Jewellery for UNICEF
Efva Attling’s new collection “Not for Sale” is sold in favor of UNICEF. Learn more about Efva’s thought behind the design, and how the collaboration will be able to support UNICEF’s work for children’s rights.
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- Jewellery for UNICEF
Over the years, Efva Attling has collaborated with a number of aid organizations, and over 14 million SEK has been donated. In connection with the International Day of the Girl, October 11, this new collaboration begins with Efva’s new collection “Not for sale”, sold in favor of UNICEF. For each piece of jewellery sold, 150 SEK of the proceeds goes to the organization’s work for children, and not least girls’ rights around the world.
“UNICEF is an international organization and I’m proud to work with them,” says Efva. “I get quite a few requests, but I have to have the right gut feeling. When UNICEF asked me, it felt right because it’s so important that children don’t get hurt. It’s also an established, serious and credible organization.”
Stay away
The collection consists of a necklace and a bracelet in silver, with the stamped text “NOT FOR SALE” with a barbed wire around. “When my design process begins, all my ideas and what I want to express with my pieces start to spin in my head,” says Efva. “This is about vulnerable girls, it’s serious and important. ‘Not for sale’ means that no child is for sale and the barbed wire around the words is to clarify ‘stay away’.”
“I hope that my pieces of jewellery can help to make this important subject visible and that it generates lots of help in the form of money for UNICEF for education around the world.”
On behalf of the United Nations
UNICEF works on behalf of the UN to ensure that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is followed by all the countries that have signed it. In practice, this means that UNICEF works together with, and on behalf of governments in 190 countries, which gives them a unique opportunity for influence.
We spoke with Pernilla Baralt, Secretary General at UNICEF Sweden, who tells us more about both their views on the new collaboration and how their work has changed in the wake of Covid-19;
What’s your opinion about this new collaboration with Efva Attling Stockholm?
Efva Attling is a fantastic designer with a great and genuine commitment to children's, and not least girls', rights. For us, this collaboration is about the common commitment and the fantastic results for children's rights that the revenue generates. Together, we also reach out with a message about the equal value and rights of all children.
For every piece of jewellery sold, 150 SEK goes to your work - what can 150 SEK be used for?
150 SEK may be enough for:
• A day at school for 13 children.
• Food for 34 children, in one day.
• Clean drinking water for a child under one year.
• Maternity care for 5 women.
Do you have a specific focus area right now where the money goes?
The money is not earmarked for a specific project or focus area. However, due to the pandemic, millions of children haven’t been able to attend school for more than a year. Many never come back and this is especially true for girls. We know that the risk of violence, child marriage, child labor and other exploitation of children increases. Our cooperation strengthens UNICEF's opportunities to influence and reverse this development.
How have children around the world been affected by the pandemic, and how has your work changed over the past year?
Children usually don’t become seriously ill in covid-19, but the consequences of the pandemic have hit them hard and the corona pandemic can rightly be described as a child rights crisis. One of three school children in the world has not been able to participate in distance learning when their schools closed. About 80 million children have lost life-saving basic vaccinations against measles and polio. Millions of children are estimated to end up in poverty and more girls may be forced into child marriage.
During the past year, UNICEF has adapted its work with digital solutions and focus on strengthening primary care, so that children don’t die of causes that are easy to prevent. UNICEF has found new innovative ways to ensure that teaching and learning can continue at a distance. We have contributed with psychosocial support, health care and legal assistance to children affected by violence, and gender-based violence, and to more health centers and schools having access to clean water and toilets, to name just a few examples.
How are you working on the crisis in Afghanistan right now?
We are very concerned about the safety and health of children and women in Afghanistan.
They currently need all the help they can get and therefore we are scaling up our work, which among other things means that we:
• Treat children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
• Ensure that refugees receive medical care through mobile health centers.
• Provide protection and support to children who have lost their families, while we look for their loved ones.
• Vaccinate babies against polio and other diseases and vaccinate humans against covid-19.
• Deliver water to the areas that have been affected by drought, as well as hygiene kits to provide the opportunity to stay clean and protect themselves from infection.
• Provide support for schools to be able to safely reopen, and be kept open, during covid-19. This means initiatives aimed at 300,000 children, where more than half of them are girls.
“No child is for sale. The barbed wire symbolizes ‘Stay Away’.” – EFVA ATTLING
Jewellery sold for a good cause
Since 2004, Efva Attling has collaborated with a number of aid organizations. During these troubled times, they are doing an important and fantastic job. Read more about the different organizations and their work during the ongoing corona crisis.
