Unicoin - The first currency dedicated to do good launched today

Today, the H&M Conscious Foundation in support of UNICEF presents a new currency to the world - the Unicoin. The initiative aims to enable children to support the right for other children around the world to access learning opportunities from an early age. The only way to get hold of a Unicoin is to exchange a drawing at unicoins.org. And the only way to spend it is on educational supplies.

Scientific evidence on brain development shows that the early years of a child’s life - from birth to age 8 years of age - are critical to its ability to learn. Recent advances in neuroscience have improved our understanding of how the brain develops in the first years of life, and a growing body of research has made it increasingly clear that programs that intervene early, especially for the most disadvantaged children, lead to better outcomes for children, their parents and society at large. Still, more than 200 million children under the age of 5 in developing countries are failing to reach their full potential in cognitive development because of poverty, poor health and nutrition, and deficient care.

With this new innovative activity the H&M Conscious Foundation supports UNICEF in raising awareness about the importance of Early Childhood Development and at the same time provides an opportunity for people to contribute.

Together with their parents, children can upload a drawing on unicoins.org, showing what they dream of becoming when they grow up. Then they exchange it for a Unicoin, to support every child’s right to early childhood development, care and pre-primary education. The H&M Conscious Foundation matches each Unicoin with one notebook and pencil. The material is being distributed to children around the world by UNICEF.

“No matter where you live, all children have one thing in common - the ability to dream. By sharing children’s drawings, we can help more children to reach their full learning potential and build a better future for themselves,” says Charlotte Brunnström, Program Manager for Education at the H&M Conscious Foundation.

The Unicoin campaign is part of the Global Program for Education – a collaboration between H&M Conscious Foundation and UNICEF, initiated in 2014. In February 2014, the H&M Conscious Foundation announced a grant to UNICEF of 9,3 million US Dollars over a three year period. This grant enables UNICEF to reach 73,600 children with Early Childhood Development programs as well as influence governments to place Early Childhood Development on the national agenda and commit budgetary resources to address these issues. Few donors or governments prioritize funding for Early Childhood Development, which is why the H&M Conscious Foundation wants to contribute to filling that gap by supporting UNICEF.

"1 out of 3 children in the developing world don’t achieve their full potential before entering primary school due to causes linked to poverty, lack of access to learning opportunities, poor health, and malnutrition. But together we can change this by providing the most disadvantaged children with access to early childhood care and education. At UNICEF and H&M Conscious Foundation we believe that it is possible to give every child the best possible start in life. Help us spread the word by joining the Unicoin campaign today,” says Pia R. Britto, Senior Advisor, Chief Early Childhood Development Section, UNICEF Headquarters.

Infographics and images, information about the Unicoin, how to exchange a drawing, and Early Childhood Development can be found at www.unicoins.org