Olivia Harrison visited Boston, Massachusetts in early October to
address the 60th Annual Meeting of UNICEF National Committees and visit
with children who participated in the groundbreaking UNICEF Kid Power
(unicefkidpower.org) program last spring. During her visit, she met with
local UNICEF leadership in Boston and served as the closing keynote
speaker for the UNICEF meeting that brings together senior UN officials
and UNICEF leaders from more than 40 countries around the world.
In her speech, she spoke about her experience with UNICEF and what
she learned from George about philanthropy. She encouraged the group of
75 attendees to continue to come up with new and lasting ways of
motivating people to support UNICEF’s work to put children first around
the world, much like George used the Concert for Bangladesh and the
copyrights from his Living in the Material World album for the higher
good. She closed her speech with a reference to the George Harrison Fund
for UNICEF and the Fund’s newest investment in UNICEF Kid Power, which
allows kids to get active and save lives using the world’s first
wearable-for-good™.
Following a standing ovation, Olivia traveled to the Morse School in
nearby Cambridge, Mass. where she had the opportunity to meet students
from one of the 216 schools in the Boston area who participated in
UNICEF Kid Power (unicefkidpower.org) earlier this spring. Students from
this school, and its sister school – the Kennedy Longfellow School –
took more than 50 million steps in March 2015, which equates to 17,721
miles walked. Their steps unlocked 4,296 therapeutic food packets to
help save malnourished children around the world, and one classroom from
the Morse School took first place amongst all the schools that
participated in UNICEF Kid Power month in Boston.
Upon arrival at the school, the students welcomed Olivia and other
UNICEF Kid Power local sponsors. They broke into small groups to discuss
elements of the program and how they were inspired to get active and
save lives. The students shared creative ways that they increased their
activity every day, including taking the stairs on the way to school,
starting a walking club and playing games that make them move. The
students thanked Olivia and the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF for
bringing UNICEF Kid Power to their school. They noted that they hope to
participate in the program again next spring.
This year, families in the U.S. can also join the UNICEF Kid Power
team through the generous support of Disney, Star Wars: Force for Change
and Target. For more information about the program and how to bring
UNICEF Kid Power to a school near you, please visit unicefkidpower.org.
Olivia addresses the 60th Annual Meeting of UNICEF National Committees.
Olivia with the children at the Morse School.
Olivia with the children at the Morse School learn about Kid Power.
(from L to R) Jonathan Clyde, Caryl M. Stern (CEO of UNICEF) and Olivia Harrison.
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