70 years for every child: UNICEF anniversary in Belarus

Charity dinner in honor of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) 70^th anniversary was held on December 7 in the Renaissance Minsk Hotel. Friends, partners and colleagues, including those from the regional office, and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Vladimir Pugach congratulated UNICEF on its birthday and took part in the charity raffle and auction.

UNICEF is the largest and one of the world's oldest child protection organizations operating in over 190 countries around the world. This year, UNICEF celebrated its 70^th anniversary.

In the first week of December, events called to draw attention to the protection of every child’s rights were held all over the world. Belarus was not an exception. The Gala Dinner in Minsk opened with the video message from UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors from all around the world: Shakira and Katy Perry, David Beckham and Lionel Messi. Then the floor was given to the special guest—UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS, David Mcloughlin, as well as to the UNICEF Representative in Belarus, Rashed Mustafa Sarwar. J:Mors soloist, Vladimir Pugach, who has cooperated with the UN Children's Fund since 2002 and has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2014, performed his legendary song “Imagine”.

During the Gala Dinner in Minsk, charity raffle and auction were organized—for the first time in the history of the UNICEF Belarus existence. The bidding became intense when the lot provided by the Turkish Airlines—2 business class tickets to any destination and two nights in the Istanbul Marriot Hotel Sisli—was put on the auction. A unique opportunity to fly to any part of the world with maximum comfort was sold for 3,800 thousand US dollars.

Another valuable lot was a panel picture by the Belarusian artist and craftsman Yuri Adamovich, made in a unique technique rooted in the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and known only to a few craftsmen around the world.

Renaissance Minsk Hotel, the UNICEF regular partner in Belarus, provided a lunch for 8 persons from the French chef with live cooking as a lot for the auction.

Evgeny Bulka and Yulia Yurchenko acted as hosts of the evening, an important part of which were the performances of Lipnitsky Show Orchestra, prima ballerina of the National Opera and Ballet Theatre Liudmila Hitrova and “Super Duper CHILDREN” social inclusion project.

All funds raised from ticket sales, lottery raffle and auction went to support UNICEF programs for children in Belarus.

UNICEF Charity Gala Dinner happened thanks to the contributions of UNICEF partners, volunteers, guests, and friends. Together, people can work wonders because every time we contribute to the protection of children we give them hope for the future.

More information and photos from the event are available here.