's are we going to pay now, up front, or are we going to pay a whole lot more later on.
-- Marian Wright Edelman

"For most of recorded history, parental violence against children and men's violence against wives was explicitly or implicitly condoned. Those who had the power to prevent and/or punish this violence through religion, law, or custom, openly or tacitly approved it. …..The reason violence against women and children is finally out in the open is that activists have brought it to global attention." -- Riane Eisler

* Many times, a child's struggle against hunger begins before he or she is born because the mother is undernourished. Making sure prenatal care and proper nutrition are available for expectant mothers in need is a critical part of ending childhood hunger. -- Hector Elizondo

"No guarantees come with children's liberation. But neither the promise of great benefits to all nor the prediction of great difficulties ahead can serve as the reason for granting or denying rights to children. Rights will be granted because without them children are incapacitated, oppressed, and abused."
-- Richard Farson "Birthrights"

Most of us tend to view childhood as a time of carefree pleasure. Those of us who have looked at the real condition of children in America, however, see a very different picture--one in which children are victims of terrible discrimination, prejudice, and abuse. They need protection. But the protection they need most is to have the protection of civil rights, so that they can be regarded as full persons under the law.
-- Richard Farson

* Unicef's education initiative does not seek to impose, but to initiate and integrate. It does, however, aim to address the huge bias towards education for boys at the expense of girls in so many cultures. -- Ralph Fiennes * Unicef wants to encourage a sense of stability for a child. -- Ralph Fiennes

* "I have a voice. It‘s one of my gifts. I intend to use it on behalf of the children that UNICEF seeks to aid." -- Laurence Fishburne

 

"Children organizing for political rights will probably be treated initially with ridicule and derision, and then with misunderstanding and perhaps eventually violence if the experience of the struggle for women's suffrage is any precedent. Undoubtedly the greatest obstacle to be overcome is the adult refusal to acknowledge that children suffer political discrimination and exclusion. Adults do not perceive children as a minority group but as helpless, inexperienced, defenseless young people who need protection. Adult paternalism seeks to protect and if in this process it curtails freedom, truncates potential and destroys civil liberties this is taken to be incidental. The belief in the legitimacy of paternalism justifies and cements the existing power relationships between adults and young people. This attitude must be confronted, challenged and refuted if young people are to secure their political rights..."
-- Bob Franklin "The Rights of Children"

* If we are ever to have real peace in this world we shall have to begin with the children. -- Mohandas K. Gandhi

* If we are ever to have real peace in this world we shall have to begin with the children. -- Mohandas K. Gandhi

* It is still just unbelievable to us that diarrhea is one of the leading causes of child deaths in the world. -- Melinda Gates

* “It is the most painful thing to see how young children become collateral damage of wars, but when peace treaties are signed landmines do not respect any of these accords. And as long as these silent killers linger after wars, children will never know peace” -- Danny Glover "If we talk about literacy, we have to talk about how to enhance our children's mastery over the tools needed to live intelligent, creative, and involved lives." -- Danny Glover

* "Children are a quality of life ... when our children are happy, then we are better as human beings." -- Whoopi Goldberg

* No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure." -- Emma Goldman

Our society is only as healthy as our most vulnerable citizens. It is unconscionable that the weakest links in our country are our hungry children. No other Western industrialized nation has widespread hunger within its borders. We really must put an end to hunger in the United States if we are to keep our prosperity and protect the future. -- Linda Gray

* "...in the midst of migrants in search of a better life there are people in need of protection: refugees and asylum-seekers, women and children victims of trafficking...Many move simply to avoid dying of hunger. When leaving is not an option but a necessity, this is more than poverty." ~ Antonio Guterres

* “In the last analysis, human security means a child who did not die, a disease that did not spread, an ethnic tension that did not explode, a dissident who was not silenced, a human spirit that was not crushed.” -- Mahbub ul-Haq

The greatest Glory of a free-born People, Is to transmit that Freedom to their Children.
-- William Havard

* We've got to work to save our children and do it with full respect for the fact that if we do not, no one else is going to do it. -- Dorothy Height

* Have we forgotten about the children, and thus forsaken the next generation?" -- Audrey Hepburn "I speak for those children who cannot speak for themselves, children who have absolutely nothing but their courage and their smiles, their wits and their dreams.” -- Audrey Hepburn

"...perhaps that is what ultimately unites us as a world: the fact that, no matter how prosperous a nation, how developed, all share the plight and embarrassment of having so many suffering children. We are united by our neglect, our abuse, our absence of love. Have we forgotten about the children, and thus forsaken the next generation?"
-- Audrey Hepburn

"Somebody said to me the other day, 'You know, it's really senseless, what you're doing. There's always been suffering, there will always be suffering, and you're just prolonging the suffering of these children [by rescuing them].' My answer is, 'Okay, then, let's start with your grandchild. Don't buy antibiotics if it gets pneumonia. Don't take it to the hospital of it has an accident. It's against life-against humanity-to think that way."
-- Audrey Hepburn

"It makes me self-conscious. It's because I'm known, in the limelight, that it's getting all the gravy, but if you knew, if you saw some of the people who make it possible for UNICEF to help these children survive. These are the people who do the jobs-the unknowns, whose names you will never know…I at least get a dollar a year, but they don't."
-- Audrey Hepburn

* "Giving kids clothes and food is one thing but it's much more important to teach them that other people besides themselves are important, and that the best thing they can do with their lives is to use it in the service of other people." -- Dolores Huerta

* It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped. -- Hubert Humphrey

*"I was very fortunate to have learned the transforming power of music early in life. As an adult I want to share that power by inspiring people to care about their neighbors near and far. Being a UNICEF Ambassador allows me this kind of opportunity." -- India.Arie

* "Having visited Oxfam-funded school programs in rural communities has made me realise how vital education is to developing countries in bringing people out of poverty and giving them a sense of dignity, self-worth and confidence." -- Scarlett Johansson * "I'm not a statistician, but it doesn't take a genious to work out that 100 million children being denied an education is ridiculous. There is nothing lost in translation here, it's obvious that's wrong. -- Scarlett Johansson

* “Over 20 million children of conflict are out of school. Education is often forgotten.” ~ Angelina Jolie

To rescue our children we will have to let them save us from the power we embody: we will have to trust the very difference that they forever personify. And we will have to allow them the choice, without fear of death: that they may come and do likewise or that they may come and that we will follow them, that a little child will lead us back to the child we will always be, vulnerable and wanting and hurting for love and for beauty. -- June Jordan "...we condemned them, our children, for seeking a different future. We hated them for their flowers, for their love, and for their unmistakeable rejection of every hideous, mistaken compromise that we had made throughout our hollow, money- bitten, frightened, adult lives -- June Jordan

* "I believe deeply that children are more powerful than oil, more beautiful than rivers, more precious than any other natural resource a country can have. I feel that the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life is to be associated with UNICEF." -- Danny Kaye

* The message of our campaign is "Make every mother and child count". This campaign is not just about health. It is also a powerful call for radical progress in women's rights and the rights of their children. Too often, the health of mothers and children does not count. In too many parts of the world, they are forgotten. -- Liya Kebede

* The greatest truth must be recognition that in every man, in every child is the potential for greatness. -- Robert F. Kennedy

* We are living in a science-fiction nightmare where children are gasping for breath on bad-air days because somebody gave money to a politician. And my children and the kids of millions of other Americans can no longer go fishing and eat their catch because somebody gave money to a politician. ~ Robert Kennedy, Jr.

* "I felt my country should do more for its children. Its children are not born gangsters. In fact, they have in them the potential to be heroes because most of the kids who are in these gangs are leaders, very charismatic and good organizers." -- Azim Khamisa

* I think it's important for me as an actor that I say these are the issues I'm going to be committed to. One of them for me is women and children's health around the world and their rights;the other is ovarian cancer. -- Nicole Kidman

* "I won't give up until the exploitation of all children has ended and all children have their rights." -- Craig Kielburger "If we are to achieve true peace in this world, it shall have to begin with the children." -- Craig Kielburger

* "Peace is a culture that we create by putting it in the curriculum for young people, through creating this next generation where young people get a chance to go across borders, across cultures, to learn more about each other's life, to create a global community, learn about opportunities for helping others. It's investing in peace and tolerance training, ending the gap between rich and poor."
-- Craig Kielburger

* Give young people a chance, our generation may just surprise you! -- Marc Kielburger

Children, after all, are not just adults-in-the-making. They are people whose current needs and rights and experiences must be taken seriously.
-- Alfie Kohn

“Let's concede that we have decided to let our children grow up in two separate nations, and lead two separate kinds of lives. If, on the other hand, we have the courage to rise to this challenge to name what's happening within our inner-city schools, then we also need the courage to be activist and go out and fight like hell to change it.” -- Jonathan Kozol “I write books to change the world. Perhaps I can only change one little piece of that world. But if I can empower teachers and good citizens to give these children, who are the poorest of the poor, the same opportunity we give our own kids, then I'll feel my life has been worth it.” -- Jonathan Kozol

* Hope is not enough to change the world, to bring peace, to end starvation and poverty, to provide a decent education for all children, or to prevent nuclear holocaust. Yet it is a critical starting point for building a better and brighter future. All of us are challenged to connect hope to action until we have created a might river that will carve a new path to the future. -- David Krieger

* "We're not locked in to these conditions that degrade the environment, and jeopardize the future of our children." -- Dennis Kucinich

* There can be no better measure of our governance than the way we treat our children, and no greater failing on our part than to allow them to be subjected to violence, abuse or exploitation. -- Jessica Lange

"... the growing child must not be treated by those rigid rules of criminal procedure which confessedly fail to prevent offenses on the part of adults or cure adult offenders." -- Julia Lathrop

* We have an opportunity to focus global attention on what should be obvious: every mother, and every child, counts. They count because we value every human life. The evidence is clear that healthy mothers and children are the bedrock of healthy and prosperous communities and nations. ~ Dr. LEE Jong-wook, WHO Secretary-General

* "There is no greater cause than making the world fit for children. I feel very strongly about carrying on the family tradition by working with UNICEF to help improve the lives and well-being of children everywhere." -- Téa Leoni

* "If I have brightened up one single sad childhood, then I have at least accomplished something in my life." -- Astrid Lindgren

* "I love children. I work with UNICEF and one of the reasons I love that is because they deal specifically with children. For me I think it’s just really important to always embrace that side of you. -- Lucy Liu * "I've witnessed the total devastation of HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa... I've met too many brave and beautiful children who are struggling to care for their sick parents or their orphaned brothers and sisters. Many children infected with HIV will not live to see their fifth birthday... Children suffer not only from this virus but also the stigma, poverty and destruction that accompany it. As a UNICEF ambassador I hope to draw more attention and funding to this crisis. The tsunami in Asia revealed the deep compassion and generosity of people worldwide. By working together and applying that same focus and support, we can protect a new generation of children from suffering." -- Lucy Liu

"Regardless of what the law or your teachers have to say about this, you are as human as anyone over the age of 18 or 21, yet, 'minors' are one of the most oppressed groups of people in the world, and certainly the most discriminated against legally."
-- Grace Llewellyn "The Teenage Liberation Handbook"

There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men. -- John Locke

* "We physicians have focused on the nuclear threat as the singular issue of our era. We are not indifferent to other human rights and hard-won civil liberties. But first we must be able to bequeath to our children the most fundamental of all rights, which preconditions all others; the right to survival. -- Bernard Lown

* The impact of armed conflict on children is everyone's responsibility. And it must be everyone's concern. -- Graça Machel-Mandela * In a disparate world, children are a unifying force capable of bringing us all together in support of a common ethic. -- Graça Machel-Mandela * Therefore my challenge to each of you ... is that you ask yourself what you can do to make a difference. And then take that action, no matter how large or how small. For our children have a right to peace. -- Graça Machel-Mandela it is clear that increasingly, children are targets, not incidental casualties, of armed conflict. -- Graça Machel-Mandela

* "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear." -- Nelson Mandela

"The most revolutionary thing anybody can do is to raise good, honest and generous children who will question the answers of people who say the answer is violence. That's what the schools should be doing." -- Colman McCarthy * Unless we teach children peace, someone else will teach them violence. -- Colman McCarthy

* Care for all the animals they need our help Care for all the children stop thinking of ourselves. And if we work together to try for harmony Someday we will live in peace -- Country Joe McDonald

* I want to live long enough to see every school child in the world getting a good, nutritious lunch every day. -- George McGovern

* 'As fathers, we know what a force for life children can be. They represent all of our futures. UNICEF is successfully giving children and young people all over the world opportunities and hope. Just like the ones we met on the Long Way Down - protecting them from exploitation and giving them chances in life.' -- Ewan McGregor I am so honoured to have been given this opportunity to become an Ambassador. It’s a new and different venture for me and one that I know will widen my wider perspective on life. I’m in a position to use the recognition from my work to do something really positive for children -- Ewan McGregor

UNICEF is doing amazing things here. They’re helping these groups of kids to be mine aware, and using drama and workshops to teach children in all of the schools in the area to be aware of mines and what to do if they find one, and if somebody’s hurt, not to rush in – all of the essential things that kids need to know.”
-- Ewan McGregor

I was determined to make working with UNICEF not just something that I did on the trip but something I’d do for the rest of my life
-- Ewan McGregor

* "The solution of adult problems tomorrow depends in large measure upon the way our children grow up today. There is no greater insight into the future than recognizing that, when we save children, we save ourselves." -- Margaret Mead We are living beyond our means. As a people we have developed a life-style that is draining the earth of its priceless and irreplaceable resources without regard for the future of our children and people all around the world. -- Margaret Mead "No society that feeds its children on tales of successful violence can expect them not to believe that violence in the end is rewarded." -- Margaret Mead

 

"Rather than standing or speaking for children, we need to stand with children speaking for themselves. We don't need a political movement for children... [we need to] build environments and policies for our collective future."
-- Sandra Meucci

 

* One world, one people, living together as a global family! Young people will cross religious, ethnic and cultural divides to recognize the universal human as family. WE ARE ONE and the elders of tomorrow will carry this torch. -- Nina Meyerhof

* "What can we do to make the world's children a priority..." -- Alyssa Milano "I am moved by the spirit of Angolans and the work UNICEF is doing, but I am saddened by the hardships I have seen, and the fact that a little flexing of financial muscle from rich countries could do so much.” -- Alyssa Milano

* Within the child lies the fate of the future. -– Maria Montessori “One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.” -– Maria Montessori

* "Teach love, generosity, good manners and some of that will drift from the classroom to the home and who knows, the children will be educating the parents. Lets face it; the children who do that are the hope of tomorrow." -- Sir Roger Moore

* "The saddest sight these days is the image of hundreds of thousands of children kidnapped and lured into being child soldiers from the age of eight. " -- Sir Roger Moore Working with UNICEF made me grow up and recognize how fortunate I am. -- Sir Roger Moore

* "A child, like all other human beings, has inalienable rights." -- Lucretia Mott

* "I always try to see things with children's eyes. Are they happy? Sad? What do they need? Everywhere I went, I realized that children are society's victims … We have a duty to speak to political leaders, to influence people to give these children a better future." -- Nana Mouskouri "I have been so lucky to receive so much love from those who enjoy my music, that I feel I have to give as much of it as I can back to children." -- Nana Mouskouri All children are my children. -- Nana Mouskouri

* 24,000 people, 18,000 of them children, die every day because of hunger. Each year we bring food to nearly 90 million people in more than 80 countries. Food – there’s no greater gift, and no better way to give it than the World Food Programme. -- Dikembe Mutombo

* I am selfish. I reach for the world I want to live in. And I believe in leaving our best we can do to our children -- Holly Near

"I believe that UNICEF is the most important branch of the U.N.; they do exceptional work to help the neediest children around the world" -- Liam Neeson * "The cause of making the world a better place for children unites us all..." -- Liam Neeson “Forget the statistics…we have to do more. You cannot look these children in the eye and see how desperate is their situation without wanting to help.” -- Liam Neeson

Children are the seed for peace or violence in the future, depending on how they are cared for and stimulated. Thus, their family and community environment must be sown to grow a fairer and more fraternal world, a world to serve life and hope. -- Zilda Arns Neumann

* It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today. -- Barack Obama

* We must come to terms with our responsibility to be the gatekeepers to end childhood hunger. Our love for life can propel us to share and provide a secure future for the children of our country. -- Edward James Olmos, actor

Compelled to become instruments of war, to kill and be killed, child soldiers are forced to give violent expression to the hatreds of adults -- Olara Otunnu My mandate...is to promote the protection, rights and welfare of children... -- Olara Otunnu * "the time has come to make the protection of children -- all our children -- a common cause that can unite us across the boundaries of our political orientation, religious affiliation and cultural traditions. We must reclaim our lost taboos, and make the abuse and brutalization of children simply unaccepetable." -- Olara Otunnu

Is it not the interest of the human race, that every one should be so taught and placed, that he would find his highest enjoyment to arise from the continued practice of doing all in his power to promote the well-being, and happiness, of every man, woman, and child, without regard to their class, sect, party, country or colour" -- Robert Owen

* "My involvement with UNICEF is particularly important to me because it is UNICEF that introduced me to volunteerism, thereby helping me to set my own personal standard of contributing my time and giving back to others. Working on behalf of UNICEF‘s lifesaving efforts is one of my most valued roles." -- Sarah Jessica Parker

* "There can be no global security without respect for children. We have to be more than just observers of children's suffering, we have to be partners with them in their struggles." -- Landon Pearson I've never ceased to be amazed at the survival skills of poor children. I've learned how much children can actually do for themselves if only we provide the necessary means. That part is up to us." -- Landon Pearson

"We must pay attention to the millions of children of this generation who are caught up in armed conflicts. How can we protect them from the worst consequences of war? And when hostilities cease, how can we take the war out of them? By eliminating landmines, controlling the sale of small arms, raising the age of recruitment … are all essential measures. By reuniting children with their families and providing programs of physical and psychological rehabilitation."
-- Landon Pearson

I do not believe in a simplistic and inflammatory view of good and evil. I believe this is a big world full of men, women, and children who struggle to eat, to love, to work, to protect their families, their beliefs, and their dreams. -- Sean Penn

* “Kids don’t have a little brother working in the coal mine, they don’t have a little sister coughing her lungs out in the looms of the big mill towns of the Northeast. Why? Because we organized; we broke the back of the sweatshops in this country; we have child labor laws. Those were not benevolent gifts from enlightened management. They were fought for, they were bled for, they were died for by working people, by people like us. Kids ought to know that. That’s why I sing these songs. That’s why I tell these stories, dammit. No root, no fruit!” -- Utah Phillips

* "As a nation, this is the moment to start seriously investing our time, energy and resources into proven methods of reducing violence, both within our nation as well as internationally. The cost of violence to our culture and our children is simply not sustainable." -- Joaquin Phoenix "As a nation, this is the moment to start seriously investing our time, energy and resources into proven methods of reducing violence, both within our nation as well as internationally. The cost of violence to our culture and our children is simply not sustainable. I have learned that in the United States, youth homicide rates are more than 10 times that of other leading industrialized nations, this is just one example of the challenges we face. Is this really a legacy we want to leave our children? There is a better way. -- Joaquin Phoenix

* All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. -- Pablo Picasso

* Let us be the ones who say we do not accept that a child dies every three seconds simply because he does not have the drugs you and I have. Let us be the ones to say we are not satisfied that your place of birth determines your right to life. Let us be outraged, let us be loud, let us be bold." -- Brad Pitt

* Small loans can transform lives, especially the lives of women and children. The poor can become empowered instead of disenfranchised. Homes can be built, jobs can be created, businesses can be launched, and individuals can feel a sense of worth again. -- Natalie Portman

* Together we can prevent genocide from happening again. Together we can make a better future for our children. -- Dith Pran

* If a person would intervene on behalf of one child, shouldn't we all be intervening for those thousands of children? So we're asking young people to get involved. We want young people especially to know what's going on and to figure out what they can do about it." -- Benjamin Quinto

* How unthinkable that, in a country of such bursting plenty, so many people are facing ongoing hunger and poverty. If we are truly each other's keepers, let's support school lunches, food stamps, neighborhood garden projects, and so many other wonderful programs working to put an end to this cruel and needless blight once and for all. -- Bonnie Raitt

* Land mines, torture equipment, cluster bombs, chemical weapons are weapons designed to inflict pain and death on human beings. Most victims are civilians, women and children. How can arms manufacturers, weapons designers, plant managers, politicians, who have families of their own whom they love, be so insensitive when it comes to the suffering of other human beings? -- José Ramos-Horta

* As long as people and the planet are being exploited, and billions of dollars are being made precisely because laborers and the environment are being abused and used up, there will be children going hungry and ecological destruction. ~ Ocean Robbins

* Are we doing enough to help our children create a more peaceful world? -- Debbie Robins What is truly more important, how our children do on standardized tests or what kind of human beings they are and will become? I believe it is our obligation, as mothers, to get peace into our classrooms so our children can study, learn and practice peace. Then, and only then, can we rest assured they will fulfill their divine destinies as peacemakers and the world will become a more peaceful place. -- Debbie Robins

our children are viscerally aware of the heightened violence on this planet. It has permeated every aspect of their lives. They are hungry to make a difference, desperate to affect their reality in a positive way, but they are unsure of how to do it.
-- Debbie Robins

What is the solution? To make peace a class, in every school, at every grade level, in classrooms all over the world so our children can learn the 'art' of getting along, which isn't easy, reflected by the current state of the world
-- Debbie Robins

* Tolerance, respect and patience are acquired skills, they are learned attributes, practiced choices, and until our children begin to study, learn and practice peace, I believe this is as good as it gets.
-- Debbie Robins

 

* "I hope to leave my children a sense of empathy and pity and a will to right social wrongs" -- Anita Roddick

Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world ... Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

If there is any one duty which more than another we owe it to our children and our children's children to perform at once, it is to save the forests of this country, for they constitute the first and most important element in the conservation of the natural resources of this country. -- Theodore Roosevelt The function of our Government is to insure to all its citizens, now and hereafter, their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If we of this generation destroy the resources from which our children would otherwise derive their livelihood, we reduce the capacity of our land to support a population, and so either degrade the standard of living or deprive the coming generations of their fight to life on this continent. -- Theodore Roosevelt

* Ordinary people like you and me have the chance to make a tremendous difference for mothers and their children worldwide -- Meg Ryan

* The time has come to end this charade. The debts are unaffordable. If they won't cancel the debts I would suggest obstruction; you do it yourselves. Africa should say: 'thank you very much but we need this money to meet the needs of children who are dying right now so we will put the debt servicing payments into urgent social investment in health, education, drinking water, control of AIDS and other needs.' -- Jeffrey Sachs

* "I want my child to walk in a world guided by love. This means that everybody will have a job, or the resources to take care of basic needs. A world where families are not oppressed and are connected to their neighbors and their communities, where the best in humanity is honored. That's when we will truly be at peace." -- Malika Sanders

if you can just see all the children of the world as your own, all the mothers of the world as you are, we can make a huge difference. -- Susan Sarandon * When my children wake up in the morning they know they will eat breakfast, get hugs from their parents, go to a good, safe school. Plates are full and store windows are glittering. But at the same time the great majority of the world's children and women stand - no - shiver on the precipice -- Susan Sarandon

My intent is to speak on behalf of those whose voices are less readily heard - children and women at risk
-- Susan Sarandon

Like most parents in the US, they are trying, with a little help from UNICEF, to do the best they can to help their children reach their full potential...
-- Susan Sarandon

"Knowledge is the key to stopping the spread of AIDS. Yet millions of children are missing an education. Missing their teachers who have died of the disease. Missing from class as they stay home to care for their dying mothers and fathers. Children are missing your support. United for Children. Unite against AIDS."
-- Susan Sarandon

"Whether children have first amendment rights is a vexed legal question, but what is not in question is that they someday will. Constraining them from expressing their views is no preparation for exercising those rights."
-- Crispin Sartwell

* "As a new mother, I want to give my children the best start in life but millions of children affected with AIDS don’t live with such certainty. We can all do something to give them a future worth living for. We can make a difference in a child’s life by joining with UNICEF to ensure that mothers and children are given the treatment that they deserve, in order to live a life free from HIV and AIDS.” -- Claudia Schiffer

Everyone is always talking about our defense effort in terms of protecting women and children, but no one ever asks the women and children what they think. ~ Patricia Schroeder * There is an ancient Indian saying: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." If we use this ethic as a moral compass, then our rendezvous with reality can also become a rendezvous with opportunity. ~ Patricia Schroeder

* I feel that our planet is in peril and that creating a sustainable planet for my children and my children’s children is the most important thing I can do in this lifetime. -- Kyra Sedgwick Ever since I had my first child I have been passionate in my commitment to preserve our precious resources for my children and their children’s children. This is the obligation of all of us visiting this planet for a limited time. -- Kyra Sedgwick

* "We are the ancestors of our grandchildren's children. We look after them, just as our ancestors look after us. We aren't here for ourselves. We are here for each other and for the children of our grandchildren." -- Roy Sesana

* "The schools play an important role when it comes down to protecting children against violence.Violence is one of the principal reasons why children don't go to school. It's also one of the causes of the alarming school dropout rates." -- Shakira * "We know that many boys and girls leave school because of poverty, because they have to work. However, there are an important number of children who abandon their studies because of the abuses they're subject to by teachers and their own parents." -- Shakira

* Childhood hunger in America is as much a paradox as it is a tragedy. Why, in the wealthiest country in the world, should hunger darken the lives and dreams of 12 million children and their families? I believe that, when Americans learn the facts and understand how their involvement can make a difference, banishing childhood hunger will be a national, local and personal priority. -- Martin Sheen

* "My goal in life is to leave behind a safe and healthy world for our children. Before I leave this world, I want to be satisfied that at least I tried. I know I can make a difference, even if it might only be a small one." -- Maisie Shiell

In the past, children were all too often viewed more as property than people. Many victories for children's rights have been won in the last 100 years, such as child labor laws, protecting children from having to work long hours in unsafe conditions; public education, allowing all children to have access to learning; and laws preventing child abuse. But there is still much to do in protecting children's rights around the world. -- Robert Alan Silverstein

* I live in a country where we put children in shackles and in concrete cells. Working together, with righteousness and hope, we can create a country that is about reverence and reconciliation, not a world of shackles and concrete cells. -- Lateefah Simon

* ...180 million kids are engaged in the worst forms of child labour. Put it all together and it is not only morally unacceptable, but politically dangerous. -- Juan Somavia

* Can we make a better world for our children? I believe we can, if enough people are concerned and get involved in changing what is wrong with society. -- Dr. Benjamin Spock * It's up to each of us to help create a better world for our children. -- Dr. Benjamin Spock

* “Receive the children in reverence, educate them in love, and send them forth in freedom.” -- Rudolf Steiner

"It used to be believed that the parent had unlimited claims on the child and rights over him. In a truer view of the matter, we are coming to see that the rights are on the side of the child and the duties on the side of the parent."
-- William G. Sumner, 1840-1910

It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish. ~ Mother Teresa

* A society is judged by the way it cares for its most vulnerable citizens. As an American, I am ashamed that we have turned out backs on millions of our children. I want to do my part to rectify this terrible situation. -- Marlo Thomas Every child deserves a chance at a life filled with love, laughter, friends and family. We are working to find the cures that will give these youngsters a fighting chance. When a child or parent faces an uncertain disease like cancer, they can find hope at St. Jude -- a place where miracles can and do happen. -- Marlo Thomas

Every child deserves a chance at a life filled with love, laughter, friends and family. -- Marlo Thomas

* I want a different world. One where I don’t wake up thinking I’m so lucky to be able to feed my daughter, and able to give people a clean drink of water. I don’t want images of starving babies at the breast in my mind. I want that to change. And if I want that, I had better do something about it. -- Emma Thompson “It’s not funny at all that we do all that advertising for children. Why is advertising for children allowed? What possible reason can there be for having those effing adverts on TV for all this crap that’s made by poor people in poor countries that we sell our children who have too much? -- Emma Thompson

The situation of the world around us can be painted in a picture of the darkest possible colours. On one hand, the arms race absorbs for deadly purposes 40 million dollars every 24 hours. On the other hand, immeasurable poverty affects the lives of three-quarters of the men, women and children in the world around us. The efforts for disarmament must therefore be an inextricable part of the efforts to solve the common problems of our time, problems which ultimately involve our very survival, the possibility to continue the human experiment." -- Inga Thorsson

"Yes, I want to remind people that in the Indigenous Traditions, women are very important. Not because we are told we are important but because we know that since forever and always, we have had the power and the capacity to give birth, raise women and men and to take care of the earth. It is today that I thusly give celebration to all the women on Earth. I would like to ask my sisters to give up the thoughts and actions of the word victim. We are no longer Victims & We are strong! I would like to address an acknowledgement to each woman here today. We have the power and that power is rising. Use it to preserve, teach, share, and raise our voices, to save our children, our planet, our people, and our earth mother. Don't share the things that have hurt us but share what can save us. Turn our scars into Stars! Come together and reclaim what is inherently ours, the power to bring forth nurturing Peace! May Peace Prevail!" -- Mary Thunder

Children, if you are tired, keep going; if you are hungry, keep going; if you want to taste freedom, keep going. -- Harriet Tubman

* "There is no greater legacy that we can leave our children and grandchildren than a peaceful and safer world." ~ Ted Turner

* "Children are a wonderful gift . . . They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are." -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu * ...just a fraction of what is extended so obscenely on defense budgets would make a real difference in enabling God's children to fill their stomachs, be educated, and be given the chance to lead fulfilled and happy lives. -- Desmond Tutu

* ...just a fraction of what is extended so obscenely on defense budgets would make a real difference in enabling God's children to fill their stomachs, be educated, and be given the chance to lead fulfilled and happy lives. -- Desmond Tutu

"I was really blown away and inspired by everything that she [Audrey Hepburn] had done for children via and through UNICEF and I guess it really, really floored me in a way that I hadn't ever felt toward a public figure before. To see her kindness was inspiring and spoke to me as a person. She was so real and so elegant..I am also inspired by what Angelina Jolie is doing by traveling to places like Cambodia to help children by actually being there and being more involved." -- Liv Tyler

* Did you know that every two hours the nations of this world spend as much on armaments as they spend on the children of this world every year? -- Peter Ustinov

We should preserve in adults the confident and joyful attitude of small children -- Patricia Verdugo Aguirre

* A small child from a developing country has the advantage, from a very early age, of having access to toys which structure his mind, which constitute a sure advantage over the little African child who has never even held a modern toy. -- Abdoulaye Wade

* "Teaching kids how to feed themselves and how to live in a community responsibly is the center of an education." -- Alice Waters "I believe that every child in this world needs to have a relationship with the land...to know how to nourish themselves...and to know how to connect with the community around them." -- Alice Waters Change the food in the schools and we can influence how children think. Change the curriculum and teach them how to garden and how to cook and we can show that growing food and cooking and eating together give lasting richness, meaning, and beauty to our lives. -- Alice Waters

* "Every new mother wonders, 'what will I pass on to my child'? Hunger is one inheritance no mother wants to give her child, yet millions of poor women have for generations. Help the World Food Programme break this cycle. No child should inherit hunger." -- Rachel Weisz

* The kind of national goal we ought to be thinking about is way beyond national product - it is how do we as a nation help our children be the best kinds of people they could possibly be? -- Paul Wellstone

* "I fervently believe that, as someone has said before, "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." I want to help change the way young people look at school, and hence, the way they look at their futures." -- Kanye West * I want to help change the way young people look at school, and hence, the way they look at their futures." -- Kanye West

* "Help us show children around the world that we can make a difference together." -- Bradley Whitford

“I hope people will not think we are encouraging people to break the law. But our actions should teach people, and children, to scrutinize laws against human life, and they should be broken to prove a point.” -- Barbara Wiedner

There is much to be done, there is much that can be done… one person of integrity can make a difference, a difference of life and death. As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our lives will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs. -- Elie Wiesel

My cause was justice, not vengeance. My work is for a better tomorrow and a more secure future for our children and grandchildren. -- Simon Wiesenthal

"Each child should have the fundamental right, a constitutional right, whether it's a tribal constitutional right, federal or state constitutional right. It's time we made our constitutions have our children's rights in them so they can engage in those experiences that he or she is most anxious to explore, because it is having the right to choose that is truly indigenous to the democratic concept."
-- David Wilkins, Lumbee Tribe

* We want for our children, as we want for ourselves, lives at home, at work and at play to be lives of joy and peace. -- Betty Williams Governments do not have the answers. Indeed quite the reversal. A lot of times they not only do not have the answers, they themselves are the problem. If we are committed to helping our world’s children, then we must begin to create solutions from the bottom up. -- Betty Williams In a world that we know can feed itself, upwards of 40,000 children die very day from conditions of malnutrition. Surely we must question why we are allowing this carnage to continue -- Betty Williams

Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. -- Marianne Williamson

"A new educational system in which all children born shall have the same advantage of physical, industrial, mental and moral culture, and thus be equally prepared at maturity to enter upon active, responsible and useful lives. . . . In so doing, it strikes a fatal blow at . . . the most demoralizing of all monopolies. . . educational superiority." -- Victoria Woodhull "Hundreds, thousands, aye, millions of human beings, men, women and children, wander the streets of our cities and the highways of our country, hungry, ragged and cold, vainly seeking in this land of plenty, where physical want should be unknown." -- Victoria Woodhull

* Education is the way to move mountains, to build bridges, to change the world. Education is the path to the future. I believe that education is indeed freedom. -- Oprah Winfrey

* My hope for the planet is my children and grandchildren. -- Joanne Woodward

* We bequeath to you, the next generation, our knowledge but also our problems. While we still live, let us join hands, hearts and minds to work together for their solution so that your world will be better than ours and the world of your children even better. -- Rosalyn Yalow If we are to have faith that mankind will survive and thrive on the face of the earth, we must believe that each succeeding generation will be wiser than its progenitors. We transmit to you, the next generation, the total sum of our knowledge. Yours is the responsibility to use it, add to it, and transmit it to your children. -- Rosalyn Yalow

* We need to decide that we will not go to war, whatever reason is conjured up by the politicians or the media, because war in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children. -- Howard Zinn

 

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