Sweden-based climate activist Greta Thunberg has announced that she was donating USD 100,000 in prize money she had received from the Dsh NGO Human Act to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support their work in protecting children hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Like the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic is a child-rights crisis," Thunberg said in the UNICEF statement.
"It will affect all children, now and in the long-term, but vulnerable groups will be impacted the most. I am asking everyone to step up and join me in support of UNICEF's vital work to save children's lives, to protect health and continue education," the 17-year-old activist added.
According to UNICEF, Human Act will be matching Thunberg's donation, putting the total amount raised to USD 200,000. The amount will go towards a newly-launched campaign by the Dsh NGO and Thunberg to UNICEF's emergency programmes to fight COVID-19, including to provide soap, masks, protective equipment and other support to healthcare systems.
Appreciating Thunberg, the UN body wrote, "The time is now, there isn't a day to lose. We must unite together in this fight. Thank you @GretaThunberg and Human Act for supporting our COVID-19 response."
UNICEF has called the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic a "double emergency" because of the effect the virus and subsequent national lockdowns have had on children already living through conflict and struggling to access essential services.
COVID-19 has spread across the world, sending billions of people into lockdown as health services struggle to cope. Worldwide, the number of confirmed infections stood at more than 3.2 million, with some 230,000 deaths and more than one million recoveries, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.
( With inputs from ANI )